Given that Harry Redknapp considers his players to be too soft, as he made clear to The Times in no uncertain terms on Saturday, it is perhaps just as well that Emmanuel Eboué is not an employee of Tottenham Hotspur.

The Arsenal player did his best to help out his opponents yesterday, however, having what would have been the only goal of the game disallowed and being sent off for two petulant bookings late in the first half, before watching through his hands as Arsenal valiantly clung on for a point in the second. In contrast to many of his team-mates, who deserved credit for staying strong in the face of adversity, Eboué appears to be soft in the head.

Unlike Redknapp, Arsène Wenger’s usual frankness does not extend to assessments of his own players, the Arsenal manager being quick to defend Eboué, particularly with regard to the push on Jonathan Woodgate that led Mike Dean to rule out his right-foot strike in the fourteenth minute.

If that decision appeared slightly harsh, Eboué’s sending-off was far easier to justify, with the Ivory Coast defender repeatedly chipping away in the referee’s ear and compounding his continuing show of dissent, for which he received his first yellow card, by flicking a kick at Luka Modric while laying prone on the turf in the 37th minute. Eboué — booed by his own supporters after a dismal performance at the Emirates Stadium in December — had to go, but unsurprisingly, Wenger saw it differently.

“The first yellow card was very harsh,” he said. “You have players who make 15 fouls in the game and don’t get booked. I didn’t see the second one. If he has retaliated, he deserves a yellow and then a red. We deal with things internally, but first I need to see it.

“I’ve seen the goal two times and I still do not know why it was disallowed. The referee saw a push from Eboué, but it is Woodgate who pushes him and stumbles over [Emmanuel] Adebayor and falls down. It’s nothing. It’s not acceptable in games like that. We had the best chances, we scored a regular goal that was cancelled out by an illusionary foul seen only by the referee. I believe we had a resilient and committed attitude but it’s two points dropped.”

While Wenger’s defence of his player was understandable — even if it was later contradicted by Eboué’s public apology — his reflections on the match itself lent grist to the mill of those who claim that the Frenchman is the most one-eyed leader since Nelson.

Tottenham were the better side and created the more clear-cut chances even before their numerical advantage, leaving Redknapp to lament his side’s continued poor finishing despite having spent almost £30 million on strikers in the transfer window. It is ten years since Spurs last beat their North London rivals in the league and it could be a while before they are presented with a better opportunity.

“I must have been at a different game today,” Redknapp said. “I thought I saw Tottenham dominate the game. I thought we were the better side when it was 11 v 11 — they hit us on the break a bit, but we dominated. It was only the last 15 minutes when we really pushed so many forward that they caught us on the break again.”

Arsenal demonstrated commendable resilience in the second half and had a great chance of their own when Alexandre Song volleyed wide from Robin van Persie’s corner, but for much of the match they were second best as Modric ran the game.

Wenger considered signing the Croatian on several occasions before concluding that he lacks the physical strength required in the Premier League — a strange assessment when the still slighter figure of Andrey Arshavin was seen warming up on the touchline yesterday — and was almost made to regret it.

From a starting point out on the left, Modric drifted inside to control the match, linking well with his strikers and being denied on several occasions by Manuel Almunia. The goalkeeper made a fine save at his near post in added time that earned his team a point, but Modric should have scored.

Modric was given a platform to perform by an outstanding first home appearance from Wilson Palacios, whose energy, commitment and neat passing are already making his £12 million transfer fee look like the bargain of the transfer window. In previous years such qualities would have been the preserve of Arsenal, but Denilson and Song were pale imitations by comparison.

Robbie Keane was as industrious as ever on his return to White Hart Lane, but missed a good chance when heading Aaron Lennon’s cross over the bar.

Arsenal’s cause was not helped when Adebayor limped off with a pulled hamstring in the 38th minute, an injury that will keep him out for three weeks, although with Arshavin and Eduardo Da Silva on the bench yesterday, a haul of one goal from their past four matches should improve. Even soft goals would do for these sides at this stage of the season.

Tottenham (4-4-2): C Cudicini 6 - V Corluka 5, M Dawson 5, J Woodgate 6, B Assou-Ekotto 5 - A Lennon 6, W Palacios 7, J Jenas 6, L Modric 8 - R Pavlyuchenko 6, R Keane 6. Substitutes: D Bent (for Pavlyuchenko, 64min), P Chimbonda (for Corluka, 75), A Taarabt (for Lennon, 87). Not used: H Gomes, G Bale, D Zokora, T Huddlestone. Next: Hull City (a).

Arsenal (4-4-2): M Almunia 6 - B Sagna 6, K Touré 6, W Gallas 7, G Clichy 6 - E Eboué 4, Denilson 5, A Song 5, S Nasri 6 - E Adebayor 5, R van Persie 6. Substitutes: N Bendtner 6 (for Adebayor, 36min), K Gibbs (for Clichy, 87). Not used: L Fabianski, Eduardo, A Ramsey, J Djourou, A Arshavin. Next: Sunderland (h).

Referee: M Dean Attendance: 36,021