Arsenal 2 – 1 Spurs: Saint Nick Soars Highest To Give Arsenal Best Possible Gift
Add comment December 23rd, 2007
To win a game playing badly is the mark of Champions. To win a game playing badly against Spurs is simply the mark of Arsenal.
How hilarious was that? Frankly, we were poor. We never really clicked. And at 1-1, with less than twenty minutes to go, an over-zealous Kolo Toure tackle presented Robbie Keane with chance to win the game from the penalty spot.
And he missed. Or to be more accurate, Manuel Almunia saved his strike, waiting ’till the last minute before plunging low to his right to push the ball away. No longer Manuel Fawlty, but an instant Arsenal hero.
Kryptonite is a fictional substance from the Superman radio show series (and subsequent related media, most notably the comic books), which emitted a radiation that had an adverse effect on Kryptonian natives such as Superman. Emmanuel Adebayor is a footballer from Togo (though he was born in Nigeria), who has footballing powers which have an adverse effect on certain North London natives, particularly Tottenham Hotspur. So it was no surprise when Ade put our miserable first-half performance behind us with the opening goal, tucking away after an ingenious backheel by Cesc. That’s six goals in his last five games against Spurs. Somebody give that man a knighthood.
A deflected toe punt from Dimitar Berbatov pulled them back into the game, then the rib-tickling ‘Robbie Keane Show’ began. First he thudded a ball against the cross-bar from all of five yards, before (for an encore) performing the aforementioned disppearing act from the penalty spot. What disappeared? Well, any chance of a Spurs victory, of course.
A soon as that happened, it was as if the Gods of Christmas (eg. Noddy Holder) were on our side, and it was no surprise when we stole a winner in the 76th minute. Adebayor won a corner, and giant Dane Nicklas Bendtner replaced Emmanuel Eboue from the substitutes bench.
Spurs elected Tom Huddlestone to mark Bendtner. Now, Huddlestone could run through the Grand Canyon and still get scraped on both sides, so it was no surprise when his effort to track Nick’s run resulted in him blundering into one of our players. Unmarked, Bendtner rose like a particularly sprightly salmon to power the ball into the bottom corner.
Merry Christmas Everyone.
