Right-back Walker provides competition for England
Amid the maelstrom at White Hart Lane on Sunday was a battle between what could be England's future in the full-back positions.
Arsenal's left-back Kieran Gibbs was pitted against Tottenham right-back Kyle Walker and both had an influence on the key moments in a game rich in entertainment.
The Spurs player has rightly grabbed all the headlines for his 25-yard strike to win the game and his inclusion in the England squad to face Montenegro on Friday shows that his development is currently more advanced than his Gunners opponent.
Gibbs, on the other hand, played his part in Arsenal conceding the first goal, according to Match of the Day 2 expert Lee Dixon, and is playing in a backline that showed yet more of the "schoolboy defending" the former Gunners defender believes could leave them struggling to make the Premier League's top eight come the end of the season.
The other difference between the pair is that, with Liverpool right-back Glen Johnson injured, Walker may benefit from a more open race to be included in England boss Fabio Capello's plans when it comes to the European Championship next summer.
In England's last two fixtures against Bulgaria and Wales, Manchester United's Chris Smalling was preferred, while there is also team-mate Phil Jones and Manchester City's Micah Richards.
For left-back, in contrast, it is hard to see beyond Chelsea's Ashley Cole with Everton's Leighton Baines in reserve.
To begin with on Sunday in front of the watching Capello, Walker was among Tottenham's most prominent attackers.
And although he did have to keep a watchful eye on Gervinho, he was still confident enough to attack in the latter stages by latching onto the loose ball to score his first goal for the club.
"I've watched him develop and he seems like he's doing well game after game," says Dixon. "He certainly likes getting forward and his attacking prowess is there for all to see.
"He took Gibbs on in the first few minutes of the game and set the tone on the right-hand side. He looked a threat all day and capped it off with a great goal. He has all the attributes to be a really good full-back and deserves his place in the England squad."
It has taken some time for Walker to establish himself in the thoughts of Spurs boss Harry Redknapp.
Having signed the 21-year-old from his boyhood club Sheffield United in 2009, he then dispatched him back to the Blades for most of the 2009-10 season, and Walker spent last term on loan at QPR and Aston Villa, where he also impressed.
But now that competition for the right-back position is a little lighter without Alan Hutton, Walker is profiting from a consistent run in the side and it will be interesting to see whether he can seal a place in Capello's squad bound for Poland and Ukraine next summer.
Overall on Sunday, there was an argument to say that the game was won and lost in midfield.
With an extra man there, Arsenal had 62% of possession and once Aaron Ramsey equalised just after the interval, there was a period where they looked like they might go on to win the game.
But sensing where his team were falling short, Redknapp introduced Sandro to replace opening goalscorer Rafael van der Vaart, and almost immediately Spurs looked stronger.
It might have looked like clever tactics by the Spurs boss, with both Van der Vaart and Sandro having a hand in Tottenham's goals, but Dixon believes they were preventable and further proof of Arsenal's weakness at the back.
"It is getting embarrassing," Dixon laments. "Arsenal get themselves in position where they are the better team in midfield for big chunks of the game but defend like schoolboys by giving two goals away and numerous other chances that can be avoided by just concentrating and being a bit more professional.
"The second goal is a great strike by Walker, where the keeper was beaten by the swerve of the ball, but it came from a throw in where there was no danger whatsoever. They just let Sandro run into the box with nobody getting within five yards of him and it was his cross that led to the goal.
"The first goal all starts with a cross-field pass into Van der Vaart and, for whatever reason, Gibbs decides to follow him and comes right out of position from left-back. From then on, they are short down their left side so when Jermain Defoe drops into space Per Mertesacker is drawn over and that leaves massive room for Van der Vaart to run into the box to receive a fabulous ball from Emmanuel Adebayor.
"Bacary Sagna was too far wide as well and maybe there was a touch of handball about the goal, but if they stay as a back four unit it could have been avoided.
"There are lots of pluses and it's not all doom and gloom but ultimately it all falls back to the same thing: Arsenal are frail. They can concede goals from schoolboy errors and until they stop that they will carry on being frail and that's the worrying sign."
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