Carling Cup: Tottenham v Arsenal half time report
Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1
Henri Lansbury’s goal on 15 minutes is all that separates Tottenham and Arsenal at half time at White Hart Lane in the Carling Cup third round.
The break-through came courtesy of the 19-year old scoring his first goal for Arsenal, as Tomas Rosicky combined with Jack Wilshire, who whipped in a superb cross, leaving Lansbury to tuck into the net.
It was what Arsenal thoroughly deserved as they controlled the first half, knocking the ball around in true Arsenal fashion, leaving Tottenham players chasing shadows at times.
In recent times, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger- who is serving a one-match touchline ban tonight- would have fielded a younger team, but the inclusion of several first-team players has given Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp something to think about.
Carlos Vela had the first shot of the match for Arsenal on four minutes, but the shot went sailing over the bar as Arsenal made an encouraging start.
Former Arsenal man David Bentley curled a free-kick over the bar to record Tottenham’s first effort on 10 minutes.
Arsenal may well have been awarded a penalty a minute later, as Lansbury was pushed by Benoit Assou-Ekotto, but referee Lee Probert didn’t give anything. Denilson hit a shot over the bar from the edge of the box as Arsenal were having a firm grip on this north London derby.
Bentley once again had another shot on 20 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to trouble Arsenal ‘keeper Lukasz Fabianski. Roman Pavlyuchenko came extremely close to equalising, but his shot hit the side-netting on 26 minutes.
The last time these two bitter north London rivals played in this competition, Tottenham were victorious, winning 5-1 in the second leg semi-final back in 2008.
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