Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 1: Rob redeems himself at the Lane

Robert Pires celebrates the equaliser

Being a North Londoner who spent his youth living between the two grounds in a place called Harringay I’ve acquired many friends who support the Scum and bets on the game were once a regular feature of the day. Not any more though, for some time now they’ve bottled on the bet and from a Spurs supporter’s point of view this fixture has become one they dread. Time was when they were serious rivals on a regular basis, today for the first time in a decade or so they actually had a team who were capable of giving as a game and they did.

Every season we say that the league positions don’t mean a thing for this particular match and I saw no reason for that to be any different today. The Totts were without Davids and we were without Henry, Cole and Hleb. But we had the ever-popular ‘Judas’ returning to the Lane once again and this time as captain. Not too many problems in the way of motivation for Sol then, although that said his distribution was piss-poor today as was Gilberto’s.

The game itself started at a frenetic pace, like a proper old-time derby match, that is to say the tackles were serious, often ferocious and the ball was quite often an optional extra. The half started fairly evenly but by half time Spurs were pissing it. I was sat right next to the line of helmeted coppers separating the two sets of supporters and also directly in front of Maria – so what with their verbals and her non-stop support I’m currently deaf in both ears.

Mido who’s basically a rather large turd with a silly haircut put himself about from the off with a foul on Kolo, he then fouled Lauren after Reyes had been caught offside. Spurs were spreading the play well and we were failing to retain possession for long enough to build anything of worth, although Freddie did manage to cut in and have a shot. Flamini fouled Tainio; Clichy had a great run that proved to be the first of many. Flamini, Dennis and Freddie had a move that saw Freddie’s shot blocked off. At the other end Lauren controlled a deep cross very well. ’61 never again’ ’71, 2004’ The ground was rocking as Spurs gained the ascendancy. Freddie almost got in after another Clichy break, but seemed to slip at the crucial moment. Fouls were two a penny; Sol on Mido, King on Reyes, Gilberto on Jenas for a yellow card, more fine play by Clichy before Flamini hit Tainio for our second yellow card. Tainio then took out Lauren off the ball, no card.

Referee Steve Bennett blew up for a foul when Spurs were breaking and the Lilleywhites were furious. They needn’t have been, because from Carrick’s free kick on the right the unmarked King rose the highest to head home. 1-0 to the Tiny Totts, except they had a lot more height than Arsenal today. The usual failure to mark man for man at set plays cost us yet again. Why Rice or Bould can’t have a word with Le Boss about this I have no idea! How many more times?

The rest of the half was pretty well all one way traffic, but going the wrong way from our pint of view. Kolo lost possession and Mido chipped one. A rocket from Carrick whistled past the post. Mido jumped out the way and Bennett gave him the free kick. He also put a knee in Lauren’s back that Bennett didn’t see. Jenas hit a powerful rising volley that was tipped over by Jens. But from the corner Tainio had a shot that scattered fans in the upper tier. A poor pass by Sol was jeered, and it wasn’t his only one, or the only jeer.

King, I think, had a powerful shot that was tipped over by Jens. But from the corner Tainio had a shot that scattered fans in the upper tier. A poor pass by Sol was jeered, and it wasn’t his only one, or the only jeer.

Jens comes under fire from the Spurs fans

When we did get forward we were shot shy, we played across the face of their box and had no final thrust. Sol hit the post, ours unfortunately, from a cross but fortunately it went for a corner. Mido headed over from the near post, all down crap marking again. Zonal marking at set plays has never worked and it never will – name me the last zone to score against us! The Totts broke again and won a corner. Before it was taken there was a load of argy-bargy in the box and a yellow card was flashed, I’m guessing it was Defoe for standing on Jen’s feet, as he usually does. But it could have been anyone who was booked, maybe even Dennis who was having words with Bennett.

Mido down their left and Lauren went in seriously hard and then put his face into the flattened Mido as if to say the next time you’ll be in row 6! This could become a ‘Dixon - Le Saux’ type serial battle, I do hope so. Freddie was upended but we didn’t get much from Bennett at this stage, maybe the Horatio Nelson bi-centenary had something to do with it. Stalteri into the back Freddie. More Totts pressure and once again Clichy did the biz. Totts offside. Tainio down injured after another clash. The Totts still pressed and fired one right across the face of goal that eluded both sets of players thankfully.

