Football Update: Tottenham Hotspurs Score a Historic Victory Against Arsenal
The poor form of Arsenal at home continued as they were beaten at Emirate Stadium by their North London rivals, Tottenham Hotspurs. Spurs did not have a good away record this season but they did well against the Gunners as they finished the match on top,
winning by 2-3.
Spurs had only one victory over their archrivals in Arsenal’s backyard. The last victory came in 1993 and after waiting for seven long years, they scored another one, after a historic battle. Arsenal was put ahead in the match by their two best players for
this season, i.e. Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh. After the end of first half, Arsenal looked comfortable in the driving seat, while Spurs showed lapses in their defence.
However, the second half saw one of the greatest comebacks in the history of English Premier League. Spurs scored three goals and kept Arsenal away scoring a victory in the end. First, a goal was pulled back by Gareth Bale in the 50th minute,
after an amazing finish. Harry Redknapp, the manager of Spurs, introduced Jermain Defoe after the half-time, and he was the one responsible for the amazing pass resulting in the goal.
Later on in the 66th minute, Arsenal’s captain Cesc Fabregas made a big mistake that really cost his team the victory. While defending a free-kick from Spurs, the Spanish international handled the ball for no apparent reason. Referee made no mistake
as he pointed to the penalty spot. Rafael Van der Vaart stepped up and scored the goal from the spot, as Arsenal’s goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski, went on the wrong side.
The things went from bad to worse for Arsenal when Younes Kaboul scored from a header with only five minutes remaining in the normal time. Arsenal was clearly stunned after this amazing comeback and they could not do anything but give Hotspurs a much deserved
victory.
For this match, Tottenham Hotspurs manager, Harry Redknapp, chose William Gallas as the captain. The former Arsenal player is not in good terms with his former teammates, so hype was built around this match. Samir Nasri spoke about this match in the midweek
and he said that he would not shake hand with Gallas after the match.
Arsene Wenger picked up a strange side for this match against his archrivals. Johan Djourou played an important role as a substitute defender when Laurent Koscielny was sidelined after picking a red card. Djourou has played an important role this season,
as Arsenal has won every match in which Djourou started as a centre-half. However, he was again put on the bench as Koscielny came back from suspension. The centre-half did not have a particularly good game as Arsenal’s defence looked shaky. Also, the defender
missed an open header from a very close range, at a time when scores were level 2-2.
Apart from this, Wenger decided to start Denilson in the centre of the park. The Brazilian played in his first match after missing almost the whole season due to an injury. He was given preference over Jack Wilshere, despite the Englishman being cleared
from injury problem. Denilson also looked shaky in the centre, while Wilshere could have been a better option for Arsene Wenger.
However, the worst decision of the match was made by Wenger when he replaced Samir Nasri, in the second half, and brought on Tomas Rosicky. Nasri was the best player for Arsenal on the pitch and he is their best player in the whole season. Substituting him
at a point when Arsenal was looking for a winner was a big mistake. In the end, there were many decisions that proved fatal and that led to a humiliating defeat after taking a lead of two goals in first half.
With this loss, Arsenal has missed another opportunity to close the gap on Chelsea, who lost their match against Birmingham City as well. Tottenham, on the other hand, has closed the gap on some teams and is now sitting in sixth position, looking good to
break into top four once again.
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