Arsenal vs. Tottenham

5-2, Premier League, Emirates Stadium, 2012-11-17
Mertesacker 24,
Podolski 42,
Giroud 45 + 1,
Cazorla 61,
Walcott 90 + 1

What a game! These North London Derbies will always be heated, but recently they have also been bountiful with goals. Even though we started off both halves poorly we managed to repeat the feat of last season and beat Tottenham 5-2 at the Emirates. At occasions we had an absolutely stunning game, playing the game the way it should be played with a brilliant passing game and lots of chances to score!

As mentioned, we had a real slow start to the first half and within ten minutes Tottenham had scored twice, the first was ruled offside but the second was a result of some really poor defending. Mertesacker lost track of Defoe, whose shot was saved (barely) by Szczesny (who is now back after two months!) but the rebound was put in the back of the net by none other than Adebayor. However, that joy was short-lived for Adebayor as he was shown the red card for a tackle on Cazorla, it was definitely the right call as the Tottenham striker came in with his studs, hitting Cazorla on the foot. Fortunately, Cazorla did not pick up an injury and could continue the game. As might have been predicted we started to build up pressure on Tottenham, temporary left-back Vermaelen had a decent shot blocked by a defender before the equalizer came. Walcott provided a great cross that was met perfectly by our German defender, Per Mertesacker, who headed the ball into the top corner of the goal! We had another brilliant chance from a header a short while later, a free-kick taken by Wilshere found Giroud, unfortunately the header was saved by Lloris this time around. A minute after that Cazorla had a sizzling shot that went just over the bar, pressure was building. Close to ten minutes later Giroud had another great header saved by Lloris, from a Sagna cross. Then came the closing minutes of the game and with them came the winning goals. After some brilliant link-up play by Arteta and Wilshere the ball found its way to Lukas Podolski, whose shot took a deflection on a defender to go into the back of the net right by the post! During the added time of the first half our new French striker made it three goals in three matches for himself as Cazorla showed his worth with a stunning run where he somehow managed to get back on his feet after a harsh tackle and continued down the pitch to cross the ball perfectly to Olivier Giroud, who scored with a shot that had plenty of both precision and power!

Like the first half we had a slow start to the second half, Tottenham had a good first fifteen minutes before we more or less finished the game off. After those first fifteen minutes Giroud won a header, Walcott played the ball to Podolski who crossed the ball to Santi Cazorla and the Spaniard finished the great move off with a brilliant run and a terrific goal! In the next couple of minutes we maintained a good pressure on Tottenham with plenty of play in and around the box and Giroud found himself in a decent shooting position, but unfortunately his shot went wide. With approximately twenty minutes to go Tottenham pulled one back, bringing back some nerves into the game. Fortunately that proved fruitless as the scoreline would end up exactly like it did last spring at the Emirates. Chamberlain made a great run and passed the ball to Theo Walcott, who scored with a powerful shot! The English striker/winger has been brilliant in the recent games, especially when he makes those central runs typical for a central striker. There has been a lot of talk about where he will end up and I do not think anyone would be surprised if he becomes a central striker in the near future. Chamberlain showcased some deadly footwork in the last minute, but this time his run merely resulted in a corner.

Even though the scoreline says 5-2 it was not a too impressive game from the Arsenal. Tottenham was down to ten men for the majority of the game and still managed to create some tensions until the last ten minutes or so. Now that the game is finished one might state that we were fairly comfortable once we had our lead, but it was really nerve-breaking during the actual game. Some of the greatest aspects of today's derby were the way we played, on occasions it was absolutely stunning, but also the performances of Walcott and Wilshere, to great young Englishmen.

Injury Update:
- Szczesny was finally back in goal after two months on the sidelines and it felt great to see him ruling that box again.