While Tottenham would be delighted to finish in the Premiership's top six this season, Arsenal would be distraught were they to miss a Champions League place. The away point that Arsenal took from the latest north London derby, therefore, meant less than losing two of the three they thought were theirs.

Arsenal would have won but for Richard Wright spoiling an otherwise impeccable display of goalkeeping when he fumbled a shot from Gustavo Poyet in stoppage time. Then again, Wright might have mistaken the ball for a white balloon with "Judas" printed on it.

The error would have been forgivable, as the match had long since become a subplot to one of those concerted displays of hatred which put football fans on a par with the devotees of Big Brother in George Orwell's 1984.

On its arrival at White Hart Lane the Arsenal team bus was pelted with coins. During the kick-in the Spurs supporters ran a bile trial, and the match proceeded against a backcloth of balloon-toting Judas-haters.

The object of the vilification was Sol Campbell, who after nine seasons at Tottenham had moved three miles down the road to Arsenal. Campbell dutifully saw out his contract at Spurs, but still aroused the fans' fury by appearing to commit himself to the club before going over to the enemy.

None of which excused abuse that recalled the ordeal suffered by Paul Ince when he went back to Upton Park after leaving West Ham for Manchester United. But Campbell was treated like a man who devours children on a regular basis.

According to Glenn Hoddle, the Tottenham manager, Campbell could have "expected a bit of stick". Hoddle was even pleased with the crowd.

"They always got behind the team," he said, adding that "if you give marks in the papers we'll give them nine out of 10 shall we?"

For blowing up balloons, certainly, although the Football Association may want to investigate the throwing of a water-bottle at Campbell during the game.

Undemonstrative by nature, Campbell maintained a massive stoicism throughout and did not allow the atmosphere to affect his normal game of tackling strongly and passing badly.

What was equally impressive was the consistency with which Campbell's under-21 successor in the Tottenham defence, Ledley King, not only won the ball but used it perceptively.

During a frantic, turgid opening to the game, King's composure stood out like a character in a Batman cartoon: the man who took time to think in a north London derby. Eventually he was joined by Darren Anderton and Gustavo Poyet, who gained sufficient control in midfield to open the left flank for Christian Ziege's sprints and centres.

The speed and accuracy of the German's crosses represented Spurs' best hope of a half-time lead, and it was from Ziege's corner on the right that Dean Richards, coming up from the back, headed against the underside of the crossbar.

Arsenal's attack, badly missing the injured Thierry Henry, did not make itself known until after half-time, before which Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires had been anonymous while Sylvain Wiltord was a French poodle thrown into a pack of pit bulls.

In the second half Patrick Vieira and Pires became more of an influence while that of Ziege waned (after all, there must be a limit to how many Judas balloons one Christian can take). With nine minutes remaining, Wiltord, coming in on one diagonal, overran the ball sufficiently for Pires, arriving on the other, to fire a shot beyond Neil Sullivan.

Tottenham were saved when one of Hoddle's substitutes, Simon Davies, gave a second, Sergei Rebrov, an opportunity to provide the cross from which Poyet hooked the scores level. Wenger was annoyed not so much with Wright's error as that Arsenal had allowed themselves to be caught on the break when victory was all but assured.

TOTTENHAM: Sullivan, Perry, King, Richards, Taricco, Freund (Davies 85), Anderton, Poyet, Ziege, Ferdinand (Rebrov 70), Sheringham. Subs Not Used: Beasant, Bunjevcevic, Thatcher. Booked: Ferdinand, Sheringham. Goals: Poyet 90.

ARSENAL: Wright, Lauren, Campbell, Keown, Cole, Parlour, Vieira, Grimandi, Pires, Bergkamp (Kanu 70), Wiltord. Subs Not Used: Ljungberg, Taylor, van Bronckhorst, Tavlaridis. Booked: Keown. Goals: Pires 81.

Referee: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).