This article refers to an older Arsenal-Tottenham game. For the most recent Arsenal-Tottenham game, click here.
Arsenal (Silvestre 37′, Gallas 46′, Adebayor 64′, Van Persie 68′) 4-4 Tottenham (Bentley 13′, Bent 67′, Jenas 89′, Lennon 90′ + 3)
Stadium: Emirates Stadium, England
Competition: English Premier League
Date: 29 October 2008
Kickoff: 20:00 GMT, 16:00 ET
Tottenham staged an impressive last-minute rally to pull even with Arsenal, 4-4, in a fantastic North London derby! Soccerlens brought you live coverage of the match. Click below for the live blog and feel free to leave comments below!
Match Preview:
One of the Premiership’s most heated rivalries will take center stage once again as Arsenal host new-look Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal’s form has been erratic thus far, seemingly world class one week and mediocre the next week. They’ll put up 3 or 4 goals one week and then struggle to score a single goal the next week. They’ll outclass big-name clubs like Everton or Newcastle and then lose to unheralded clubs like Fulham or Hull City. Despite their inconsistency, they still sit in fourth place and gained valuable ground in the title race last weekend after Chelsea and Manchester United slipped up. Still, injuries have hit the club hard and their schedule is about to get very difficult. A win against last-place Tottenham would be exactly what the club needs as they get ready for upcoming matches against Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool.
As for Tottenham, it would be folly to think that, within several hours of Harry Redknapp’s arrival, he suddenly cured what ailed the team. Sure, they looked better on Sunday than they have all year, but it was against Bolton. Nevertheless, Tottenham have something that they haven’t had all season: hope. Against Bolton, Luka Modric seemed to finally settle in to his role in midfield, David Bentley seemed to recover his form, and Roman Pavlyuchenko finally scored his first league goal. It’s obviously too early to assess Redknapp as a manager, but he’s certainly restored a bit of Tottenham’s pride and confidence. He’ll definitely justify his contract if he can pull out a win against the Gunners in only his second match in charge.
As with any local derby, emotions always run high and the players always put forth their best efforts. Tottenham have been in Arsenal’s shadow, but they won the last meeting between the two teams, a 5-1 demolition in the Carling Cup in a match where Adebayor appeared to headbutt Bendtner. Will we see a similar score? Or will it be a close-scoring affair like most of their other matches? We shall see…
Lineups:
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Silvestre, Gallas, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Denilson, Nasri, Van Persie, Adebayor.
Subs: Diaby, Toure, Vela, Song, Fabianski, Bendtner, Eboue.
Arsenal will make a few changes from the side that beat West Ham, 2-0, last weekend. Sagna comes back from his injury and returns to the starting lineup in place of Eboue. Once again, Silvestre will start in place of Kolo Toure, however Toure has been named as a substitute. Song makes way for Denilson as Arsene Wenger’s search for Matthieu Flamini’s replacement continues. Adebayor will make his return to the starting lineup in place of his good buddy, Bendtner.
Tottenham: Gomes, Hutton, Corluka, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto, Bentley, Modric, Jenas, Huddlestone, Bale, Pavlyuchenko.
Subs: Cesar, Zokora, Lennon, Bent, Gunter, Campbell, O’Hara.
Tottenham will shuffle the deck a little bit in Harry Redknapp’s second match in charge. As expected, Spurs skipper Ledley King will miss out after having played two matches in a row. Woodgate will make his return and start in King’s place. Bale, fresh off suspension, will start in midfield, replacing O’Hara, who will miss out completely.
Minute-by-Minute:
90′ + 4 There’s the whistle and we’re done! Harry Redknapp’s boys are ecstatic while Wenger is fuming. Is he angrier at his club or at the refs? I think we know the answer to that. Anyway, it’s been a great match and thank you to everyone who tuned in. I apologize for the problems. Join me on Saturday when Manchester United take on Hull City!
90′ + 3 GOAL! Oh boy. Modric takes a shot from the edge of the box. His ball beats Almunia, but bounces off the far post. Lennon then knocks in the rebound for the equalizer! Wow. I can’t believe Spurs have fought back from a 4-2 deficit.
