Tottenham Hotspur 3 - 3 Arsenal: Chelsea into second place: Barclays Premier League
After a thrilling North London derby at White Hart lane, the two archrivals could not be separated as the game ended 3-3.
Heading into the match, Arsenal were effectively 7 points adrift of Manchester United with a game in hand – Bagging all 3 points meant bringing the deficit down to just 4 points with 5 games still to be played, which included a visit from Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to the Emirates. As for Harry Redknapp’s team, it was about securing a UEFA Champions League spot as they had the opportunity to go level on points with 4th placed Manchester City.
The game got off to an explosive start. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Theo-Walcott-c34873 scored as early as the 4th minute to give the Gunners a dream start playing away from home. However, Arsene Wenger’s men were pegged back instantly as Rafael van der Vaart equalized 2 minutes and 40 seconds later. In the 12th minute, Samir Nasri’s strike from outside the box restored the visitor’s lead.
After what appeared to be consolidation after 3 quick goals, Arsenal further extended their lead to 3-1 as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tom-Huddlestone-c35227 made it 2-3 after 3 minutes.
The game effectively headed into half time 2-3 with all to play for in the second half.
Despite consorted pressure from the visitors, Spurs managed to level the scores against the run of play. 20 minutes from time, Rafael van der Vaart scored from the penalty spot after the Arsenal goalkeeper, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aaron-Lennon-c3062 inside the box.
The game ended 3-3 as both clubs settled for a point a piece – A fair result in the eyes of the neutral perhaps.
The Arsenal manger, in his post match conference commented, “No, it’s not over [the title race], we have to fight, we have to continue to battle like we did. We had an outstanding first half and in the second half we dropped physically because we had a difficult game on Sunday [against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809].”
The Frenchman further added, “We suffered physically in the second half and did hang on but were unfortunate to concede the penalty but maybe the second goal was decisive because we needed to get to half-time with a two goal lead.”
The result effectively restores the Red Devils’ lead at the top of the table to 6 points. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786, on the other hand, turned out to be the biggest beneficiaries on the day as Carlo Ancelotti’s men jump up to 2nd place after their 3-1 home win against Birmingham City
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