The England striker cancelled out Kevin Wimmer's first-half own goal to ensure both sides went home with a point
Harry Kane's penalty ensured it was honours even in a spicy north London derby.
The hosts took the lead through Kevin Wimmer's own goal, although Spurs will feel aggrieved after a raft of Arsenal players appeared to be offside when Mesut Ozil swung the free kick over from the right-hand side.
That goal lit the blue touch paper and the game got more feisty as the afternoon continued, only for Spurs to stun the Gunners by getting back in it.
A lazy, brainless challenge from Laurent Koscielny on the impressive Mousa Dembele resulted in a penalty.
And Harry Kane, back in the side after injury, slotted it down the middle to level the score and despite hitting the post in the final minutes, Tottenham couldn't find a winner.
1. Pochettino’s back three hints at not trusting options
Toby Alderweireld has been a smash hit at White Hart Lane since his arrival from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2015, so much so that for some, he is now perhaps the Premier League’s best pound-for-pound defender.
The Belgian missed Spurs defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in midweek, and was again absent at the Emirates. At Wembley on Wednesday night, Pochettino paired Eric Dier and Jan Vertonghen, and the duo struggled, against the pace of Roger Schmidt’s attack.
For the North London derby - perhaps partially aided by the absence of Dele Alli - Pochettino elected to change things up; and not just in terms of personnel.
The Argentine moved to a 3-4-2-1 formation, with Dier and Vertonghen joined by Austrian Kevin Wimmer as the central figure in a back three. Wimmer impressed last term when Vertonghen was absent but has struggled for regular games this term, and was horribly exposed by Daniel Sturridge and Liverpool in the League Cup.
Much was made of Pochettino’s tactical change at kickoff, and during the opening 20 minutes - with Spurs starting brightly - it looked to be working.
But, in the plain light of day, was it actually a change based on exploiting an opposition weakness? Or quite simply the fact that, without the all-Belgian central defensive axis, Pochettino doesn’t fully trust his centre-halves.
2. Harry Kane, even half-fit, is an upgrade up front
Harry Kane hadn't pulled on a Tottenham shirt since September 18th, but was included in the starting lineup for the big one.
The England striker's absence was masked early on by Son Heung-Min going on a scoring run but when the Korean's goals dried up, Spurs' results began to suffer.
Vincent Janssen, the summer signing brought in to be Kane's relief man, has struggled for anything resembling even mediocre form.
So it was a huge boost to have local boy Kane back in their lineup.
While the £60million-rated centre-forward was clearly not back to 100%, his intelligent movement and presence was far more of an issue for Arsenal than Janssen would have been.
Kane's back-to-back 20-goal seasons command respect, and he was given that today. The goal may have come from the spot but it was a line-leading forward that Pochettino needed at the Emirates and he will be delighted to have had one again.
After six weeks without, Poch has finally got his main man back.
3. The offside law is not defined well enough
Kevin Wimmer was forced into stretching to intercept Mesut Ozil's curling free-kick and ended up heading the ball into the back of his own net.
Mauricio Pochettino will feel frustrated about the ambiguity of the offside law as Alexis Sanchez was clearly offside and positioned between the Austria international and Hugo Lloris.
"The way the law is written Sanchez does not make any offside offence," claimed Howard Webb on BT Sport.
The Argentinian would have been furious had his defender not attempted to win the ball, while Everton conceded two suspect goals against Chelsea, suggesting that, once again, the offside law is not defined well enough.
4. Mousa Dembele stars in two different roles
People around Tottenham seem to agree that when Dembele plays, Spurs play.
The Belgian midfielder has such a unique brand of power, technique and energy that he can make a whole team tick.
In the first half the former Fulham man was haring around, pressing and trying to win the ball in Arsenal territory but his second-half was more conservative, performing a deeper role and allowing Christian Eriksen more creative freedom ahead of him.
The danger comes when Dembele surges from that deep position though, and he won Spurs the equalising penalty when he picked up that ball and ran into the Arsenal box.
Koscielny's lazy tackle tripped the Belgian and there was no question - just as there wasn't about Harry Kane's 12-yard finish.
5. Draw leaves title race tantalisingly close
Tottenham will be happy with a draw away at their arch rivals as long as they can get the win at White Hart Lane, but on the balance of play they may even feel a little disappointed.
Arsenal, who knew a win would send them top today, may feel a little blue at missing that chance.
But the upshot is that the title race stays phenomenally close.
Liverpool will kick off shortly and are big favourites to finish the weekend as league leaders.
But even if they do beat Watford it will still be just two points separating the top four after a weekend where Man City slipped up and Chelsea staked a real claim.
Spurs, three points back from Arsenal and City, are close enough for now and with Harry Kane back they can be confident of results improving once again.
It's tighter than a mouse's jean pocket up there.
English Premier League
| Pos | Logo &Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Liverpool | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 14 | 16 | 26 |
| 2 |  Chelsea | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 9 | 17 | 25 |
| 3 |  Manchester City | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 10 | 15 | 24 |
| 4 |  Arsenal | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 24 |
| 5 |  Tottenham Hotspur | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 9 | 21 |
| 6 |  Manchester United | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 18 |
| 7 |  Everton | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 13 | 2 | 18 |
| 8 |  Watford | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 19 | -4 | 15 |
| 9 |  Burnley | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 15 | -4 | 14 |
| 10 |  Southampton | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 13 |
| 11 |  West Bromwich Albion | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 15 | -3 | 13 |
| 12 |  Stoke City | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 13 |
| 13 |  Bournemouth | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 12 |
| 14 |  Leicester City | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 12 |
| 15 |  Middlesbrough | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 11 |
| 16 |  Crystal Palace | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 19 | -3 | 11 |
| 17 |  West Ham United | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 20 | -9 | 11 |
| 18 |  Hull City | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 24 | -14 | 10 |
| 19 |  Swansea City | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 21 | -11 | 5 |
| 20 |  Sunderland | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 21 | -12 | 5 |
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