90′ Four minutes will be added on. Don’t think Arsene Wenger will be too happy about that. Bentley takes a free kick and his effort is headed away by Gallas for a corner. Arsenal clear the corner and go on a break, but Adebayor is called offsides.
89′ GOAL! I can’t believe this. Tottenham score after Clichy makes a total mess of the situation and gives it away to Jenas! Wow!
88′ Song will come in for Nasri.
87′ Bentley takes a shot from long range. Will lightning strike twice for him? No. This one isn’t even close.
84′ Jenas gets booked for a foul on Denilson. Looked harsh to me, but what do I know?
81′ I’ll be demanding my money back for this, don’t you worry. Adebayor has another chance to score, but his misses wide. He probably should have scored there, like it really makes a difference now.
80′ And we’re back. In the off-chance that Setanta bailed out on you as well and you couldn’t follow the match, you’ve missed a cracker of a game.
While we were out, Adebayor scored in the 64th minute to seemingly put it out of reach at 3-1. Bent came in for the ineffective Pavlyuchenko and scored in the 67th minute after Huddlestone’s long-range shot was mishandled by Almunia. At this rate, it looks like a battle of blundering goalkeepers. Van Persie scored 84 seconds later to make it 4-2.
OK folks. I apologize. My Setanta feed has crashed and I can’t seem to get it back and working.
58′ More adventures from Gomes as he punches away the free kick and it deflects off an Arsenal player. Luckily for Gomes, it comes to nothing and he’s able to collect the rebound.
57′ Bentley gets booked for a hard foul on Clichy. That only angers the fans.
55′ Nice play from Gomes (!) as Fabregas sends in a nice through-ball to Walcott, who beats his defender easily. Gomes comes out and intercepts the pass, though, and does nicely.
54′ Lennon will come on for Bale.
53′ Ekotto is booked for a foul on Walcott.
52′ Another chance for Silvestre as he heads it on goal while Gomes stays on his line. Silvestre’s header is long and he probably should have scored. I can’t say this enough, Gomes looks awful. Like he has no idea what he’s doing anymore.
51′ Denilson’s shot from long-range is saved by Gomes, but it goes out for a corner. Tottenham fans, feel free to hold your breaths.
50′ Arsenal are dominating possession. Van Persie finds Fabregas inside the box, but he’s double-covered. He lays it off to the right where Clichy waits. His cross seems to hit Huddlestone’s hand, but no call by the refs.
48′ Great cross from Bentley from the right edge of the box towards Pavlyuchenko at the far post. He can’t get on the end of it, though, and Arsenal knock it away.
46′ GOAL! Van Persie sends in the free kick from the right flank and Gallas heads it past Gomes. Looking at the replay, it didn’t look like Huddlestone fouled Van Persie, but there you go. Gomes just doesn’t look like he could stop anyone right now.
46′ No changes for either side and Spurs will kick off. Early free kick for Arsenal as Huddlestone fouls Van Persie from about 35 yards out.
46′ We’re scoreless at Anfield as Liverpool and Pompey are at a stalemate. Chelsea seem to have rebounded nicely from Sunday, as they lead 2-0 against Hull City. Ronaldo has a brace for Manchester United, as he seems to be celebrating his Player of the Year award nicely.
Entertaining half so far and Arsenal are a bit unlucky to be drawn at 1-1 instead of in the lead. They dominated possession and generated a number of good chances. If it weren’t for Bentley’s Hail Mary, then they would be in the lead. Still, they don’t have too much to complain about. As with the Sunderland match, they’ve been less than sharp with their passing, and Walcott seems to be having one of those days. We’ll see how both teams rebound in the second half.
45′ + 1 There’s the whistle and we’re at halftime.
45′ One minute will be added on.
44′ Spurs look content to go into the half with a draw and they just knock it around.
43′ Good play by Woodgate, as he heads away a long pass towards Adebayor. He looked offsides, but you never with these refs.
42′ Huddlestone tries to spring Pavlyuchenko, but Gallas does a good job holding the Russian up and Almunia kicks it away. Pavlyuchenko hasn’t gotten any good service today.
