Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that midfielder Santi Cazorla was playing the first half of the north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur today in a dizzy state.
Tottenham were the better side in the opening 45 minutes, despite Arsenal's bright start at the Emirates Stadium, and took the lead when Danny Rose picked out Harry Kane, who sprung the offside trap and scored around the half-hour mark.
Wenger pulled Cazorla off at half time and replaced him with Mathieu Flamini.
Arsenal eventually got back into the game when Mesut Ozil found Kieran Gibbs at the back post, the defender prodding the ball beyond Hugo Lloris to make it 1-1.
The Gunners could not find a winner though and had to settle for a point.
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And Wenger, speaking to Sky Sports after the match, explained the situation with Cazorla, saying: "The game could have gone both ways. We were a bit unlucky as well because we played the first half with Santi Cazorla who was half conscious.
"I changed him at half-time. I don’t know what happened to him.
"He felt perfectly alright earlier, but when we went to go back out they said he felt dizzy."
Overall, Wenger feels his players showed real character to refuse to lose the north London derby.
"Tottenham bossed the first half, Santi Cazorla was not at the races. We had restricted options on the bench.
"I must give credit to players, they refused to lose the game", the Arsenal manager added.
