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Arsenal and Spurs shared the spoils as an end-to-end, exhilarating contest between the eternal rivals ended in a 2-2 draw. Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane stepped up for the visitors, before Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice to take away one point.
The game began just like a North London derby should, with pace and even-sided duels on either side of the pitch. The hosts, on the back of deafening support from their fans early on, started on the front foot as Aubameyang set up an overlapping Kolasinac down the left. The ball eventually fell to Pepe, who blazed his shot over.
Six minutes on, Lacazette again let one fly but only missed by inches as his shot went wide. Against the run of play, however, Christian Eriksen rediscovered his smile and goal-scoring touch as Spurs took the lead on enemy territory.
The Danish wizard appeared to be in the mood, as he tested the outstretching arms of Bernd Leno once again moments later. So did Son Heung-Min, who's curler needed the Arsenal shot-stopper to be at his supreme best.
Just when it seemed like Arsenal were slowing things down and adapting to Spurs' counter, Granit Xhaka gave away a reckless penalty to the visitors. And, you know what happened next when Harry Kane stepped up.
However, just before the nick of time in the first 45, Alexandre Lacazette exchanged a couple of fine passes before lashing onto a laser-like pass from Pepe and halving the deficit.
The Gunners again probed early on in the second half, with the same man directing a header on goal. They then began to attack from the wider areas, as a fine cross from Pepe was helped on by Torriera to Guendouzi, who if not for Lloris' left hand, would've restored parity.
Proceedings and tension inside the Emirates hotted up as the game swung from one end to the other, with Sead Kolasinac's off side being the most notable moment - a move that was eventually slid into goal by Sokratis.
On that note, we look at five players who underwent contrasting expeditions in the tightly contested North London derby.
#5 Hit: Matteo Guendouzi
In the simplest of terms, Guendouzi was everywhere on the pitch. The midfielder made up for lost ground time and time again, shielded his colleagues in the center of the park, chipped in with tackles and interceptions and put in an all-round shift.
Be it with his passing or positioning, the youngster was on top of his game. Repeatedly, he won the ball back in fine areas of the pitch for his side and sprayed all sorts of passes across the channels to his teammates.
Most significantly, Guendouzi was brave in the middle thirds of the field while lunging into tackles. To cap off his scintillating display, the Frenchman also provided the assist for Aubameyang's decisive goal.
#4 Flop: Davinson Sanchez
Here's a center half who at times, looked like a fish out of water when Arsenal brought the double team in the form of Kolasinac and Aubameyang against him. Sanchez was tasked with filling the right back's role in Kyle Walker-Peters' absence.
Fair to say, Sanchez struggled to keep pace with the overlap of Kolasinac, as either he failed to get close to the wing-back, or pick the run of Aubameyang inside the box. As seen in the third minute of the fixture itself, Sanchez was caught napping with Kolasinac drifted out wide to cross.
As the match wore on, Sanchez began to leave more gaps in behind him and struggled to find a quick pass or clear the ball. Going forward too, he was almost absent in terms of supporting Son and supplying crosses.
While defending set-pieces too, Sanchez, who was at the back of the cue, failed to win the first ball. His evening was summed up when in the 83rd minute, the 23-year-old's clearance landed straight to Mkhitaryan in the box, almost gifting Arsenal their third.
#3 Hit: Christian Eriksen
Boy, Christian Eriksen was in the mood today. Over the last four years or so, besides Lloris' commanding presence in goal, the successful center-back pairing of Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen and Harry Kane's sumptuous goal-scoring boots, Spurs' fortunes on the pitch have been held together by Eriksen.
It's almost as though the Danish midfielder runs the pace of the game, regardless of the opposition. At times, as per his wish, he seems to spark life into games when his side haven't been at their lethal best.
And here he was today, after long, dictating the run of play with his intelligent positioning, passing and creativity. Firstly, let's take a moment to appreciate his willingness to get on the end of a silky move by Spurs. It's usually he who creates, but this time around, Eriksen was there to tap home the opener.
Furthermore, the innovative midfielder received a lot of passes, freed up space for his strikers and was excellent on the dead ball. You knew that he'd have a big part to play for Spurs to have mustered anything away from home against their fierce rivals.
#2 Flop: Granit Xhaka
Once again, Granit Xhaka proved to be a major letdown for his club. The very reason behind Spurs' dominance in the first half was a tactical masterclass from Pochettino, who asked the likes of Eriksen and Son to join up with an energetic Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko.
Result? Arsenal were made to chase whenever Spurs broke free. They looked extremely vulnerable to a more direct threat as well as their opponents' counter-attacking display. Due to the above tactical breakdown, it's safe to say that Arsenal were outnumbered in midfield throughout the first half.
One of the members of the guilty party happened to be Granit Xhaka, who didn't quite track back as he would have liked to, or direct the ones in front of him to slot in and defend Tottenham's counter. After all, he's the main source of communication at the center of the ground.
To add to his misery, the Switzerland international conceded one of the cheapest fouls you'd ever see against Son when he needlessly brought the Spurs winger down. Not for the first time, the defensive midfielder has evoked this sense of recklessness from his side in a crunch encounter.
#1 Hit: Alexandre Lacazette
The Frenchman played just under 70 minutes on the day, but he was by far Arsenal's and perhaps the game's, best player.
Lacazette used the space-time concept often associated with the Arsenal teams of old to great effect, as he ran tirelessly down the middle, played a host of one-twos with his teammates and remained involved in some of the best exchanges completed or attempted by Unai Emery's side.
The striker played in various positions, added fluidity to the forward line and fed the likes of Pepe and Aubameyang selflessly. He also worked his socks off and won as many as three tackles from advanced positions in the second period of the game. He also attacked every pass and loose ball.
Lacazette rounded off another brilliant move to show just how good he can be on the cusp of half time when he drilled a blistering strike past Lloris to get his side right back in it.
Pepe had played a quick pass to him, but he did ever so well to suck the venom out of the pass, keep it close to his body and then fire his team's first goal of the evening.
