Arsenal progress against Tottenham after extra time
Arsenal won the first North London derby of the season away to Tottenham on Tuesday evening, overcoming their rivals with a 4–1 victory after extra time.
It was the first Carling Cup game for which manager Arsene Wenger has fielded a largely experienced team of players. With Tomas Rosicky, Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Eboue and Neves Denilson all included in Arsenal's starting formation, it seemed Wenger wished
to avoid the 5–1 Carling Cup defeat his team suffered at White Hart Lane in December 2007.
“I believe that we deserved to win the game but you can never predict what the difference will be,” the Frenchman told Sky Sports after the victory, which sees his team progress to the fourth round of the competition. “We were tested but we played some outstanding
football today."
Lansbury scores first goal
With 15 minutes gone, Arsenal were in front after a trademark move. Rosicky, captain for the evening, laid the ball off to Carlos Vela, who fed Jack Wilshere on the overlap. Wilshere looked into the area and curled a low cross just between the Spurs defence
and keeper that Henri Lansbury managed to reach to put Wenger's side ahead.
Arsenal oozed confidence after the goal, threading the ball around the team with excellent movement, but Spurs remained dangerous on the break. Former Arsenal man David Bentley and striker Roman Pavlyuchenko both came close to equalising before half-time.
Spurs got back on level terms shortly after the half-time break as Robbie Keane scored his first goal of the season. Three minutes into the half, Kyle Naughton advanced into the middle of Arsenal's half and found Keane with a diagonal through ball. Having
avoided the offside trap, the Irishman received the ball and hit a low shot towards the near corner that Fabianski reached, but failed to stop from going in.
Two penalties for Nasri
The sides then matched each other until the end of regular time, but it took only two minutes of extra time for Wenger's team to take the lead.
Substitute Andrey Arshavin lobbed a ball in the path of Nasri, whose charge into the box was stopped, albeit gently, by Sebastien Bassong. The Frenchman took the penalty himself, slotting home to the left of keeper Stipe Pletikosa.
In the fifth minute of extra time, it was Marouane Chamakh's turn to be picked out by Arshavin, and the Moroccan stumbled after Steven Caulker's challenge. Spurs were fuming as Nasri slotted him his second penalty low into the right corner of the net.
Arshavin then completed a fine performance and added to Spurs' misery after a quick run following a free kick. Released down the left of the area, the Russian made no mistake, striking a low shot into the far corner to put the final score at 4–1.
The game had been closely contested until the start of extra time, but Arshavin's presence proved too much for Spurs to handle. Wenger's team selection appears to have paid off.
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