40′ Walcott makes a good run into the box again as the Spurs defenders are on the heels. Walcott tries to send it to Adebayor, but Walcott loses it and Spurs clear it away from danger. Adebayor is not amused.
39′ Strange play by Almunia as Bentley sends in a weak cross towards the near post, but Almunia chooses to punch it away rather than catch it. It comes to nothing, though.
38′ Modric tries a shot from long-range, but it’s wide of the post.
37′ GOAL! Walcott sends in the corner and Silvestre heads it past Gomes. Gomes came out for that corner and whiffed badly. What a nightmare season for him so far. Great awareness from Silvestre (who still looks strange in that uniform).
36′ Bentley falls down and gives it away. Fabregas then fires a shot that forces Gomes to make a diving save for a corner.
35′ Walcott makes a good move into the box and tries to lay it off to his right where Van Persie waits. Van Persie tries to take a shot, but he gets closed down quickly and he has to send it back out. Again, excellent defense by Spurs.
34′ Nasri picks out Adebayor in the box, but stout defending from Corluka to stop that from turning into a scoring opportunity. Tottenham have defended very well. Especially since Arsenal has had the lion’s share of the possession.
32′ Clichy sends in a cross into the box towards Adebayor. It falls to Walcott and he takes a shot. It lacks pace, though, and Gomes catches it easily. Back again and Walcott gets another chance to shoot, but it’s easily blocked. Clichy then tries a long-range shot a la Bentley, but it’s just over the crossbar. Very tentative display by Walcott, so far.
31′ Van Persie’s in-swinger is cleared away by Pavlyuchenko. Arsenal with some more sloppy passing. This time it’s Sagna’s fault. Spurs counterattack is cut short after Pavlyuchenko is called offsides.
30′ Walcott gets it again and takes the shot this time. Ekotto deflects it away for a corner.
28′ Gallas gives it away again. Got to cut out the cigarettes, William.
26′ Bentley with a good free kick that Almunia is able to punch away.
24′ Gallas comes forward and tries to send the through-ball to Van Persie. It’s long, though, and Gomes takes it easily.
23′ Bentley beats Clichy down the right and sends in a cross/shot. It’s out for a goal-kick.
22′ Arsenal attack again as Walcott’s cross is muffed by Huddlestone and is out for a corner. Fabregas sends in the cross and Gomes makes a mess of it. The ball bounces to Gallas, but his effort sails over the crossbar. Hate to say it, but Gomes has been TERRIBLE this year. You know it’s bad when Spurs fans are wistful for the days of Paul Robinson.
21′ Fabregas’ corner goes to Gallas, on the edge of the box. Gallas has shown a knack for scoring on corners, but not here. He can’t handle the corner.
20′ Fabregas sends in the corner, but it’s knocked away by Tottenham. Arsenal remain on the attack and Van Persie lays it off to Walcott on the right. Walcott passes up the shot again and tries to cross it across goal. It’s knocked out again for a corner.
19′ Modric tries to thread a through ball into the box for Pavlyuchenko, but the Russian striker had halted his run. Back the other way and Adebayor lays it off to Van Persie, who whips a cross across goal. Corluka makes a good play to knock it out for a corner.
18′ Cristiano Ronaldo has scored for Manchester United. Can’t wait to see whether he cracked a smile during his goal celebration.
16′ Another corner for Arsenal, but Huddlestone clears it away. Walcott gets a nice long pass into the box from Clichy and passes up the shot. He lays it off to Van Persie, who turns and fires on goal. It’s close, but just wide of the far post. What a start so far!
15′ Arsenal get a free kick from about 30 yards out or so. Should be a good chance for them. Van Persie takes it and Gomes has to dive to the ground to make a great save. It’s out for a corner.
14′ Wow. That goal came from out of the blue! No buildup or anything. Take nothing away from Bentley, because it was a great strike. Still, it was pretty much a lucky goal, but when things are going the way they have been for Spurs, they deserve a little luck, don’t they?
13′ GOAL! Ball bounces around midfield as both teams try to get control of it. Bentley takes a shot from a good 40 yards away or so and it beats Almunia! That one came out of nowhere!
