Archive for January 25th, 2007

Spurs 2 – 2 Arsenal: Beastly display blossoms into brilliance

138 comments January 25th, 2007

Henry Winter is a better journalist than me. So I’ll allow him to introduce my report of one of the matches of the season:

“First team or second, these magnificent Arsenal players simply refuse to give up. After the headline acts twice struck late against Manchester United on Sunday, here it was the turn of the fringe performers in the Carling Cup, who overturned Tottenham’s two-goal lead with a majestic second-half display spiced by Julio Baptista’s brace.”

Spot on, Henry. The first twenty minutes, however, were a bit of a nightmare. In the game at Anfield Liverpool had bombarded us early on – it seems our youngsters take a while to get into their stride. However, in this game their was a critical difference with our performance in the Anfield extravaganza: defensive mistakes. Two of them. The first was Kolo Toure’s decision not to head a routine cross clear, allowing Dimitar Berbatov to nod home. The second came when the positioning of our wall forced us to defend a whipped free-kick very deep. Jeremie Aliadiere missed his clearance, and the ball trickled in off Julio Baptista for an own goal.

Spurs, confident of retaining the two goal lead, switched to a 4-5-1. But in sitting back, they allowed our central midfield pairing of Fabregas and Denilson to take control of the game. The Brazilian looks like a younger clone of Cesc, and today he witnessed a masterclass from a player who must now be regarded as one of the world’s best.

As half-time arrived, Baptista mis-kicked from four yards to spurn our best opportunity up to that point. It was truly a night of the good, bad, and ugly for the Brazilian. By half-time he had been offensively anonymous (missed sitter aside), been booked, and scored an own goal. If you were taking bets on him earning a permanent contract at Arsenal the chances would’ve been slim to none. But the “good” part of the good/bad/ugly tirumvate was still to come.

During the second half, Alex Hleb replaced Abou Diaby (who had had a slightly awkward time on the left-wing), and Emmanuel Eboue came on for Jeremie Aliadiere. Both first-team regulars made a huge impact, their pace and penetration matching the threat that Aaron Lennon had provided for Tottenham all night.

I knew that we were capable of scoring, and that one goal, a crucial away goal, could make all the difference. On 64 minutes, Baptista provided it, playing a one-two with Theo Walcott, falling to the ground, picking himself up again and calmly slotting home. It was a goal borne out of sheer determination.

Thirteen minutes later, it was that man again equalising, but this time he owed a huge debt to Cesc Fabregas and Justin Hoyte. Fabregas bided his time on the half-way line before playing in the enterprising Hoyte with a pass every bit as good as the one that gave Emmanuel Adebayor the winner up at Wigan. Paul Robinson went a bit mental and charged out towards Hoyte, who calmly centred for Baptista to out-muscle Dawson and tap home. 2-2. Advantage Arsenal.

You have to credit Baptista. After the first half he’d had, many players would’ve gone hiding. Tonight’s match was like a microcosm of Baptista’s Arsenal career to date: first-half poor, second-half promising. Arsene said:

“Julio Baptista has shown again what a player he is. He scored an own goal, but instead of feeling sorry for himself he scored two for us. He is mentally a very strong player and he will get his chance to play more as the season goes on. He likes it here and likes the atmosphere inside the squad. It took him four or five months to adapt, but he is in my mind.

Thanks to the second-half heroics, we now have a firm advantage going into what should be a cracker of a second leg in a week’s time, when “most” of tonight’s team will start.

The win came at a cost though, with Alex Hleb, Jeremie Aliadiere, and Emmanuel Eboue all seeming to pick up hamstring problems. More on that when we get it. Furthermore, a few Arsenal fans I know experienced a bit of trouble after the game. Note to those travelling to White Hart Lane later in the season: don’t wear colours.

Finally, for those of you who enjoy mindless transfer speculation, we’re signing Ryan Babel.


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