North London is ours!!

Arsenal 2-0 Tottenham

Arsenal confirmed their superiority over their North London rivals, Tottenham, in spectacular fashion yesterday. The Gunners completely dominated proceedings from start to finish and could and should have won the game by a greater margin than the 2-0 score line.

In the build up to the game, Tim Sherwood suggested that Arsenal supporters and management would have been pleased to see Emmanuel Adebayor leave the field on a stretcher during Tottenham’s win against Manchester United. The Spurs manager then declared that unfortunately for Arsenal, Adebayor was fully fit and raring to go against his old club. However Tottenham never seem to learn. They love to talk before the game or before the season is done and invariably always end up with egg on their face. During yesterday’s game, had it not been for the fact that his every touch was jeered by the home crowd and cheers rang out whenever he lost the ball, no one would have realised that Adebayor was actually on the pitch. The threat from the Togolese man was marginalised by Koscielny and Vermaelen in the first half and in the second half he was absolutely monstered by Mertesacker, who had replaced Vermaelen at halftime.

Michael Dawson also spoke up before the game, proclaiming that Tottenham do not fear going away to any ground, especially the Emirates. This was a particularly strange statement given that their last three trips to the home of the Gunners had resulted in two 5-2 defeats and the 1-0 loss earlier this season. Although their last defeat at the Emirates was excused by football pundits who claimed Tottenham’s outlay of £110 million on several summer recruits meant they needed time to settle in together, there could be no excuses last night.

Arsenal were superior in every single department. Given the fact the Gunners possess one of the strongest midfield departments in the country, Tim Sherwood’s decision to deploy two strikers and therefore only four midfielders was ludicrous. Tottenham just could not live with the movement and combination play of Arsenal’s five man midfield. Rosicky, Cazorla and Gnabry in particular, all interchanged beautifully with Theo Walcott up front, as they ran rings around the Tottenham midfield, creating chances at will.

First Walcott was sent through by Gnabry, following a swift Arsenal counter attack. The English forward’s low cross shot was saved well by Lloris however. Minutes later and Walcott was thwarted again, this time seeing his curling effort deflected just wide of goal, before Gnabry drove at goal, cut inside and fired just over the bar. The young German star was absolutely outstanding yesterday in a performance which belied his young age. He is strong on the ball, has great technical ability and pace too, all of which suggest a great future lies ahead for him. Still the chances kept on coming, with Cazorla curling another effort wide of goal and Walcott sent clear through following wonderful combination play in the midfield, only for his shot to be easily saved by Lloris. Given their clear superiority, the only surprise was that it took the Gunners until the 32^nd minute to open the scoring.

Once again Gnabry was at the heart of the action, with a powerful forward run towards goal. Kyle Walker had seemingly fallen asleep, leaving Cazorla with acres of space on the left flank and Gnabry duly slid a wonderful, perfectly weighted pass towards the Spaniard. Such was the precision of the pass, that Cazorla did not even have to break stride, hitting the ball first time, past Lloris and into the far corner of the net. The Emirates erupted into a cacophony of noise: “oh Santi Cazorla, oh Santi Cazorla” Still Arsenal kept on coming and could have doubled their lead as Walcott’s volleyed effort from a corner flew over the bar, before Sagna was inches away from connecting with Cazorla’s free kick delivery, at the back post.

The second half was much the same as the first, with Arsenal in complete control. The Gunners really should have been more than one goal ahead and almost got their just deserts on the hour mark when Gnabry released Walcott, who rounded Lloris but could only find the side netting from an incredibly tight angle. It was somewhat frustrating for Arsenal that they could not convert their clear superiority into goals, but they did not have to wait much longer for their second goal of the night.

In the 62^nd minute, following a Tottenham corner, which was comfortably cleared by the Gunners, the utterly useless Roberto Soldado played the ball back to Danny Rose on the halfway line. With the relentlessly hard working Rosicky applying pressure on him, Rose inexplicably attempted to get out of trouble with a Cruyff turn. The Czech international was not fooled by this at all and easily stole the ball from Rose. As the Englishman was the last man back for Tottenham, Rosicky found himself through on goal. The Emirates crowd waited with baited breath as he advanced on goal, time appeared to stand still. Kyle Walker was chasing back, Lloris was advancing off his line, but Rosicky kept his calm, waiting for the opportune moment, for the goalkeeper to commit himself, before dinking the ball over him and into the net. Cue delirious celebrations amongst the Arsenal faithful.

The Gunners were in complete control and should have had a third when Tottenham dithered in defence once more and Walcott fired just wide of goal. Unfortunately, that would be the Englishman’s last significant contribution in the game as with ten minutes of normal time left to play he was injured right in front of the travelling Tottenham fans. With Wenger already having made his three substitutions and Walcott unable to continue, the Gunners had to play out the rest of the game with only ten men. As Walcott was carried off the pitch, missiles rained down on him from the Tottenham fans. Theo just smiled and reminded them of the score line. Those fans who were offended by this should remember how their striker, Adebayor, has celebrated goals against Arsenal in the past. There was no dancing from the Togolese last night however.

Even playing against ten men Tottenham couldn’t fashion a clear goal scoring opportunity. In fact it was the Gunners who had the best chance in the closing stages, with Ozil’s low cross shot well saved by Lloris, whose fine saves had kept the score line respectable.

Arsenal were absolutely magnificent last night. Thomas Rosicky on this performance alone deserves to be offered a new contract. But every single player deserves great credit. To a man they all showed the hunger and determination required to win a North London derby. At the end of the game, the crowd took great pride in chanting: “Adebayor what’s the score” while Per Mertesacker, who is fast becoming a firm crowd favourite, pumped his fist with great satisfaction and delight. The Gunners now have over a week to rest, regroup and focus again on the Premier League. This victory should give them immense confidence as they seek to maintain their fine form.