Match Reports Title Hopes In Tatters After Derby Defeat
Title Hopes In Tatters After Derby Defeat
A stunning debut goal from Danny Rose after 10 minutes set Spurs on their way with Gareth Bale adding the second, two minutes after half-time.
Nicklas Bendtner pulled one back, five minutes from time, to set up a grandstand finish but Spurs held on for their first League success over their arch-rivals in 21 attempts.
The defeat leaves the Gunners six points behind Chelsea with four games to go - and the Blues have a superior goal difference.
The win sees Tottenham move to within a point of Manchester City in the battle for the final Champions League place with five matches remaining.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, deprived of four midfielders through injury or suspension, handed 20-year-old former Leeds trainee Rose his first top-flight appearance in preference to David Bentley and it took little time for that decision to be vindicated in spectacular circumstances.
Manuel Almunia punched a corner clear only to watch the youngster dispatch a 30-yard left foot volley straight back over his head.
Arsenal dominated possession for long periods but tried to play through a packed and compact home rearguard superbly marshalled by Ledley King, making his first appearance since February.
Benoit Assou-Ekotto was forced to chest a Sol Campbell effort off the line inside the opening three minutes with the former Spurs captain predictably jeered on his return to the Lane.
Nicklas Bendtner also scuffed a shot wide of the post but despite their lack of possession it was the hosts who had the better chances.
Roman Pavlyuchenko saw his shot superbly blocked by Thomas Vermaelen but the Belgian was forced off after 20 minutes with a calf injury and his replacement, Mikael Silvestre was ponderous when Luka Modric burst past him only for Almunia to dive at the Croat's feet and deny Spurs a second.
Rose picked up a knock and was replaced by former Gunner Bentley at the start of the second-half but within two minutes of the re-start, the hosts had doubled their advantage.
Some slack Arsenal defending allowed Bale space on the right side of the penalty area to slip Jermain Defoe's pass into the corner of the net.
Spurs continued to look comfortable at the back until Robin Van Persie's introduction on 68 minutes after a five-month lay off with ankle ligament damage.
Abou Diaby's chip into the penalty area was chested down by the Dutch striker whose volley on the turn was superbly tipped around the post by Heurelho Gomes.
That was the Brazilian keeper's first real save of the night and he was soon called into action once more as Van Persie's 25-yard free-kick, destined for the top corner, was superbly tipped over.
Within moment Gomes had tipped Campbell's header onto the crossbar but Arsenal, who had scored in the last 10 minutes in each of their last seven Premier League matches, did get a lifeline when Theo Walcott's driven centre was poked home by Bendtner
Van Persie then saw his 25-yard drive pushed away by Gomes but they could not force the equaliser and Arsene Wenger now faces the prospect of seeing his side go a fifth consecutive season without a trophy.
Lee WalkerAdvertisment
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Comments
An anagram of your sign in name is 'de pubes'
I assume these are attached to 'de cock' which is what you obviously slip inside other Spurs fans, the men that is.
And there are a few stragglers attached to 'de arse' which is what you talk out of.
Pls wake up you guys only won a game not a cup. And for us looking up to you lots not in my life time not even in my son sons life time MATE
But what i will not have AND i mean will not HAVE
is Tottenham Hotscum being the team that ends our title hopes.
I have never said this before as a true Gooner and it hurts me to say so but here we go (Its time for Arsene to go)
We have waited and waited and waited and its not fair anymore!!!!!!
GOONER 4 LIFE
Hopefully we'll pick up Chamakh as we need another aggressive forward who can finish, and maybe bolster the defence a little but the team spirit is fantastic. (apart from Arshavin, sadly, let's hope that we can reel him back in or sell him at a huge profit...)
I would argue (controversiall y) that we've been the most consistent team in the PL this season. Unlike Man U and Chelsea, we've blown the opposition off the park in all but 6 games - 3 of the 4 big ones (we were better than them at old trafford), the villa home game and the fulham away game (which we won, but they played really well) and that crazy adebayor game. Chelsea and Man U have been poor many, many times this season and got away with it (just check their last performances). Chelsea and City may well buy up all the best players around next season but I think the heart of our team is really strong now and we will push them even harder next season.
The squad is definitely the best it's been since the Invincibles and while it sucks to lose to Tottenham and so let that small chance of winning the PL all but disappear, I'm very excited about next season. RVP, Djourou, Wilshere, Gibbs all back, Ramsey (and he is world class) hopefully in the mix for 2011, Walcott coming back to form, bring it on!!
