Tottenham had not won away to any of the traditional big-four clubs since 1993 and it did not look like they would end that sorry run here during a first half in which Arsenal cantered into a lead that they should never have surrendered.
Samir Nasri put Arsenal in front in the ninth minute with a goal that encapsulated the contrasting starts the sides made to the game. From the outset, Arsenal had been the more sprightly and inventive, and that pattern continued when Cesc Fábregas clipped a dainty ball over the Spurs defence for Nasri to chase. The goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes seemed the more likely to win the race but betrayed a lack of conviction in the challenge, enabling Nasri to force the ball past him at the edge of the area before diverting it into the net from an acute angle.
Rather than rally, Spurs became more ragged and Nasri and Fábregas lorded it over them in midfield thanks, in part, to the solid platform given to them by Alex Song and Denílson, who were dominant in the tackle. Song forged a fine chance for Fábregas to extend the lead in the 22nd minute, when he slipped a clever ball through to the Spaniard at the edge of the area. With one deft touch the Arsenal captain evaded Younes Kaboul, but then dragged his shot wide.
A second goal seemed inevitable for Arsenal and arrived five minutes later, originating in a simple move straight through the middle. Nasri prodded the ball to Fábregas, who fed Andrey Arshavin, who curled a low centre towards Marouane Chamakh. The Moroccan got the jump on Kaboul to nudge the ball in from six yards out.
True, injury deprived Tottenham of their first-choice central midfielder, Tom Huddlestone, and their preferred centre-back pairing, but this was still too easy for Arsenal. Redknapp blamed himself. "We started with an open team and got outnumbered in the middle of the park," he explained. "Our widemen were stuck out wide and Arsenal played through us."
Redknapp addressed the problem by instructing Gareth Bale to play more centrally in the second period and replacing Aaron Lennon with Jermain Defoe, making his first appearance for the club since injuring his ankle in September. These changes made a difference, but their effects were amplified by the home side's dip in intensity, an increasingly familiar theme at Arsenal this season.
Tottenham's first goal reflected their altered shape and Arsenal's lapsed concentration. Little Defoe was allowed to meet a hopeful punt with his head, mid-way inside the Arsenal half, and flick on the ball to Rafael van der Vaart. The Dutchman quickly fed Bale, whose surge from deep had escaped the attention of Arsenal, and he poked the ball into the corner of the goal.
Tottenham were back in the game, but still not creating enough to suggest an equaliser was imminent. With three-quarters of the game gone, Fábregas gave them a helping hand. Van der Vaart struck a 25-yard free-kick into the defensive wall, where it crashed against the upraised arm of Arsenal's captain. It was a sloppy error by Fábregas, symptomatic, perhaps, of the laxity that risks scuppering Arsenal's title ambitions. Van der Vaart administered appropriate punishment from the ensuing penalty kick.
Arsenal made chances to regain the lead, Gomes plunging to his left to push a curling drive from Fábregas around the post, and Sébastien Squillaci heading wildly over from six yards out. Tottenham were not so wasteful in the 85th minute, when Kaboul beat Laurent Koscielny to Van der Vaart's free-kick and nodded the ball in for a winner that had seemed implausible at half-time.
"I believe, overall, we delivered the expected performance, quality-wise, and, if you look at the statistics, it is very difficult to understand how we lost," said Wenger, before confessing the defeat could be explained by some familiar failings: "There was a drop of concentration, basic errors and some bad luck." The fact that victory over Spurs would have propelled Arsenal to the top of the league made this defeat even more painful. "When we have to deliver we can't, that is worrying," Wenger said regretfully. "There are opportunities in a championship race you want to take – we put ourselves in the right position and failed. That is a mental thing more than football."
Redknapp, on the other hand, hailed the "psychological boost" this triumph will give his team. "The championship is wide open," he said. "Chelsea are not as good as they were, Manchester United are not as good as they were … Tottenham are getting closer. Why can't we win it? Why should we be fearful?" No other team have yet provided a convincing answer to that. Perhaps it is Tottenham who should be feared?
Source: Paul Doyle, The Guardian on 20 Nov 10
No comments:
Post a Comment