( dpa ) - Tottenham Hotspur hold a slight edge in their Carling Cup showdown with north London rivals Arsenal after coming away from the Emirates Stadium with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their semi-final on Wednesday.
But they will be kicking themselves for missing a host of chances to kill the game as Arsenal snatched an equaliser on the night in the dying minutes.
The away goal, though, still gives them an advantage for the second leg at White Hart Lane.
Jermaine Jenas put Spurs ahead nine minutes before half-time but Theo Walcott bundled in a fortunate leveller 12 minutes from the end to give Arsenal's youngsters hope of reaching Wembley.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger stuck with the youngsters who had made it to the semi-finals, though Philippe Senderos came into the defence. But the Swiss had all sorts of problems as Tottenham dominated the first half.
Dimitar Berbatov, Steed Malbranque and Jamie O'Hara all went close before Jenas scored, side-footing into an empty net after good work from Robbie Keane.
With Arsenal struggling for their usual fluency, Spurs should have put the game beyond them in the second half, with Keane shooting narrowly wide.
As the clock ticked on, almost inevitably Arsenal made them pay but their goal had more than a touch of fortune about it as Lee Young-pyo's tackle rebounded off the chest of Walcott and looped over the head of Radek Cerny in the Tottenham goal.
The visitors still should have won it but Jermain Defoe, within two minutes of coming on as a late substitute, fired over the bar from close range, in front of the watching England manager Fabio Capello.