Arsenal v. Tottenham 4-4 29/Oct/08

An eight goal thriller today occurred when the Arsenal FC faced Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby. The Gunners permissively gave the lead and later the equalizer in the last gasp of the match. Spurs fans must have been gliding with zest as their team did not produce the ammount of game the home side did. But in Football the one who scores the most wins. Three of the four away goals were circumstancial; two rebounds and a long shot. Arsenal again showed the two faces of the team which has been discussed in previous posts; a relentless and effective attack against a mere holding permissive defense. It may have been the end of League title contention for the Gunners as Liverpool and Chelsea soar above all others in quality and quanitity.





The match was high on emotion with all the crowd booing that bastard Bentley. Spurs situation could not have been better, with a struggling side that had not win until the arrival of Redknapp. Giovani dos Santos was left out of the squad as well as Vela, and the Mexican media frenzy over a "Mexicanized North London Derby" was left out. Immediately Spurs began the match aggressively with a shot on the side-netting by Bale at 3'.
A parenthesis should be made in order to mention the Spanish commentators (Mexican) in the match. I counted the minutes they left silent the screen and in 45 it reached 2 minutes! They spoke through forty three minutes! It is really incredible the ammount of stupidity Fox Sports Mexico is bringing with these two stupids who, not just do not shut up, but talk pure nonsense. Anyway if you hear the names of Gustavo Mendoza and Juan Carlos Gabriel de Anda run from your transmission.

Just after the game began to settle that old bastard Bentley scored a tremendous volley. The shot took completely offguard Almunia and Spurs were one-nil up. The Arsenal began to quicken its attacks and through the middle three chances were created. At 22' Nasri took its first corner for Arsenal, while the unsure home side defense was merely holding it up. Mendoza made one comment, that left him completely unguarded towards criticism, about Gallas: "[Gallas] completed eight games for France in the EURO 2008." The first part of this utterance was clearly a fallacy, but the second is a lack of preparation and of knowledge. You may know dear reader, that Gallas only played three games in the EURO. This is obviosly due to the fact that; first in the group stage there can only be three games, and second that the maximun ammount a squad can have in that tournament is six. Certainly nonsense and stupidity. The home side growed permissive within minutes and by the 32' with an inbox shot by Theo the match turned from being completely owned by the Gunners to an equal possession. Tottenham zonal marking could only be broken with a spot kick. Twice at 37'and 46' the Gunners rose from the bad marking made by the Spurs defense.





The second half brought us the early lead through dreadful captain William Gallas. The Arsenal went for the match and several arrivals ended either on wide shots, such as Denilson's 51' and Adebayor's 60', or on good plays by the sides. The third goal came through a brilliant van Persie midfield long ball which was flicked on by Nasri and pushed by Adebayor at 65'. Things could not have went more than good for the home side. But Bent immediate replied the net after Almunia's rookie bounce on a Huddlestone shot at 67'. Van Persie fulminated Gomes nearly forty seconds after leaving the score line 4-2. The happy crowd overwhelmed the chorus of songs by the visiting fans and the ambient was spectacular for the Gunners. As far as 88' the match seemed a complete practice and on the way to the end Arsenal lost their way. Possession and will was the effort made by Tottenham. Spurs solid performance gave them their two points but the news was the Arsenal deception, far from being heroical it was dismal. Jenas finishing in the 90' and Lennon's goal were far from being a real result for the Arsenal. Arsenal's confidence doomed the aspirations of the team, and against Tottenham you cannot allow that.