There were to be several more twists in the tail though. Heurelho Gomes was then caught in no-man's land to allow Mikael Silvestre to head in Robin van Persie's corner for the equaliser and William Gallas guided home the Dutchman's free-kick just after the break to turn the contest on its head, with Emmanuel Adebayor seemingly putting the match out of sight, nipping in on the goalline to beat Alan Hutton to the loose ball to prod in after Samir Nasri's dink from Van Persie's incisive pass just failed to trundle in. That crushing inability to again hang onto a lead effectively spelt the end for Arsenal's latest title challenge as they came third, with Tottenham agonisingly failing to replicate their top-four finish the previous season.Īnother Tottenham comeback and another north London derby midweek classic as Harry Redknapp took charge of just his second match at Spurs.įormer Gunners academy graduate David Bentley made his first Premier League goal for the visitors a special one, trapping the ball 40 yards out and then belting in a dipping, swerving effort that the stretching Manuel Almunia could only get a right hand to in vain. However, Tom Huddlestone's gorgeously struck rising drive minutes later through the legs of Van der Vaart gave the Spurs fans something to get their teeth into, and the scores were level midway through the second half when Aaron Lennon was brought down by Szczesny in the box, with Van der Vaart converting the result spot-kick. Gomes clawed away the Dutchman's initial header, but was powerless to stop his follow-up being blasted home.Ī win for the visitors would have taken them within four points of Manchester United with five games still left to play. With less than 12 minutes played, the Gunners were back in front as Samir Nasri's deflected drive beat an unsighted Heurelho Gomes, and it was 3-1 on 40 minutes when William Gallas' chested the ball straight to Walcott, who lofted the ball to the waiting Robin van Persie. Jol's first campaign saw Spurs rise to ninth and reach the quarter-finals in both domestic cup competitions, while Arsenal's title defence was disappointing as they finished 12 points adrift of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, although they did defeat Manchester United on penalties to win the FA Cup, with Vieira scoring the winning spot-kick in his final appearance for the club.Īfter taking a 98th-minute lead against Liverpool only to throw away two points in the 102nd minute, Arsenal headed to White Hart Lane three days later needing a victory to realistically keep their title hopes alive, while Tottenham had just been knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage by Real Madrid.Ĭesc Fabregas set Theo Walcott through with an inch-perfect pass that the England forward coolly converted, before Rafael van der Vaart hit back with an instant response as he brought down a whipped Vedran Corluka through-ball confidently before firing past Wojciech Szczesny. Ledley King's 73rd-minute flicked header again gave the hosts hope, but Robert Pires put the contest to bed following some mesmeric close control, with Freddie Kanoute's consolation rounding off a breathless encounter. Jermain Defoe's superb solo effort breathed new life in the contest, but Freddie Ljungberg then converted Cesc Fabregas' cute reverse pass to restore Arsenal's two-goal lead. The turnaround was complete when Lauren tucked home a penalty after Paul Robinson's calamitous clearance put his side under pressure, and the visitors doubled their advantage when Patrick Vieira dispossessed Naybet near halfway and surged through to finish in style. Noureddine Naybet's only-ever goal in Spurs colours got the ball rolling in Martin Jol's first game in charge, before Thierry Henry - who never lost against Tottenham in 11 meetings - equalised on the stroke of half-time. Less than seven months after Arsene Wenger's Invincibles won the league at White Hart Lane, they were back, and what followed was the highest-scoring north London derby ever.
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