WATCH: Arsenal take lead vs Spurs with Saka strike and huge Romero deflection

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The Argentine's own goal gave the Gunners the advantage against Tottenham, but Son Heung-min levelled later in the first half

Cristian Romero deflects a Bukayo Saka shot into his own net in the north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium in September 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

A Bukayo Saka strike from just inside the area gave Arsenal the lead over Tottenham in the north London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday – courtesy of a huge deflection off Spurs defender Cristian Romero.

Arsenal dominated the opening exchanges in the derby as Spurs struggled to get out of midfield and it was no real surprise when the Gunners made their pressure count by going ahead after 26 minutes.

But there was an element of fortune to the goal as Romero stuck out a leg in an attempted clearance and diverted the ball past a helpless Guglielmo Vicario to give Mikel Arteta's side the advantage.

The strike initially looked set to be awarded to Saka, but goes down as an own goal for Romero.

On Sky Sports commentary, Gary Neville said the Spurs centre-back needed to take responsibility for the mistake. "It's rash," he said. "Romero sticks his leg out."

Not long afterwards, a mistake by James Maddison allowed Gabriel Jesus a clear shot at goal, but the Brazil forward fired over the bar.

Martin Odegaard had a long-range effort saved by Vicario after that as Arsenal continued to dominate, but Gunners goalkeeper David Raya denied Brennan Johnson with an unbelievable stop in Spurs' best attack approaching the interval.

Son Heung-min then levelled for Spurs with 42 minutes on the clock to silence the Emirates after a mistake by Raya kept the ball in play and Maddison squared for the South Korean to hit a low shot in off the post.

The two teams went in on level terms at the interval.

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed Aaron Ramsdale's reaction after he was recently dropped and lost his place to summer signing David Raya.

Ramsdale had looked set to return for the derby on Sunday, but Raya started again and has now been preferred in each of the last three matches by Arteta.

And Ramsdale has already been linked with a move away from north London, with Chelsea and Bayern Munich reportedly keen on the England international.

Ben Hayward
Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.