Kyle Walker’s long strike sealed the victory for Tottenham in the North London Derby. Arsenal’s woes are multiplying as Bacary Sagna’s injury will see him miss three months. Spurs coach Clive Allen was angry at Arsene Wenger after a post-match confrontation.
Rafael Van der Vaart opened the scoring for Spurs in the 40th minute. He received a lofted pass from Adebayor and volleyed the ball inside the far post. It appeared that Van der Vaart handled the ball when he brought down the pass, but nothing was given. He was already on a yellow card. Wenger commented on the goal in his post-match press conference (from Arsenal.com):
“It is frustrating as well because their first goal was handball. I wonder what the linesmen do in these situations. It is a second yellow card as well because he already had one – for handball, on purpose.”
Some fuss has been made about Van der Vaart’s celebration with the supporters after the goal. Technically, that should have resulted in a second yellow. Personally, I do not think that players should be booked for celebrating with fans. Arsene Wenger agrees with me (from Arsenal.com):
“I am not a fan of that. I can understand that when a player scores there has to be some spontaneous reaction to a goal.”
Aaron Ramsey scored the equaliser for Arsenal in the 51st minute. Alex Song made a run down the wing from his centre-back position to cross the ball to Ramsey, and the Welshman blasted it home from close-range. Besides his goal, Ramsey was terrible. Judging by his many give-aways, he might as well have pulled a lilywhite shirt over his head and made his intentions known.
Kyle Walker stuck the dagger into Arsenal in the 73rd minute. The right back sent a low, hard, curling effort towards the far post, and it beat Szczesny. I almost knew it was going to find the back of the net right from the second it left Walker’s foot. It was a good, long strike, but our keeper should have made the save.
Despite the loss, there were some positives. Francis Coquelin, who started in centre midfield, was excellent, especially in the first half. Per Mertesacker is finding his Premier League legs. Szczesny, apart from the second goal, was brilliant in net.
One worrying thing was the lack of effort shown when Walker scored his goal. Spurs had more chances after Walker scored than Arsenal. The passing was careless and they ran right through our players. Scott Parker was a tireless bull in the midfield. He could have been an Arsenal player…
Bacary Sagna suffered a painful injury in the 66th minute. He was screaming in agony after a tackle by Assou-Ekotto along the touchline. Arsenal.com announced on Sunday night that Sagna will miss about “three months” with a fractured fibula in his right leg.
Sagna’s loss is a huge blow to our back four. He was our most reliable and experienced Premier League defender. Wenger will now have a choice of Andre Santos and Carl Jenkinson at right back. Santos is a natural left-sided player, and Jenkinson has little top-flight experience.
Tottenham coach Clive Allen is furious at Arsene Wenger for “refusing” to shake his hand. Wenger shook hands with Redknapp and coach Kevin Bond, but apparently missed Allen. Allen had to be held away from Wenger by police officers. He said after the incident (from The Telegraph): “He refused to shake my hand. He says he didn’t see or hear me. But he’s two-bob, he is.” Grow up Allen!
Wenger also spoke about the incident (from The Telegraph): “I shook the hand of the manager and the assistant manager. How many people do I have to shake hands with? Is there a prescription?” Wenger also agreed that Allen wanted to make himself the story.
As upset as I was at the end of the match, it is not a time for Gooners to panic. Yes, we are 15th in the table, but it is the begginning of October. This season was always destined to be a transitioning year after Cesc and Na$ri left. One finish outside the top four is not the end of the world.
Arsene Wenger has already admitted that the Gunners cannot win the league this season (from Arsenal.com): “I do not think like that, I think at the moment we have to set ourselves a realistic target and to get in touch with the teams who are fighting for the Champions League positions. If you say today we will win the league it is not realistic.
“At the moment we are 12 points behind Manchester United and Manchester City – that’s not realistic to say today that we will win the league. We have to fight to come back into a much better position, that’s reality.”
We are forced to lower our expectations for this season, but Gooners still expect Arsenal to challenge for the league in the years to come. As for Spurs, we will get them in the return leg at the Emirates!
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