It’s the North London derby on Sunday, and both teams will be going into the game with their tales up having secured wins at the weekend. Arsenal were gritty in their win at surprise team of the season Bournemouth, and Tottenham outclassed Chelsea, inflicting the first defeat of the season on them. Three points separate the two sides going into this match, with Tottenham in 3rd, and Arsenal in 5th and a win for the Gunners would take them above Tottenham on goal difference, whereas an away win would open up a six-point gap and would keep them in touching distance of leaders.
Emirates Stadium home of Arsenal.
Tanasut Chindasuthi/shutterstock
The sides won one game apiece last season in the derbies last year, and this should hopefully be an enthralling game – possibly the game of the weekend. North London derby’s, are rarely dull and the game below from the vault had it all.
Arsenal vs Tottenham – February 26th 2012
Team sheet from the game
Prior to the Match: It was the Premier League 2011/2012 season, and the two teams going for the title were Manchester United and Manchester City. It was that season when Aguero scored that goal. No other team came close in the title race, and Arsenal and Tottenham were trying to occupy 3rd and 4th place in the league. When finishing in the top four, you are rewarded with a Champions League place next season. However, if a team from your country wins the Champions League, and they don’t finish in the top four, then they get given that 4th Champions League spot instead. So, in the unlikely event that 6th placed and struggling Chelsea won the Champions League this season, that means they would take the team’s Champions League place, whoever finished fourth. Very unlikely, right?
Nonetheless, Tottenham were not aiming to finish fourth, and were focusing on claiming 3rd – their highest ever position in the Premier League. They had 53 points from 25 matches going into this fixture, as their impressive season had given them a huge 10 point gap above Arsenal who were 5th at the time. Managed by Harry Redknapp, Tottenham came into this game having won 5-0 against Newcastle, and previously drawn 0-0 at Anfield which was considered a good result given their record there. Gareth Bale, Rafael Van Der Vaart, Jermaine Defoe, and even ex-gunner Emanuel Adebayor were all in prolific form, as Tottenham looked menacing. Some Spurs fans went into this game with a ‘mind the gap’ signs, taunting their rivals who finished above them year after year. Maybe this year was different.
Arsenal had had a torrid season by their standards so far, and went into this match after a horrendous week. They were knocked out of the FA Cup by Sunderland and lost the first leg of their Champions League tie to AC Milan 4-0 at the San Siro. No hopes for a trophy this year again for Arsene Wenger, which would mark 8 consecutive years without one. The only way they could salvage anything from the season was to finish in the top four positions and make sure that they play Champions League football the next season. Could they bridge the 10 point gap from the final 13 matches of the season, a possible 36 points to play for?
The First Half
Spurs started the game in the same fashion as they had started their season – in the ascendancy. First to every ball, cute clever play, and their pace up front was causing havoc for the Arsenal defenders. Luka Modric was pulling the strings for Tottenham, and Arsenal couldn’t get close to him. It took Tottenham just 4 minutes to get the first goal, as Louis Saha was bearing down on goal, and his deflected shot looped over goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny. Tottenham entered dream land on 34 minutes when Gareth Bale was brought down by the goalkeeper, and Emanuel Adebayor stepped up to convert the penalty to make it a 2-0 lead for the visitors. As things stood, Tottenham would have increased their gap over their rivals to 13 points. Then, it all changed…
Arsenal had appeared to hit rock bottom, and Tottenham were flying. The tables had finally turned, or so we thought. Arsenal managed to find some character, and against the run of play, got one goal back at just the right time in minute 40. Halfing the deficit to one goal just 5 minutes before half-time changed the situation drastically, and the Arsenal fans started to have confidence again. Before anyone could take in what they were seeing, the spectators were shell-shocked when Arsenal scored again just two minutes later. The main man for Arsenal back then was Robin Van Persie, and he scored a superb curling shot that made it 2-2, and it changed in an instant. Two quickfire goals from the gunners had lifted them so much, and knocked Tottenham’s poise. At halftime, it was 2-2.
The Second Half
Arsenal came out of the second half exactly the same way in which they ended the first half. Tottenham were still asleep and didn’t use the 15 minutes to refocus on their game plan. Tomas Rosicky started and finished a lovely flowing move for the hosts, as unbelievable, Arsenal made it 3-2 just 5 minutes after the break. Therefore, in 11 minutes of playing time, Arsenal had scored 3 goals to completely turn the match upside down. Tottenham failed to react, and Arsenal looked likely to get the next goal, and shortly after, they did. Theo Walcott scored not once, but twice in minutes 65 and 68 to make it 5-2 to Arsenal. No neutral fan could believe what they were witnessing, as Arsenal fans were in bedlam and Tottenham fans were living their worst ever nightmare. The game went from a commanding position for Tottenham, into a thrashing, with them well beaten going into the latter stages of the match. To add insult to injury, Scott Parker was sent off the visitors, as their awful afternoon came to an end.
Arsenal won the match 5-2, and reduced the gap to 7 points between the two teams. We wouldn’t see a scoreline like that again for a while…..well actually, somehow that incredible scoreline happened again just 10 months later when they met in the following season at the Emirates.
Could Arsenal close the gap on Tottenham and finish above them? Of course, they did. Tottenham capitulated and lost their next two matches in the league, and only won one of their next 8 games. They managed to pick up form towards the end of the season, with 10 points from a possible 12 but it was only enough to secure fourth. Arsenal’s end of the season was impressive once they got knocked out of all the competitions, and they managed to finish 3rd – pipping Tottenham to it by one point. Minute 39 on the match, Arsenal were 13 points behind Tottenham, but one hour in football changed their fortunes and their season. Remarkable. Don’t worry Spurs fans, you secured fourth, so they got to look forward to the Champions League next..oooh. Ah. No they didn’t. Why? Well, against all the odds, Chelsea went on to win the Champions League, and therefore claimed the fourth Champions League spot. You really couldn’t make it up.
Scotty ✅