There was one final rally with a Clichy solo that went on and on but ended with a high cross that went well behind the goal. I managed to punch the ball from this cross and thought at the time that if our luck changed I’d claim the credit for changing our luck. Certainly something needed to change because we were being shafted as they went off for half time. There were more than one or two depressed Gooners in the crowd, including Alan Davies a few rows in front of us – how did he get tickets I wonder?

Robert Pires came out during the break to practice penalties, or if I was being honest it was merely to warm up. He replaced Flamini at the start of the half.

We looked to be more up for it after the break as Freddie was caught offside. Freddie then got through and Robinson had to make a good save but play was pulled back for a throw in. At least we’d had a decent shot at last. With Rob left and Freddie on the right Cesc could now play in the middle rather than out wide. This meant we retained a whole lot more of the ball after the break, because as you all well know Cesc rarely wastes possession and can switch play as well as control it. We looked better, but were not at this stage quite bossing the play. A good move ended with another limp pass from Silva. A Totts corner saw Jens go down, seemingly hit by a coin from the Scum behind his goal.

When he collected the ball to clear he was barged then tripped by Dawson to prevent the fast break – a yellow card for Dawson and a free for all. Mido grabbed Freddie by the neck in the melee that followed, quite how this whinging noxious lump didn’t get booked today can only down to unobservant refereeing. Dennis to Reyes who’s cross was blocked; we were still fannying about in front of goal. A Cesc chip on to Rob but he was flagged offside. Another break but Dennis over hit his pass. Tainio went down again, Lennon obstructed Reyes on a break. A great run by Defoe down their left and he got through our line for a low shot that Jens saved well with his leg. A brown trouser moment.

Tainio on Freddie for a yellow card, a long overdue booking. Sol went on a run and Jenas took his legs away from behind, no card. Dennis sent in a good free kick but there was no end product. An outrageous dive by Dawson won a free kick on half way. Freddie looked injured and was replaced by Van Persie who almost immediately looked a threat. The Gooners had been calling for him much earlier, we know about these things you see. Fouls were still two-a-penny. A fine move that had a lot of good short passes in it saw Robin have a decent shot well saved by Robinson. A fine low Pires cross was inches away from Van Persie’s big toe.

Mido - On his arse complaining for much of the game

Reid replaced Lennon. Another great run by Gael Clichy. Stalteri on Reyes for a free kick wide left. The ball in from Dennis saw ‘England’s number one short-arsed tubby keeper’ flap at it, this did no more than sent it on to the unmarked Pires coming in from our right. His low first time shot had a clear path to goal and was taken very sweetly. 1-1 with a quarter of an hour to go, game on. From here on in the Lane shut up and there were a good few twitching Scum fearing the worst as we upped our game.

Mendes on for Tainio. Dennis to Robin, who had his shot blocked. Dennis caught offside. Kolo on a run deep into their half. Mendes opened his account by fouling Reyes. A brilliant 180-degree turn gave Van Persie the chance for a shot that went wide. Keane came on for Defoe which pleased the home fans, not that he had a sniff. It was Arsenal’s game to win now. Cesc continued to control midfield and another Clichy run ended with a shot by Cesc. Van Persie with some great stuff on the right found Reyes on the left but his shot was blocked.

A brilliant last ditch cut out by Kolo, who had once again looked good throughout. Dennis, Jose and Robin broke as the action in the final minutes went from end to end. Cygan replaced Reyes and Gael moved further forward as we went for it in the closing minutes. The three minutes added time were still pretty action packed but the final score was a 1-1.

We’d looked lightweight in the first half and only Clichy was a real threat before the break. The second half showed that Cesc is coming on leaps and bounds and that Van Persie is now deserving of a starting slot ahead of Dennis. At long last the Totts had given us a decent game that they might have sown up in the first half, but they didn’t. We had enough in our locker to come back and might even have stolen all the points.

It was the travelling Gooners who were making the noise at full time and my touching the ball before half time quite obviously swung it our way.