Arsenal came from behind at White Hart Lane to salvage a much-needed point, after Francis Coquelin saw red just after half time.
The Gunners shaky start was soon countered with a stunning strike from Aaron Ramsey, who flicked the ball over the head of Hugo Lloris to silence the home crowd.
But it was the mistake of Arsenal’s holding midfielder, Coquelin, who picked up a second yellow card after a clumsy lunge on Harry Kane, leaving Arsene Wenger’s side stranded.
Following a seven minute spell, Spurs snatched an advantage through a superb strike from Harry Kane, which would see them reach the top of the table if it stayed that way.
However, this was a day in which the character of Arsenal needed to be tested, and after a shift around in formation, Alexis Sanchez found the net through the slippy hands of Lloris.
All in all it was a fair result for both sides, and despite their multiple critics Arsenal managed to relish a substantial performance, showing that needed desire after losing a man with 35 minutes to play.
Fresh Arsenal have picked out five of the key moments the Gunners can take forward, in order to carry on challenging at the top of the table.
1 – We’ve Found Our Defensive Midfield
Despite the performance from Coquelin, we certainly learnt something from Arsene Wenger’s gamble to partner two defensive midfielders together.
Much to the joys of the Arsenal fans, Mohammed Elneny was handed his first full Premier League debut against Spurs, and the former Basel man didn’t disappoint.
The decision to play a more defensive game was understandable from Wenger, and it gave us the option to break with the pace of Alexis and Danny Welbeck.
But this was a huge game to throw the January signing in to, and fortunately he took it with full discipline and continued his consistent performance in an Arsenal shirt.
After he was substituted at the 75th minute, the Egyptian finished with a pass success rate of 80% and looked good in aerial duels, but most importantly he refrained from picking up a card.
He certainly looks like the right option sitting in front of the defence, following some questionable performances from Aaron Ramsey in previous fixtures.
And with the news that Santi Cazorla could miss the rest of the season following an injury setback, players like Elneny need to stand up and be counted.
This is of course a bit of a different option from Wenger, it’s more defensive and allows us to pick up freedom in the final third, knowing that Elneny and Coquelin are capable of dealing with threatening dribbles from the opposition.