ARSENAL v TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR, 3-0 Sat 2 Dec
2006
A brace from the unlikely source of stand-in captain Gilberto Silva
gave Arsenal a comfortable victory over north London rivals
Tottenham Hotspur to end a difficult week on a high. After Emmanuel
Adebayor had broken the deadlock, the Brazil midfielder converted
two penalties as the Gunners bounced back in style following
defeats to Bolton Wanderers and Fulham.
Arsene Wenger's men were in control throughout as they shrugged off
the loss through injury of regular skipper and talisman Thierry
Henry to produce a vintage performance.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger:
"We played with spirit, character, determination and good
organisation against a good Tottenham team.
"The team are inspired by their ambition and they were disappointed
by our last two results. We realised that, as a team, we have to
give more.
"The two penalties looked to be penalties to me but it happens that
you don't get them in some games."
Tottenham boss Martin Jol:
"You can talk about the decisions and they probably did cost us
goals, but I would be embarrassed to talk about them too much. We
did not lose because of them.
"We saw that Thierry Henry was not playing and we knew Arsenal had
lost recent games.
"We sensed this was an opportunity, so we are
disappointed."
