The moment in Arsenal vs Tottenham North London Derby more controversial than Romero's handball
All eyes were on the Cristian Romero handball which gifted Arsenal their second goal in the North London Derby but Eddie Nketiah might just be feeling a bit relieved that the officials did not look too hard at his lunge at Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
The Gunners had begun the match working hard in the press and had successfully recovered the ball a number of times, most notably when Gabriel Jesus robbed James Maddison and fired over the crossbar in what proved to be a key moment in the encounter as the hosts failed to build on their 1-0 lead in that moment after Romero's own goal.
Spurs grew in confidence, found a leveller through Son Heung-min and even when the hosts were handed another goal after Romero's arm was struck in the box and Bukayo Saka scored the resulting penalty kick, Son found another equaliser within a minute.
The visitors started to control large periods of the game and were good value for their share of the spoils, restricting Arsenal to pot shots from distance.
The hosts' pressing from the first half naturally declined in the second period after their efforts in midweek in the Champions League and perhaps Nketiah grew frustrated with his own performance, which brought only a 15th minute shot that Vicario had saved.
So in the 67th minute, the 24-year-old went flying in trying to block the Italian goalkeeper's pass out from the back. There seemed no intent to hurt his opponent but his studs were up — he will say because he was trying to get the side of his right foot in the way of the pass — and Vicario was incredibly fortunate that the launched and low motion of the challenge end up sweeping his own right foot between Nketiah's legs.
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