Arsenal 5 - 2 Tottenham Hotspur: Arsenal punish Spurs' poor tactics

A large number of fans were dreading this game. On the one year anniversery of our embarrassing Carling Cup defeat, we were facing the prospect of playing a Tottenham team that has easily been better than us this season with a team that had just suffered two miserable defeats and lacking in any sort of belief and character.

The Arsenal line-up didn't do much to fill the fans with confidence, either. Kieran Gibbs came in at left back to play his first league game in four months, Tomas Rosicky deputised for Aaron Ramsey as the focal point of the midfield and Yossi Benayoun was surprsingly included over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who sat on the bench with Gervinho. People were rightfully wondering why the exciting winger had been left out in favour for a player who had hardly set the Emirates alight during his time here.

First Half
Arsenal's start to the game was as misreble as one would've expected. A mere five minutes in and it was evident who was playing the better the football at the moment. As Laurent Koscielny stepped out to meet Adebayor, Luka Modric made a run into the exposed space that was left unchecked by Alex Song. Vermaelen shuffled across to cover and with Gibbs still getting back from having gotten forward, Saha had been gifted acres of room. His goal was fortuitous with the deflection, but a defensive lapse of that calibre this early in the game did not bode well.

Tottenham's tactics were typical of a team playing away from home. They played deep and narrow; Krancjar's tendency to tuck in from his position on the right flank aiding them in that sense, and they used a pacey outlet in Bale to counter the opposition.

So while Arsenal struggled to get any sort of rythmn into their play, Spurs hit us on the counter. Modric played a superb pass inside Gibbs for Bale to run on to. Szczesny came out to meet him and was ajugded to have fouled him. Replays would later confirm that there was no contact and that Bale had dived. To make the situation more baffling, Mike Dean did not card Szczesny. Ultimately we'd be thankful he didn't, but seldom do you see a penalty given in that situation and the keeper not escape some form of punishment.

Adebayor, of all people, converted the penalty and it was looking like another bad loss was on its way.

After that, however, Arsenal responded remarkably well. Spurs seemed to sit back and not pressure us at all and we actually looked dangerous when we went forward. Sagna attacked well down the right and was often not tracked by Bale, and some of our best moments in the half came down that side. His presence allowed Walcott to tuck in a little and even though the speedster had a poor half, it was his deft touch that played in van Persie, who's shot struck the post. Arteta played the ball back in and Sagna, still up from the attack, showed great desire to get his head on the ball and he scored a great header to get Arsenal back into the game.

With the momentum now with Arsenal, it looked likely that we'd score again before the half was up. Spurs failed to clear their lines properly and van Persie, from just outside the area, curled it in beautifully. 2-2 at half time, with the team buzzing and the Emirates Stadium rocking.

Second Half
Redknapp responded by bringing on Sandro for the anonymous Krancjar and van der Vaart for Louis Saha, who didn't make his presence felt other than for the goal. Evidently this was an attempt to make his side more solid, as Arsenal was overrunning their midfield and looking dangerous. Gareth Bale moved over to the right hand, while van der Vaart seemed to drift to the left to compensate for the lack of width there.

What this did, though, was make Spurs far too narrow. During last year's North London Derby - the won Spurs won 3-2 - Rednapped changed it so his formation was more narrow, which helped them keep the ball and win the game. However, in this instance it played into Arsenal's hands as it gave Sagna complete lisence to roam and support Walcott. It would come to no surprise that Arsenal's next three goals would all come down that side.

Six minutes into the second half and the third goal came. Rosicky drove at the Spurs defence from the right, while Sagna came up and supported him. Sagna's cross deflected into the path of Rosicky, who finished excellently to score his first goal in fifty league games. An incredible statistic, really.

The fourth goal was a result of an excellent counter attack. You felt that Spurs still had enough in their side to score another goal, so it was imperative Arsenal killed the game off. Bale was dispossessed in the Arsenal area. The ball found its way to Rosicky, who played a great ball over the top for van Persie. Van Persie attracted the two remaining Spurs defenders to him, which opened up a big gaping hole down Spurs' left. Walcott, showing great desire to get up with the attack, was played in and although he almost screwed up it up, he produced a great finish with a little dink. 4-2, the game was as good as over.

Goal number five was just the icing on the cake. Walcott broke the offside trap and latched onto Song's superb pass - again, coming from the right hand side - and rounded off the scoring with an accomplished finish across the keeper. 5-2, game over. Arsenal saw the game out with little to no issue.

