Sunday, 28th December 1997
White Hart Lane

	Tottenham Hotspur	1	VS	1	Arsenal
Walker, Calderwood, Fox (Domingues, 60), Neilsen, Carr, Ginola (Iversen, 66), Vega, Wilson, Campbell, Clemence, Klinsmann.			Attendance 29,610 Referee M A Riley	Seaman, Dixon (Grimandi, 27), Winterburn, Vieira, Bould, Anelka (Rankin, 86), Bergkamp (Hughes, 79), Overmars, Keown, Parlour, Petit.
Subs not used: Baardsen, Mabbutt, Scales				Subs not used: Manninger, Upson.
Booked: Campbell, Wilson.				Booked: Bould, Keown.
Goal Scorer: Nielsen 28				Goal Scorer: Parlour 62

No magic wand, and he is not Santa Claus - but at least Jurgen Klinsmann has sprinkled a bit of bite and fight over Tottenham even if they are now in the bottom two after today's derby draw with Arsenal.     Klinsmann's return has been hailed as all Spurs fans' Christmas and new year wishes rolled into one, and the German showed he has lost none of his sheer enthusiasm.     But the German captain knows he has rejoined a very different Tottenham team from the one he left two-and-a-half years ago.     There's no Teddy Sheringham, no Nick Barmby, no Gica Popescu, and once again, today at least, no Darren Anderton or Les Ferdinand either - in short, it's a side which will have to battle and scrap for every single point.     They did that, though, in a north London derby that never hit the heights, and it looked as if, even if the fairytale would not come to pass, they would get the next best thing when Allan Nielsen crashed home from a Klinsmann flick just before the half-hour.     Yet self-inflicted wounds have hounded Tottenham before and since Christian Gross' arrival, and so it came to pass again as Ramon Vega's half-hearted block sent Ray Parlour's strike beyond a stranded Ian Walker.     Not even the inspiration of Klinsmann's return could spark Spurs into a second goal, and indeed Arsenal could justly feel the more disappointed to have finished with just one point.     But with Dennis Bergkamp again peripheral, north London's championship challenge now looks almost dead. Only the relegation dogfight will concern this corner of the capital for the next five months.
The expectations on Klinsmann were immense, despite the German's intimations of his own mortality yesterday, and his presence did inspire Tottenham to a bright start.     Klinsmann himself, not surprisingly, was involved in much of what was good, spinning expertly off Steve Bould before crossing deep for Steve Clemence to float a header across goal.     But, while Spurs had effort, they had only one real front man, Ferdinand's continued absence seeing David Ginola forming a Franco-German alliance.     Arsenal were without their main hitman as well, Ian Wright beginning his latest ban, although Parlour might have put the Gunners ahead when he burst from half-way in the seventh minute before firing a yard wide.
That, though, was the sum total of Arsenal's attacking intent for the first half-hour, as Spurs called what few shots there were, even if they always seemed to be defending on the margins.     A spectacular overhead scissors kick by Ginola went straight at David Seaman, who also gathered easily from Nielsen, while Ginola's floated free-kick dropped the wrong side of the bar.     Arsenal were not helped when Lee Dixon was forced to make way - victim of an early ankle injury - for Gilles Grimandi, and the Frenchman had barely settled in when Spurs went in front.     Ginola spread wide right and Ruel Fox - otherwise a huge let-down - poked past Nigel Winterburn and flashed in to the near post.     Klinsmann, battling with Martin Keown, appeared to get the slightest of touches, and when the ball dropped on the half-volley eight yards out Nielsen drilled home.     The response was almost instant. Sol Campbell, ever a tower of defensive strength, did just enough to block Marc Overmars, but then Bergkamp's clever heel-flick found Emmanuel Petit.     For once, even Campbell was found wanting as Petit played in Nicolas Anelka, and the young French striker's first-timer beat Ian Walker all ends up, only to bounce back off the foot of the goalkeeper's right-hand post.     That made it two bits of quality after a dearth of such moments, and with passions now raised on and off the pitch - even Klinsmann was involved in a verbal skirmish with Keown - Arsenal began to force the pace.     But they could not force the equaliser, Anelka shooting weakly before Campbell got the slightest of touches to deflect an Overmars right-footer wide of the target.     Tottenham's problems all season have been after the interval, but today they did start the second half brightly.

Klinsmann, whose effort never dimmed, nearly put Ginola in; Steve Clemence forced a less than sure gather from Seaman, and Ginola broke from deep to fire over the top.      Yet all the time it looked as if the Spurs back-line was more sieve than bucket, and within a minute of Jose Domingues replacing Fox, Arsenal were on terms.      Vega had originally cleared Petit's corner, but Spurs did not close down as Winterburn fed Parlour.      When the midfielder let fly from 25 yards, Vega's attempt to block succeeded only in sending Walker the wrong way as the ball nestled in the bottom corner.      It was wretched luck for the Swiss defender, although Spurs had been living on their nerves for some time. Yet after their recent problems Gross would probably have settled for one point.

Arsenal needed more, of course, Anelka volleying close after Vega had again not got enough distance on his clearance, but once Bergkamp - still without a Premiership goal since October 4 - went off 10 minutes from time, both sides seemed happy to settle with what they had.      Klinsmann almost put Domingues away five minutes from time, Colin Calderwood thumping a couple of feet over, but a draw was no more than they deserved.      It was not exactly the script the Spurs fans had written in their minds before the start, but it was still better than it might have been.      Klinsmann will know this is just the start of a long road to salvation. Effort is one thing, but effort alone might not be enough.

	See the goal...
	Hear the goal...