1.We try to press high like Barca, but our midfield is made up of passive players without the will nor the skill to win the ball back, which puts the backline under constant pressure.
2.When we have possession, we waste chance after chance thru over elaborate yet predictable passing or excessive dribbling that leads to nothing.
3.We keep trying to swing the ball in from out wide thru our fullbacks who are terrible crossers & into the box where our aerial threat is virtually non-existent.
4.Half the team needs to brush up on the tactical aspects of the game, esp players like Diaby, Eboue & Walcott, despite their obvious physical talents, are in real need of some football brains.
5.We have no real quality on the bench, as evidenced by the fact that we actually have to resort to fielding the likes of Silvestre, Almunia & Denilson.
6.Our defending is a joke at times. Campbell was our most commanding presence at the back. That in itself speaks volumes on the state of affairs in our defence. & I don't even want to start on the jester of a goalkeeper that we have.
7.There are too many delicate pansies on the team, we need to buy players with the will to battle & the desire to win. I'll gladly sacrifice technical ability for physical strength, with the way things are.
2. only because rvp was injured, remember the start of the season when we'd scored about a billion goals in 15 games?
3. yes, true. clichy and sagna need to learn to cross. everyone at man u can put a decent ball in the box.
4. true, true, true.
5. really? i think the squad's pretty good. denilson's useful as a backup, almunia's a great shot stopper although we could do with a bigger presence and silvestre is our 6th choice centre back.
6. 4th and 6th choice centre backs!! what did we expect?
7. true. viera viera viera how we miss him. need some more nutters like eboue to shake up the opposition. wilshere's no shrinking violet, even if he is tiny. would like to get someone from the italian league like melo or chiellini to teach us how to play tough.
Just one extra mention.
Aluminium is a jester and the first move AW needs to make bringing in a topclass GK!
RVP showed us all we dominate this league whole year round like in the first 10 matches was he fit to play! AW is doing it slowly but surely!!! next yr without a doubt. League winners in the commemorate '71 outfit to silverline 125th anniversary!! keep the faith in AW we trust.
Scum is pathetic and if it was not for Rose's glory shot (Thks 2 almunia) they would never have won against our Reserve team.
We don't try to press high like Barcelona, because, as you have stated, we do not have the right players at present to do so. Therefore, WE DON'T. That is retarded comment number 2.
5. Your most Retarded comment to date and is evidence you are the one lacking a brain, as opposed to the players you mention in point 4. The list of players missing last night was Arshavin, Fabregas, Song, Gallas, Ramsey, RvP (only just back), Djourrou, Gibbs, Wilshere (on loan). If you take out 8 of the 6/7 or 8 of the players who played last night and replace them with any of the aforementioned, then those said players would then be on the bench. How big do you want our squad to be dickhead. We have had the worst injury crisis in our history.
So, to summarise in one short passage:
You are a retard, so please p*ss off and waste other peoples time with your stupid opinions.
Van Persie is a special player. But how could Wenger not see the wisdom in replacing him? Or in fortifying the rearguard? It is not as if he did not have opportunities to do so.
Terribly disappointing. Yet another season without even a speck of silverware to celebrate.
When John Terry can handle the ball at will, and our one last first team centerback falls, without Cesc, what were the chances, really, that Arsenal could win the title?
All this does is postpone St. Totteringham's Day, and now puts us in the position of having to demand that Spurs root for Arsenal to crush City.
COYS -- Root for the Arsenal!
Hope you arent really an Arsenal fan as you talk sh*t.
DAPADAN
Ehibaba
smedders
peedubs
Suck it long....and suck it hard...because you FINALLY managed to beat an Arsenal side who fought through hell and back..and you cock suckers? well..we'll let you have that bloke from Gavin and Stacy so he can suck our cocks as well because no matter what..WE WILL ALWAYS...ALWAYS...BE BETTER THAN YOU...And if you dont like it or feel like replying..dont bother..because you'd be busy sucking my balls
I will always love Arsenal..no matter what I will always love Arsenal..and i dont live in England!!! and it fucking hurts whenever I see my beloved Arsenal play without me cheering them on..and I envy EVERYONE who go out there and cheer for them...you guys who go and cheer for Arsenal have no idea how lucky you are...
