2Slick
02-12-2006, 17:33
A brace from the unlikely source of stand-in captain Gilberto 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 in the first north London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
They clicked straight into gear as Tomas Rosicky's through-ball picked out Robin van Persie, who controlled the ball well despite an untimely slip but narrowly failed to pick out the Czech Republic winger with his return pass.
Van Persie then linked up with Freddie Ljungberg and Adebayor in the right side of the penalty area, but Rosicky failed to meet Cesc Fabregas' cross and then Ljungberg saw his optimistic penalty appeals waved away as he went down under Michael Dawson's challenge.
Ledley King did well to cut out Rosicky's cross with Van Persie lurking, and the Dutchman was then muscled off the ball by King as he chased the same player's through-ball.
But it was Spurs who created the best chance of the opening 10 minutes as Dimitar Berbatov found space on the left flank and played in Steed Malbranque, who made life difficult for himself by attempting to finish with the outside of his right foot, the ball curling wide.
A flowing move then saw Malbranque return the favour for Berbatov, but the Bulgaria star was grateful to see the offside flag raised after miscontrolling the ball.
Adebayor opened the scoring in the 20th minute after springing the Spurs offside trap to reach Kolo Toure's long through-ball.
Pascal Chimbonda was adjudged to be goal-side of the Togo frontman and he made no mistake with a cool finish beyond Paul Robinson.
Ljungberg was enjoying a great deal of success against Benoit Assou-Ekotto, who was given little protection from Malbranque ahead of him.
The 29-year-old broke into the area once more after powering past the former Lens full-back, but his attempted cross was headed back to him by a diving Michael Dawson and he fired his second attempt wildly over the bar.
Assou-Ekotto earned a booking for the latest in a succession of fouls on the Sweden winger, but Van Persie's low free-kick was missed by Johan Djourou before flashing wide of the far post.
Adebayor was denied another clear run on goal when he was penalised for clipping the heels of King, but the next decision went in the Gunners' favour as Chimbonda's challenge on Rosicky in the area allowed Gilberto to double the advantage with a thumping finish from 12 yards.
Berbatov had a half-hearted appeal for a stoppage-time penalty at the other end turned down as Arsenal went into the interval in control.
Martin Jol made a less than surprising double substitution at half-time, replacing left-flank duo Assou-Ekotto and Malbranque with Lee Young-Pyo and Jermaine Jenas.
Emmanuel Eboue, though, was the next to exploit space on that side but his cross had too much on it for Rosicky, who was soon replaced by Alexander Hleb having picked up an injury.
Jenas ensured Jens Lehmann was tested - arguably for the first time - on the hour with a long-range drive which the Germany keeper parried, Toure denying Aaron Lennon from the follow-up.
Another drive from distance by the former Newcastle United midfielder flashed high and wide of Lehmann's goal before Gilberto was booked for hauling down Chimbonda.
The second spot-kick followed quickly as Van Persie was bundled over by Jenas, although replays suggested the Holland frontman handled the ball on his way into the box.
Having drilled home his first penalty to Robinson's right, Gilberto placed the second precisely inside the opposite post.
Van Persie was replaced by Julio Baptista as time ran down, while Spurs threw on an extra forward in Jermain Defoe in place of Teemu Tainio.
Both substitutes had shots charged down, but the match settled into a scrappy finale as Arsenal played out time comfortably to maintain their extraordinary record of having either won 3-0 or drawn 1-1 in every Barclays Premiership match at their new home.
http://www.premierleague.com/competition/matchreport/report.html?id=2687170
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 in the first north London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
They clicked straight into gear as Tomas Rosicky's through-ball picked out Robin van Persie, who controlled the ball well despite an untimely slip but narrowly failed to pick out the Czech Republic winger with his return pass.
Van Persie then linked up with Freddie Ljungberg and Adebayor in the right side of the penalty area, but Rosicky failed to meet Cesc Fabregas' cross and then Ljungberg saw his optimistic penalty appeals waved away as he went down under Michael Dawson's challenge.
Ledley King did well to cut out Rosicky's cross with Van Persie lurking, and the Dutchman was then muscled off the ball by King as he chased the same player's through-ball.
But it was Spurs who created the best chance of the opening 10 minutes as Dimitar Berbatov found space on the left flank and played in Steed Malbranque, who made life difficult for himself by attempting to finish with the outside of his right foot, the ball curling wide.
A flowing move then saw Malbranque return the favour for Berbatov, but the Bulgaria star was grateful to see the offside flag raised after miscontrolling the ball.
Adebayor opened the scoring in the 20th minute after springing the Spurs offside trap to reach Kolo Toure's long through-ball.
Pascal Chimbonda was adjudged to be goal-side of the Togo frontman and he made no mistake with a cool finish beyond Paul Robinson.
Ljungberg was enjoying a great deal of success against Benoit Assou-Ekotto, who was given little protection from Malbranque ahead of him.
The 29-year-old broke into the area once more after powering past the former Lens full-back, but his attempted cross was headed back to him by a diving Michael Dawson and he fired his second attempt wildly over the bar.
Assou-Ekotto earned a booking for the latest in a succession of fouls on the Sweden winger, but Van Persie's low free-kick was missed by Johan Djourou before flashing wide of the far post.
Adebayor was denied another clear run on goal when he was penalised for clipping the heels of King, but the next decision went in the Gunners' favour as Chimbonda's challenge on Rosicky in the area allowed Gilberto to double the advantage with a thumping finish from 12 yards.
Berbatov had a half-hearted appeal for a stoppage-time penalty at the other end turned down as Arsenal went into the interval in control.
Martin Jol made a less than surprising double substitution at half-time, replacing left-flank duo Assou-Ekotto and Malbranque with Lee Young-Pyo and Jermaine Jenas.
Emmanuel Eboue, though, was the next to exploit space on that side but his cross had too much on it for Rosicky, who was soon replaced by Alexander Hleb having picked up an injury.
Jenas ensured Jens Lehmann was tested - arguably for the first time - on the hour with a long-range drive which the Germany keeper parried, Toure denying Aaron Lennon from the follow-up.
Another drive from distance by the former Newcastle United midfielder flashed high and wide of Lehmann's goal before Gilberto was booked for hauling down Chimbonda.
The second spot-kick followed quickly as Van Persie was bundled over by Jenas, although replays suggested the Holland frontman handled the ball on his way into the box.
Having drilled home his first penalty to Robinson's right, Gilberto placed the second precisely inside the opposite post.
Van Persie was replaced by Julio Baptista as time ran down, while Spurs threw on an extra forward in Jermain Defoe in place of Teemu Tainio.
Both substitutes had shots charged down, but the match settled into a scrappy finale as Arsenal played out time comfortably to maintain their extraordinary record of having either won 3-0 or drawn 1-1 in every Barclays Premiership match at their new home.
http://www.premierleague.com/competition/matchreport/report.html?id=2687170