Time to come down to earth
We're all utterly elated with this win, but we shouldn't get too carried away. Arsenal still have very important games coming up: an away trip to Liverpool next Saturday, followed by a home game against Newcastle with an international break and a Champions League second leg in-between. So lots of work still to be done. We've seen it before where we have a brilliant win but then lack the consistency to put a run together. Hopefully we can recreate what we did earlier in the season and put a run together after a big win. At this stage it is vital that we do so.

Player Ratings
Wojciech Szczesny - 6. Did not look too assured today, even if the penalty wasn't a penalty.

Thomas Vermaelen - 7. Started off shakey but settled into the game and put in a decent performance.

Laurent Koscielny - 7. Likewise, wasn't too good to start off with but showed put in a typically assertive display in the end.

Bacary Sagna - 8. Keep saying it, but this guy is so good at what he does. He is a key player in this team for many reasons and I'm very happy he scored a goal.

Kieran Gibbs - 7. Played very well, although a little suspect defensively.

Alex Song - 7. Didn't do his job by leaving Modric unmarked, but still managed a good midfield display with a brilliant assist to cap it off.

Mikel Arteta - 7. Hard working and composed display, with plenty of accurate passes as per usual.

Tomas Rosicky - 9. Immaculate. Rosicky at his very best and he thoroughly deserved the goal.

Theo Walcott - 8. Had a poor first half but scored two very good goals in the second. Something he needs to do more often.

Yossi Benayoun - 7. The gamble paid off, it seems. Played very well and produced some clever passes, as well as worked hard.

Robin van Persie - 8. Excellent goal and assist to go with it. Great performance from the captain.

it is too mosshhhhh

Hahahaha. Love the title.

Spurs played horribly. Even their goals looked UGLY.

Fantastic performance.

The first goal was bad defending, but from then on, we really dominated the game. The second goal was absolute bullshit, and we showed great character to bounce back and score 5 unanswered.

For me Rosicky has cemented his spot in the starting 11, fantastic finish, and its about time he scored too . Everybody showed up today and for the first time in a while, our attack was dangerous throughout the whole game.

Respect for Arsenal, takes a huge team effort to go 2-0 down and win the match like that BUT Spurs were in the match only for the first 5 minutes or so up until they scored. They got deflated after that; they stopped running, they stopped going for challenges and overall stopped playing. I've seen Championship teams play more organized than Spurs in Emirates. I think the fact that Rosický and Walcott scored says a lot

And Gareth Bale. What an overrated player. Poor at defending. Has got no right foot (therefore he is very predictable). And a diver too.

Rozza was amazing!!!! Really, he should start games consistently

they were simply out classed, arteta and song had modric shut down and rosicky and benyoune ran riot.

To Emmanuel Petit, our fingers have been firmly pried from our asses

Best Performance since dont know when

what a match

Everyone played so well.

MJGunner wrote:To Emmanuel Petit, our fingers have been firmly pried from our asses

Petit should do the Pep talk from now on

The thing this team has and proved today is we can play two different styles, possesion with rosicky and benyoun coming in or counter with ox walcott and gervinho. now it just depends which style suits us for which games.

What a game. I have been sick for few days and I think I am feeling much better.

Thank you for one of the best games I have watched.

Hahaha, best birthday present I've ever gotten.

waitressinthesky wrote:Hahaha, best birthday present I've ever gotten.

Its your birthday?! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Hahaha, thanks! It was yesterday technically, but I was hoping they wouldn't disappoint me today!

I for one doubted AW's 1st 11...........................but wow,it worked

I really liked the lineup! I hope we'll be seeing more of it. Good substitutions today, too.

now let us win 5-0 against AC Milan v :king:

No Ramsey pls for the rest of the season. Bench is where he belongs, if Wenger starts Ramsey over Wizasicky i will go crazy again.

I went out drinking last night, but set my alarm for 7:00am. In Canada, the game started at 8:30am, and my alarm went off every 5 minutes for an hour and a half, but I fecking slept through the whole game . Dunno if I'll ever forgive myself.

What a result, though. I've seen the highlights, and Jesus, take a bow everybody!

An outstanding team display after a dodgy start.

Every player was immense.

Special shout outs for Benayoun, Rosicky and Arteta who were on another level.

After their 2 goals we had the game by the scruff of the game and completely controlled the tempo of the game. We were by far the better team in every facet of the game and we earned this result thoroughly, we could have even grabbed quite a few more goals.

Great great match. My favorite this season.

best game this season

MJGunner wrote:After their 2 goals we had the game by the scruff of the game and completely controlled the tempo of the game. We were by far the better team in every facet of the game and we earned this result thoroughly, we could have even grabbed quite a few more goals.

Great great match. My favorite this season.

By the way who predicted the 5-2?

I went with 5-1.