Controversial Penalty Helps Spurs Salvage a Point

As if Harry Kane needs extra shots from the spot.

Arsenal were left seething after a referee's call put him there late in the match, where his conversion enabled Tottenham to draw the Gunners, 1-1.

To which Spurs probably replied, if you don't like it, play better.

It woulda helped. Tottenham held the statistical advantage in most categories, but still ...

 

Aaron Ramsey scored a first-half goal for the Gunners that they clearly expected to stand up for eternity.

Dudes even had a chance late for karma to prevail, but Tottenham 'keeper Hugo Lloris saved a last-minute penalty that likely shouldn't have been given, either.

 

The human condition, apparently.

With a huge dose of human error.

Go no further than Arsenal in that regard. After Udai Emery raised eyebrows by dropping Mesut Özil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Lucas Torreira -- who got into the game for a while, anyway -- and Sead Kolašinac from the Starting XI, and it seemed like Spurs were taken by surprise. It created an early opportunity for Alexandre Lacazette, which he promptly blew.

 

Baseball players would call that a foul ball. Golfers would call it a great reason to toss their pitching wedge into the water hazard.

Arsenal should call it why they were forced to settle for a draw. It wouldn't be the only one on the day where they controlled their own destiny, either.

Spurs continued to leave too many open spaces, and in a lethal counter-attack, Ramsey broke through. In the 16th minute, Lacazette found him all alone at midfield, where he could free-range it all the way to Lloris. Dude found little resistance from him and capped the run:

 

Harry Kane even had a goal waved off for offside.

Adding to theirTottenham's frustration, the closest they could get to an equalizer was near the end of the half when Gunners 'keeper Bernd Leno was forced to make a double save to keep the visitors ahead.

 

Spurs kept pushing but struggled against a practically perfect Arsenal defense, which was very compact and solid. 

That worked until the 74th minute. It definitely looked like Kane was outta his lane on a free kick:

 

In the follow-on, Shkodran Mustafi fouled Kane.

Again, the Gunners were apoplectic, claiming the offside shoulda stopped play and thus negate the penalty.

They were wrong:

So Kane stepped into his office and did what the HarryKane MBE does:

 

Now, here's what it all looked like at game speed:

 

The match looked to be headed for a 1-1, but in the 89th, Arsenal had a golden chance to snatch victory, as they were awarded a penalty.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took the responsibility and ...

 

 

All things considered, maybe Arsenal shoulda played better if they wanted all three points.