11′ Good chance for Arsenal as Sagna sends it into the box from the right wing to Adebayor, who lays it back to Walcott in the box. Walcott has a golden chance to score, but his shot is wide of the far post.
10′ Pavlyuchenko tries to flick his header towards Bentley, but he puts too much mustard on it and Bentley wouldn’t have caught up to the ball if he was wearing rollerblades. Goal kick for Arsenal.
9′ Arsenal on the attack. Nasri tries to cross it into the box, but it’s knocked away and Bentley emerges with the ball. Bentley gets booed again. What’s the deal? It’s not like he really played much for Arsenal before going to Blackburn.
7′ Ekotto tries the long pass to Pavlyuchenko, but he overshoots him and Sagna takes it. Poor giveaway from Silvestre that goes straight to Bentley. Clichy makes a good defensive play to knock it away for a Tottenham throw.
6′ Modric gets fouled by Fabregas at the center line. That will be an interesting match-up to watch today.
5′ Walcott shows off his blistering speed and makes a nice run down the right. Woodgate cuts him off nicely and knocks it out for a throw.
3′ Nice long ball to Bale deep down the left side of the box as Sagna is caught napping. Bale’s shot hits the side of the net, though, as Almunia closed him down nicely.
2′ Bentley makes a run down the left and he tries to work on Clichy. Clichy gets the better of him and Bentley fouls him. Bentley is getting booed by his former home fans.
1′ Arsenal kick off and we’re underway!
0′ For my own sanity, we will be referring to Assou-Ekotto as “Ekotto.” Okay? Also, I’m pretty sure I’ll misspell “Pavlyuchenko” at least once. Forgive me in advance.
0′ In addition to this match, I’ll be keeping an eye on Liverpool/Pompey (apparently, Crouch got a nice ovation from the Anfield fans), Hull City/Chelsea (which, based on the standings, is the biggest match of the day), and Manchester United/West Ham (interestingly, Tevez is slated to start in place of Rooney).
0′ There’s a lot more than pride that’s on the line here today. Arsenal want a win to keep pace with Liverpool and Chelsea in the title race while Tottenham know that they can jump start their season with a win.
0′ Hello everyone! Welcome to Soccerlens’ live coverage of the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham! I’m Victor and I’ll be your liveblogger.
Match Review:
Just my luck that Setanta poops out on me for what could very well be the best match of the year. Tottenham may have only earned a point, but the way they fought back and continued to press for those 2 goals should do wonders for their confidence. They’ve looked like a new team in the 4 days that Redknapp has been in charge, and they should be able to build on this stirring come-from-behind draw. It’s not all roses, though. Tottenham were sloppy, especially on Adebayor’s goal where Hutton made a poor giveaway. Additionally, they’ll have to take a long look at Gomes and figure out what they want to do with him. They may have made a stirring comeback, but they had plenty of help from Arsenal.
As for Arsenal, what can you say? They blew this match. Clichy is normally a solid defender, but his mistake was something that a lesser defender would lose his job over. Almunia played poorly, although he wasn’t to blame for Bentley’s goal. We’ll see what Arsenal is made out of with this match. Will they bounce back and continue to play up to their potential? Or will their morale go into the toilet the way it did after last year’s match against Birmingham. At least Gallas didn’t throw a tantrum in the center of the field this time.
Man of the Match:
Robin Van Persie
For a match this entertaining, there was a dearth of worthy candidates. After all, there were many mistakes on both sides and enough sloppy play to make purists cringe. Nevertheless, my rule whenever there’s a draw is to take the best player on the pitch. Van Persie not only scored a goal, but he was instrumental in setting up Adebayor’s strike, and looked dangerous many times throughout the first half. Indeed, his assist total might have been higher had Walcott pulled the trigger on some of those shot chances. As for Tottenham, Bentley’s fall helped lead to the first Arsenal goal, but he played very well and showed everyone that maybe it was Ramos’ fault that Bentley’s form had dipped so far. Plus, that goal was one of the nicest shots you’ll ever see.
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