Superior Arsenal suckered

Tottenham 2, Arsenal 2:Arsenal would be wise to learn some Americanisms in case Stan Kroenke comes up with a share offer which finds their pukka English board abandoning Elgar for Sousa. One that comes to mind is about never giving a sucker an even break, a habit which has plagued Arsenal all season and saw them held to a draw at Tottenham in a game they should have won by a mile.

Having fallen behind to Robbie Keane's goal on the half-hour and hit posts or bar three times before going ahead in the second half through Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal continued to dominate the match until the fifth and final minute of stoppage time when Jermaine Jenas snatched a point for Spurs. The result left Arsene Wenger's team needing one point to wrap up a place in the Champions League qualifiers next season and kept alive Tottenham's chances of making it to the Uefa Cup.

Wenger was more than satisfied with the reaction of his team to the departure of David Dein.Having reassured his players he would not be following Dein out Wenger was rewarded, in the second half at least, with another of those displays of perceptive passing and athletic, intelligent movement that have distinguished so many of their games this season.

"We should have had more goals," he said, "but it showed outstanding spirit to come from a goal down after the week we'd had."

For all that, the outlook at the Emirates is bound to be unsettled. In football matters Dein and Wenger worked together, with the vice-chairman handling the players' comings and goings. "I always left the ugly part to David as much as I could," Wenger said.

"Now it will be more difficult and more time-consuming because he did a lot of work, especially negotiation-wise."

Spurs are an improving side but until Jenas scored their equaliser the gap between Martin Jol's team and the Premier League elite looked as wide as ever.

Even so they began well enough to suggest they were capable of beating Arsenal for the first time in 15 Premiership encounters and went ahead when Michael Dawson headed down a corner for Keane to nod the ball past Jens Lehmann. Enter the outstanding Cesc Fabregas, who began the match on the bench, to send in Emmanuel Eboue for a shot against the far post which was followed after half-time by headers from Toure and Adebayor hitting post and bar.

Free-kicks from Fabregas saw Toure score with a shot which ricocheted in off Paul Robinson and Adebayor rise above Dawson to head Arsenal into a lead which they preserved with ease until Jenas ran on to a return pass from Steed Malbranque to drive a long low shot beyond Lehmann.

"That's the story of our season so far," said Wenger.

Even Jol conceded that "in the first half I would have been disappointed with a draw but in the second half they could have had a third or a fourth."

Wenger implied that Arsenal did not need fresh money from Kroenke or anybody else. "We will not change the team. It will remain as it is at the moment and we will get injured players back. We want to keep the core of the team and the spirit of the team. The necessary quality is there."

Arsenal need to rediscover the art of beating opponents with goals rather than bewildering them with science, then leaving the lab unlocked. Unless Thierry Henry can regain form and fitness and maintain both, this may mean expensive signings rather than expansive words.