Emery picks out one Arsenal star for special praise following draw at Tottenham

Unai Emery has praised Sokratis following his excellent performance during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley this afternoon.

The Gunners opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Aaron Ramsey raced clear before rounding Hugo Lloris to slot home and they had chances to double their lead against a below-par Tottenham side.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side got a stroke of luck when they were awarded a penalty in the 74th minute after Shkodran Mustafi had barged Harry Kane in the back inside the area. Arsenal fans were incensed as Kane was offside before the foul but the linesman failed to spot it and Kane converted to make it 1-1.

Arsenal had a golden chance to snatch a late win when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was fouled by Davinson Sanchez in the box but the Gabon hitman saw the resulting spot kick saved by Hugo Lloris so the visitors had to settle for a point.

Sokratis has been getting back to his best in recent games after recovering from an ankle injury and the Greek international once again lined-up alongside Laurent Koscielny at the heart of Arsenal’s defence earlier today.

The 30-year-old produced a superb display to snuff out any danger that Tottenham threw at the Gunners with Sokratis making a number of important interceptions – including one in the second half that would have led to a certain Kane goal.

Sokratis has slowly become a key player for Arsenal since joining the club from Borussia Dortmund last summer and Emery was full of praise for the centre-back after his excellent performance against Spurs.

Emery told Arsenal.com:

on Sokratis and his influence since signing…
His progress is very important for this performance and I think today he played well, but in the last matches he is coming with his best confidence in himself, for using his skills and his capacity to help us and he has experience to continue improving his progress with us, like today.

The draw today has left Arsenal sitting fifth in the table – four points adrift of Tottenham – after Man Utd beat Southampton to climb up to fourth so the Gunners will be hoping Sokratis continues his impressive form as they look to secure Champions League qualification.