Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham: Per Mertesacker happy sharing points with Spurs

Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker believes that their 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur is a good result in the grand scheme of things, given the Gunners came into the fixture on the back of two difficult away games against Swansea City and Bayern Munich. Both the games were extremely taxing on the players.

The Gunners beat Swansea 3-0, but were not afforded the same luxury against Bayern, who thumped them 5-1 in a forgettable outing for Arsene Wenger's men. Tottenham on the other hand were by far the better team in the fixture, with the Gunners failing to test Hugo Lloris in the first half, while Harry Kane made it three goals in his last two league meetings against the Gunners.

Arsenal came back with renewed vigour in the second half, but the array of injuries and the fatigue meant that they were second best to the challenges. Olivier Giroud missed a couple of chances to put the Gunners ahead, including hitting the bar, but it was Kieran Gibbs who gave them something to cheer about.

Mesut Ozil delivered a pitch perfect pass from the right flank on to substitute Gibbs, who came in place of Joel Campbell, and stormed forward in the space vacated by Alexis Sanchez to level the scores. Mertesacker, who defended astutely through most of the game believes that the smash and grab job done by the Gunners bodes well for the future and that the point was more than what they actually deserved from the game.

"I think it's a good point for us in terms of how we played the first half. We approached the second half a bit differently, fought for each other in a different way, had some good chances from set-pieces and that says a lot about the game. In the end it's a good point for us," Mertesacker told Arsenal's official website.

"Obviously you want more when you equalise but we have to be happy after the first half. They pressed us really well and as soon as they stopped a little bit, we took more initiative," he added.