GUNNERS WIN WITH HIGH-FIVE
Arsenal 5 Tottenham 2
Sagna 40 Saha 4 Van Persie 43 Adebayor 34 (pen) Rosicky 51 Walcott 65, 68 PL, February 26, 2012 Att: 60,106
ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta played in one of the great North London derbies in February 2012.
Great for the neutrals and Gunners fans, that is.
For 34 minutes, it was great for Spurs fans as they swept into a 2-0 lead at the Emirates Stadium, raising hopes of back-to-back wins at the home of their arch rivals for the first time in 86 years.
The previous season, Spurs had come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at the Emirates and goals from Louis Saha and Emmanuel Adebayor (penalty) this time left the Gunners needing a great escape of their own.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger would later admit that, at 2-0 down, he was “a bit worried”. But, by the break, it was level. Arteta set up the goal that got the Gunners back into the match.
After Robin van Persie had hit the post, Arteta lofted a cross towards the penalty spot and Bacary Sagna leapt highest to power his header in.
Van Persie tied the score just before the break with his 29th goal of the season – and one of his best.
The Dutchman created space on the edge of the penalty area before sweeping a curling shot beyond Brad Friedel’s fingertips.
Five minutes after the restart, the home side were ahead.
Tomas Rosicky and Sagna swapped passes, Rosicky reaching the return just before the Spurs keeper and Ledley King to poke the home side into the lead.
The lead was stretched even further on 65 minutes when Arsenal counter-attacked.
Van Persie was outnumbered by white shirts and when support finally arrived, it came from Theo Walcott.
He took a couple of touches and then lifted his shot over Friedel to put the Gunners 4-2 up.
An afternoon that could not get any better for Gunners fans did get better only three minutes later.
Alex Song’s pass picked out Walcott and, with the angle tight, his only option was to aim for the far bottom corner.
His right-foot shot nudged the inside of the post on its way into the net and Spurs’ misery was complete when Scott Parker was sent off.