Arsenal fan till i die...and Arsenal loving bitch I will always be..ALWAYS..FUCK U SPURS...FUCK ALL YOU CLUBS WHO FIGHT AGAINST US...WE ARE THE ARSENAL AND WE WILL ALWAYS BE THE ONES COMING BACK FOR MORE AND MORE...SO BRING ON FUCKING WIGAN..BECAUSE I WILL BE CHEERING AS LOUD AS I COULD..AND I WANT YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT I WILL NEVER TURN MY BACK ON OUR MANAGER AND PLAYERS..BECAUSE WHOEVER WEARS THAT JERSEY..AND WHOEVER MANAGES THE ARSENAL..DESERVE FUCKING RESPECT AND LOVE...
ARSENAL...ARSENAL...ARSENAL..
But who here honestly believed we would win either league?
Yes, we hoped against hope maybe, but WE ALL KNEW we were deluding ourselves.
WE ALL KNEW THIS TEAM WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH.
That's right. I said it. Who wants to have a go?
The Professor is begiinning to look alot like a kindergarten teacher. It doesn't take a political elitist with an economics degree to figure out the simple mathematics of it all:
You can't play most of the season missing, on average, SIX first team players and WIN THE FUCKING LEAGUE!
If he didn't know it last summer when we all knew it, then he sure the fuck knew it in January.
All he had to do was buy some fucking backup. We were just three signings away from total domination this year. Why fucking wait?
Instead he plys his trade as a perverse psychologist... When we are winning:
'Youo nou, eet iz incredibole zat at zis young age zhe team iz competing for both zhe leaguez"
And when we lose: "We vher very young tonight... Six or seven players under twenty-zhree... We are not mature enough..."
And yet how old was the Magician that murdered their European Dream?
How old was the foot that struck the Wonder Goal at White Hart Lane?
But maturity is not the problem, Wenger, it's self belief. You more than anyone should know that reverse psychology ultimately destroys it.
And you, more than anyone, are responsible.
F**K OFF FIZMAN, F**K OFF WENGER. I'M SO F**KING SICK OF THIS BOLLOCKS. WE HAD IT IN OUR F**KING GRASP, AND THEY F**KED IT ALL UP BUY NOT BUYING IN JAN.
F**K, F**K, F**K, F**K, F**K, F**K!!!
"Sol was one of our better players. He has shown the way to some players. What a winner he is. He showed what you need if you want to win titles. He deserves a lot of credit because he turned up with a real performance."
Says it all. Except for Sol and RVP, none of our other players showed any fight or determination or fight to win this game.
"He showed what you need if you want to win titles" -- exactly, the implication being clear: the other players don't have what we need to win titles.
We had an 8-day rest.
They had a far shorter break, coming after an exhausting game on a horrible pitch and a devastating loss.
Injuries are irrelevant. They had injuries too and they're hardly a world class team. Players like Rosicky, Sagna, Diaby, Denilson, et al. are good enuf for a Spurs squad also with injuries.
The result didn't surprise me because we haven't done all that well in our previous 9 games at WHL (only 2 wins). Statistically, a win for them had to come some time.
But the way some of our players played, you'd think it was just another game that meant very little. Some of them couldn't even be bothered.
For an education into Arsenal FC's financial state of affairs BEFORE the start of the 2010 season:
http://www.arsenal.com/assets/_files/documents/sep_09/gun__1254124328_PLUS_ANNOUNCEMENT_29-9-09.pdf
According to Pecker Head-Wood, Arsenal posted a record £35.2m after tax profit and Arsène "has the resources to bring more players in, if he believes doing so will add to the quality which we already have in the squad."
And that assessment of "the quality in the squad" IS THE DAMN PROBLEM.
Let's do the math together then, Einstein. I will spell it out real simple like, just for you. No pound signs or decimals to scare away your single wittle brain cell: 25 (adebayor) plus 14 (toure) minus 10 (vermaelen) equals 29 million to REINFORCE THE fucking SQUAD.
I can name two players that were available last year for less than 18 million combined that would have solved our problems this season and both would have jumped at the chance to join the ARSENAL: Barry (12) and still the best keeper in the league Given (6)
So while I'm not afraid to admit that I have no degree in anything but COMMON fucking SENSE, being a TRUE GUNNER fan while living in a bankrupt former soviet republic doesn't exactly make you World Monopoly Champion, now does it?
I'm done with you.
Now, to my peers on this post: the more a think about it, the more reason I have to be suspicious of the true intentions of the heirarchy of this club. David Dein was the man behind Wenger's success and it appears he cannot do it without him. There's something rotten in the state of denmark.
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