Gary Neville makes Arsenal admission after Tottenham draw with Man City

Manchester United legend Gary Neville applauded Tottenham’s second-half display against Manchester City (Picture: Getty)

Gary Neville declared Arsenal ‘the real winners’ of the weekend after Spurs fought back to hold Manchester City to a 2-2 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Second-placed City had looked to be cruising towards a comfortable victory as Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo scored at either end of the first half to silence an already subdued Tottenham crowd.

There were audible boos and jeers as Thomas Frank and his players made their way down the tunnel after what was a wretched all-round performance from the home team before the break.

But Tottenham came out a different side in the second period – and Dominic Solanke was the hero for the hosts, scoring twice in the space of 17 minutes to make it all square in north London .

The result means Arsenal finish the weekend with a six-point advantage at the top of the Premier League table, with Mikel Arteta’s men putting Leeds to the sword a day earlier .

It proved a dream 48 hours for the Gunners, who will have been desperate to respond after stumbling to a disappointing 3-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United in their previous contest.

After a midweek Carabao Cup semi-final second leg with Chelsea, Mikel Arteta’s men will look to tighten their grip on top spot when they return to Premier League action at home to Sunderland next Saturday.

Solanke scored twice to further dent City’s title hopes (Picture: Getty)

City now trail leaders Arsenal by six points (Picture: Getty)

‘A bizarre, bizarre game,’ ex-Manchester United and England right-back Neville – who has backed Arsenal to go on and win the title – said of City’s setback at Tottenham on Sky Sports.

‘At half-time it was almost sad in this ground, how low it felt.

‘It looked like a procession for City but, in the second half, you’ve got to give credit to Thomas Frank’s men.’

The points were shared at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (Picture: Getty)

Neville added: ‘They’ve played a second half that will have taken quite a lot of pressure off Frank.

‘There’s a smile from Thomas Frank… who would have thought that 45 minutes ago?

‘For City, it’s another bad one where they have demonstrated again their defensive vulnerabilities, their complacency, and Arsenal are the real winners.’

Arsenal thumped Leeds to tighten their grip on top spot on Saturday (Picture: Getty)

Speaking from the Sky Sports studio, Jamie Redknapp applauded Tottenham for the grit and determination they displayed in salvaging a point from the game.

‘The dressing room must have been a really dark, difficult place for everybody concerned,’ the ex-Spurs and England midfielder said.

‘Cristian Romero doesn’t come out for the second half, he’s your captain, so you’ve got no Micky van de Ven and no Romero.

Spurs have badly missed Solanke, says Redknapp (Picture: Getty)

‘Then you just think to yourself, and I’ve been in this position myself, that this team are so much better than us and it could be 5-0.

‘The players were despondent, there’s no energy in the stadium, but somehow they managed to turn it around and it was incredible.

‘Xavi Simons was fantastic, Joao Palhinha added energy, Conor Gallagher in midfield was fantastic as well, Pape Sarr gave you energy.’

According to Redknapp, the match demonstrated how badly Frank has missed Solanke’s presence up front, with the striker making only his fifth league appearance of the season.

‘It just showed you as well how much they’ve missed Dominic Solanke,’ Redknapp went on.

‘That’s been really difficult for the manager because you saw his quality today.

‘From Tottenham’s point of view, we have to congratulate them because they’ve been battered by everybody.’