Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 2 Ars*nalBarclay's Premiership - 21 April 2007 – White Hart Lane - 12:45 kick-off
Jermaine Jenas hits a stunning last minute equaliser to give Spurs a point in the 156th North London derby at White Hart Lane. With both teams looking to gain points in their quests to gain European qualification, whether it is UEFA Cup or the Champions League the points were shared after Jenas’ cracking goal.Spurs went into the game on the back of the thrilling 3-3 draw with Wigan 6 days earlier whereas Ars*nal had beaten Bolton and then Man City midweek to cement their place in 4th.
Martin Jol made only one change from the game at the JJB, bringing the rested King in for Ifill. King slotted into the heart of defence with Ricardo Rocha moving to left back. Lennon continued on the left with Tainio slotting on the right hand side of midfield. Ars*nal also made one enforced change with Ljunberg replacing Fabregas who retreated to the bench due to a virus.
Jol and Wenger watch on from the sidelines.The game started brightly with Spurs flying out of the blocks and immediately attacking Ars*nal. Dimitar Berbatov had a half chance after a poor header from Gallas, but the Bulgarian’s lob drifted wide. Tottenham continued to attack Ars*nal, utilising Lennon and Keane’s pace and Berbatov’s crafty touches. Ars*nal quickly moved into their swift passing football, keeping possession and passing to feet. Spurs happily let Ars*nal play in their own half and restricted the Gunners to play out wide, constricting the space infield.
Ars*nal thought they had gone ahead on 10 minutes when Adebayor put the ball in the Spurs net, only to see the flag raised as Ljunberg was adjudged to be in an offside position. For all Ars*nals’ possession, Spurs were creating the better chances with the lively Zokora shooting wide twice. Ars*nal keeper Lehman was frustrated at corners with Berbatov standing on his toes. Jenas’ delivery though was poor and JJ also wasted a good free kick 25 yards out, sweeping it over the bar. Spurs thought were soon to open the deadlock.
With almost half an hour gone Spurs won another corner and again Lehman lashed out at Berbatov who was simply standing his ground. The Keeper, Berbatov and Abou Diaby got booked in the incident. This may have detracted the away team’s concentration as Jenas whipped the corner into the penalty area. Dawson rose above Toure to direct the header goal wards to where Robbie Keane pounced to nod home from 4 yards. The goal sent WHL into raptures and Keane celebrated with his team mates.
Keane celebrates his opening goal with his team mates.Spurs continued to snap into tackles, winning 50-50 challenges and swarming Ars*nal. Zokora ran the midfield both in defence and attack and the Spurs back 4 never looked troubled. Ars*nal only created half chances as Ljunberg blasted over when he really should have done better. From the resulting shot the Swede seemed to pull a hamstring and was replaced by Fabregas. The Spaniard was immediately involved in a sharp 1-2 with Eboue who drilled his shot against the post and Adebayor somehow blazed over the bar from 6 yards.
The half time whistle blew with Spurs thoroughly deserving their lead.
With no changes made both teams set about the second half but roles seemed reversed. Spurs seemed far more retreated and Ars*nal bombarded the Spurs goal with a barrage of shots, corners and set pieces. Spurs managed to survive the onslaught but were wasteful in possession with only Berbatov calm and composed on the ball. Ars*nal continued the pressure and Toure cannoned a header off the post. Adebayor hit the cross bar with a looping header and Robinson made a good close range save.
Then Spurs’ inability to defend set pieces cost them. A floated free kick from the dictating Fabregas eluded everyone and floated to the back post where Toure bundled the ball home from 2 yards. Chimbonda failed to stay with the Ivorian who slotted home. Ars*nal continued to attack and Spurs retreated into their shell, playing and failing on the counter attack. Surprisingly Aaron Lennon was withdrawn in place of Huddlestone who returned after 3 games out. The big centre midfielder was wasteful in possession though and Ars*nal swarmed forwards again. Steed Malbranque entered for the struggling Tainio who went off with an ankle injury. Ars*nal won another free kick due to a Huddlestone foul and Fabregas whipped the ball in. Again Spurs’ poor defending cost them as Adebayor powered a header past Robinson.
Kolo Toure bundles home Ars*nal's equaliser.Again we had blown it. Just as we did in the Carling Cup we had thrown it away. Then in the 95th minute of the game, the weary legged Jenas blasted home a low drive past the diving Lehman to send the Yid Army into raptures. Spurs had gained a valuable point from the brink of defeat but no win against our fierce rivals, until next season.
Jermaine Jenas rifles home in the 95th minute to give Spurs a point.Spurs Formation and Ratings
Robinson
7/10
Chimbonda .. Dawson ... King .....Rocha
6/10 ......... 7/10 ........ 8/10.......... 7/10
Tainio .... Jenas ..... Zokora....... Lennon
6/10 .........6/10 ........ 8/10.......... 6/10
Berbatov .......... Keane
9/10 ............ 7/10
Substitutes:Tom Huddlestone - 5/10
Steed Malbranque - 7/10
Jermain Defoe - 5/10
Referee - Mike Dean - 7/10
Tottenham Hotspur – Statistics – Ars*nal2 – Goals - 2
3 – Shots on target - 3
4 – Shots off target - 11
0 – Blocked shots - 3
4 – Corners - 6
11 – Fouls - 6
4 – Offsides - 2
2 – Yellow cards - 2
0 – Red cards - 0
44% - Possession – 56%
Views from the fans.telspur -
Bizarrely ecstatic about the result - god there's nothing better than scoring with the last kick of the game. But still, we have to do something about our defence at set plays.
Berba's gal -
What happened to the passion second half? We came out flying straight from the k/off and Arse just weren't in the game. Spurs quite deservedly got the first goal but after the break it was like a totally different team....except for Berba who was clearly a class above everyone else & looked like the only one who wanted to win. You could see the frustration in his body language. If he doesn't get the support, he's gonna want to play for a better team and we need to keep him as long as possible. The passing was absolutely dreadful and the woeful defending yet again.....how many times do we concede from set pieces? OMG!
taimedowne -
First half was ok contained em well and didn't let them create to much. Second half I thought we were really poor sat to far back and gave the ball away to often. The defending of set pieces was dreadfull yet again and our passing was atrocious at times. Still we got a vital point so I guess I shouldn't complain to much. Not sure about Rocha at left back he did some things well but didn't offer much going forward.
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