AFTER TEN YEARS, SEVEN MANAGERS and almost £130 million spent on new players, Tottenham Hotspur can finally compete with Arsenal more or less as equals. The balance of power may not have swung decisively, but there is cause for a vigorous debate on who is the cock of North London. Evidence from this full-blooded derby match proved inconclusive.

It is a sign of changing times that Arsenal celebrated returning from White Hart Lane with a paltry point as if they had won the game, whereas those players with a cockerel on their chests refused to crow. Tottenham had scented victory and were disappointed to draw, with Martin Jol, the head coach, detecting signs of relief from his opposite number, Arsène Wenger.

“The biggest evidence is that after the game they were yelling so they were very happy Arsenal,” Jol said. “And it must be a long time since they have settled for a draw because normally they go for the championship, so that was a good thing for us.

“Last year we had a couple of draws against Liverpool, but I think we are more solid now. We have better players and the only thing you can do is improve your game and deliver. My players all know how important this match is for all our supporters. I told them we have 1.2 million supporters in Britain and if you want to make them happy and not frustrated, you have to win this game.”

Wenger’s brow was furrowed with frustration in the first half as Tottenham showed a rare level of dominance, to such an extent that the Frenchman admitted his players were feeling insecure. Having dismissed Tottenham’s resurgence on the eve of the game, he was shocked to discover that it is all too real.

“I think the team was deeply affected by insecurity in the first half,” Wenger said. “I sensed it from outside, that we didn’t play enough or made it too complicated or were not smooth enough in our build-up. We got a little bit caught up in the hype about Tottenham and their so-called superiority. I’m not saying we didn’t believe in ourselves, I just felt we were a bit too cautious. It wasn’t a lack of belief. We were just too cautious and didn ’t want to make a mistake. That was a storm we came through and then we came back.”

As Michael Carrick powered Tottenham forward in the first half, Wenger had cause to regret turning his nose up at the former West Ham United midfield player, or at least confirming his interest at Arsenal’s recent annual meeting. The 24-year-old was simply magnificent, stroking the ball with pinpoint accuracy from the base of midfield and driving his team-mates on, causing some admirers to compare him to Glenn Hoddle in his pomp.

If that is going a bit too far, then Carrick has few peers in the Barclays Premiership, particularly when it comes to striking the ball with both feet. After floating a free kick into the penalty area with his right foot, which Ledley King headed home to give Tottenham the lead in the seventeenth minute, he demonstrated his prowess with his left, shooting powerfully across the goal from 25 yards.

With King a colossus at the back and Jermain Defoe lively up front, Arsenal’s sole England international, Sol Campbell, laboured and showed his age. The 31-year-old’s mind remains willing but his body is all too weak, as he was frequently caught in possession and gave the ball away. If Rio Ferdinand can get his head together — a big “if”, admittedly — then Campbell’s recent England recall against Austria could be his last.

The introduction of Robert Pires at half-time and Francesc Fàbregas’s move into the centre of midfield enabled Arsenal to claw themselves back into the contest, while Robin van Persie, a substitute, gave them added impetus, but it took a mistake for the visiting team to get a goal.

After handing Manchester United a goal the previous weekend, Paul Robinson punched away Dennis Bergkamp’s 77th-minute free kick only as far as Pires and the Frenchman earned redemption with a well-taken finish. Not that Robinson was taking the blame. “I just got something on it to try and help it out of the danger area,” the Tottenham goal- keeper said unconvincingly. “If it goes wide then I’ve done my job, but unfortunately it fell straight to Pires’s feet and he put it straight in.”

Jol defended his goalkeeper, but it was Wenger who was left smiling. Having dropped the ball over Carrick, his judgment on Robinson, another one-time target, cannot be faulted.