Tottenham 1-3 Arsenal
Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice as Arsenal came from behind
to beat north London rivals Tottenham.
Gareth Bale curled in a 15th minute free-kick to put Spurs ahead
before Paul Robinson twice denied Adebayor.
Abou Diaby hit the bar as Arsenal pushed on, then Dimitar Berbatov
was thwarted by a last-ditch Kolo Toure tackle and Adebayor blazed
over.
Arsenal equalised when Adebayor nodded in before Cesc Fabregas'
drive put them ahead and Adebayor volleyed a third.
But for long spells it had seemed Arsenal's profligate finishing
would lead to Spurs beating their neighbours for the first time in
17 attempts - particularly as there was no such wastefulness from
Bale, who took advantage of Manuel Almunia's poor positioning to
whip a free-kick into the bottom corner.
But then time and again, Spurs' defence - which included fit-again
Michael Dawson for the first time this season - was cut open by the
visitors' quick, incisive passing.
As well as the two Adebayor efforts - the first tipped over by
Robinson and the second beaten away by the England keeper -
Arsenal's Alex Hleb also wasted a good first-half chance.
Fabregas, influential throughout, stormed through the midfield
before releasing Adebayor, whose clever lay-off found Hleb in a
central position.
But his shot was parried by a well-positioned Robinson, whose
confidence had clearly been restored after his two clean sheets for
England.
As the half wore on, though, Tottenham - who had only managed a
Berbatov header as their other effort on goal, aside from Bale's
success - began to settle.
Striker Berbatov floated a teasing cross for Robbie Keane but the
Republic of Ireland star was judged to have handled the ball as he
tried to control it.
After the break, Berbatov should have doubled Spurs' lead when he
raced through on goal and rounded a stranded Almunia, who had left
his area, but the Bulgarian attempted to trick Toure rather than
shoot into an unguarded net and was dispossessed.
Yet if that was a bad miss, Adebayor quickly edged ahead in the
miss-of-the-match stakes as he blasted over from eight yards
following a great run and pull-back by Bacary Sagna.
The game then entered a period of niggling challenges, flared
tempers and players squaring up to each other.
Perhaps that unsettled Tottenham - and fired up Arsenal.
And when Fabregas' free-kick came in from the right - after the
Spaniard had been fouled by Steed Malbranque - Adebayor finally
demonstrated he has a striker's touch by powerfully heading
home.
The hosts responded well and Berbatov had a shot cleared off the
line by Gael Clichy.
But Tottenham suffered a crushing blow when Fabregas set his aim
from distance and crashed in a fierce strike to put Arsenal ahead
for the first time.
Spurs then had a great chance to even things up again but
substitute Darren Bent scuffed his shot horribly wide when clear
through on goal.
And, remarkably, there was still time for Arsenal to score a third
goal when Adebayor flipped up the ball on the edge of the box,
swivelled and crashed a magnificent volley into the top corner.
