0-3 v Arsenal FC - 2 December 2006 - Away

Tottenham Hotspur Badge

Spurs 0

Arsenal FC

Arsenal FC

3

  • Adebayor
    20'
  • Gilberto Silva
    42' (PEN)
    72' (PEN)
Details
Match Number

6596

Opposition
Arsenal

Arsenal FC

Competition
Premier League

Premier League

Season

2006/07

Date

2nd December 2006

Kick Off

12:45

Venue

Emirates Stadium

Attendance

60,115

Referee

Graham Poll

League Position

12th

Opposition League Position

3rd

Opposition Form

LLLWWL

Weather at Kick Off

9.9° - Partly Cloudy

Facts & Milestones
  • 6563rd overall match (3106 wins, 1438 draws, 2006 losses)

  • 5047th competitive match (2242 wins, 1182 draws, 1623 losses)

  • team

    249th match vs Arsenal FC (91 wins, 57 draws, 101 losses)

  • competition

    559th Premier League match (200 wins, 147 draws, 212 losses)

  • 6041st match in England (2809 wins, 1358 draws, 1861 losses)

  • 1st match at Emirates Stadium (0 wins, 0 draws, 1 loss)

Report

Referee Graham Poll was at the centre of attention as two disputed penalties helped Arsenal beat Spurs in the first north London derby at their new ground.

Arsenal led through a composed finish by Emmanuel Adebayor after he was played onside by Pascal Chimbonda.

Chimbonda was then harshly adjudged to have fouled Tomas Rosicky and Gilberto Silva drilled home the penalty.

Gilberto got another from the spot when Jermaine Jenas felled Robin van Persie, after the Dutchman had handled.

The win extended Arsenal's unbeaten streak over their neighbours to 14 league games.

It also maintained their run of always winning 3-0 in Premiership action at the Emirates Stadium after scoring the first goal.

Poll attracted criticism for his performance in the recent London derby between Spurs and Chelsea.

And while he looked to have blundered for Arsenal's two penalties, Tottenham did not deserve anything from a lacklustre performance.

Their one and only moment of note came in the 11th minute.

Steed Malbranque started a fine move down the left and almost finished it when Dimitar Berbatov worked an opening in the box but the French winger lashed his shot just wide of the post.

But from that moment the game was all about Arsenal.

The Gunners were close to their fluent best, with Adebayor's powerful running with the ball providing a worthy replacement for injured skipper Thierry Henry.

He was given the benefit of a split decision by the linesman when Toure lifted the ball over the top and the talented 22-year-old Togo forward showed composure beyond his years to slot past Paul Robinson.

Henry, who had earlier played down reports of a bust up with manager Arsene Wenger, was first off the bench to celebrate with his protege.

The goal saw Arsenal grow in confidence, while Spurs seemed to slip even further into their shell.

Johan Djourou should have finished off a whipped in Van Persie free-kick and Adebayor drilled at Robinson with team-mates better placed.

Freddie Ljungberg was enjoying plenty of space down the right, with Spurs' exposed left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto finding the Swede and the overlapping Emmanuel Eboue too much of a handful.

On the other flank right-back Chimbonda was having an equally wretched time.

With Rosicky free on goal he lunged into a desperate last-ditch tackle and looked to have taken the ball cleanly.

But Poll pointed to the spot and stand-in skipper Gilberto Silva gave Robinson no chance with a well-struck penalty into the bottom corner.

If Spurs boss Martin Jol was furious with the officials about the first goal, frustration was the name of the game after a second decision went against his side.

Re-enforcements were drafted in at half-time in the shape of Jenas and Young-Pyo Lee.

Jenas finally brought a save out of Jens Lehmann just after the hour mark with a long-range shot and Aaron Lennon was crowded out when the rebound fell at his feet.

But Jenas' contribution at the other end proved more decisive when he brought down Van Persie in the box and Poll again pointed to the spot.

However, the official had missed a clear handball by Van Persie as he tussled with Jenas and Ledley King outside the area.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger: "We played with spirit, character, determination and good organisation against a good Tottenham team.

"The team are inspired by their ambition and they were disappointed by our last two results. We realised that, as a team, we have to give more.

"The two penalties looked to be penalties to me but it happens that you don't get them in some games."

Tottenham boss Martin Jol: "You can talk about the decisions and they probably did cost us goals, but I would be embarrassed to talk about them too much. We did not lose because of them.

"We saw that Thierry Henry was not playing and we knew Arsenal had lost recent games.

"We sensed this was an opportunity, so we are disappointed."

Location
League Table
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Manchester united
15 12 2 1 33 7 26 38
2
Chelsea
15 11 2 2 25 8 17 35
3
Portsmouth
15 7 3 5 19 12 7 24
4
Bolton wanderers
15 7 3 5 15 14 1 24
5
Aston villa
15 5 8 2 17 13 4 23
6
Arsenal
14 6 4 4 22 12 10 22
7
Liverpool
15 6 4 5 15 15 0 22
8
Reading
14 7 1 6 16 18 -2 22
9
Everton
15 5 6 4 18 15 3 21
10
Fulham
15 5 5 5 16 21 -5 20
11
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
14 5 4 5 13 16 -3 19
12
Manchester city
15 5 4 6 13 17 -4 19
13
Wigan athletic
13 5 3 5 17 16 1 18
14
Middlesbrough
14 4 4 6 11 17 -6 16
15
West ham united
14 4 2 8 10 16 -6 14
16
Blackburn rovers
13 3 4 6 11 17 -6 13
17
Newcastle united
14 3 4 7 9 15 -6 13
18
Sheffield united
15 3 4 8 9 19 -10 13
19
Watford
14 1 6 7 10 20 -10 9
20
Charlton athletic
14 2 3 9 10 21 -11 9
# Team PL W D L GF GA GD PTS
1
Manchester united
16 13 2 1 35 8 27 41
2
Chelsea
15 11 2 2 25 8 17 35
3
Arsenal
15 7 4 4 25 12 13 25
4
Portsmouth
16 7 4 5 21 14 7 25
5
Liverpool
16 7 4 5 19 15 4 25
6
Reading
15 8 1 6 17 18 -1 25
7
Everton
16 6 6 4 20 15 5 24
8
Aston villa
16 5 9 2 19 15 4 24
9
Bolton wanderers
16 7 3 6 15 15 0 24
10
Fulham
16 5 5 6 16 23 -7 20
11
Manchester city
15 5 4 6 13 17 -4 19
12
Tottenham Hotspur Badge Tottenham Hotspur
15 5 4 6 13 19 -6 19
13
Wigan athletic
14 5 3 6 17 20 -3 18
14
Blackburn rovers
14 4 4 6 13 17 -4 16
15
Middlesbrough
15 4 4 7 12 19 -7 16
16
Sheffield united
16 4 4 8 11 20 -9 16
17
West ham united
15 4 2 9 10 18 -8 14
18
Newcastle united
14 3 4 7 9 15 -6 13
19
Watford
14 1 6 7 10 20 -10 9
20
Charlton athletic
15 2 3 10 11 23 -12 9
Previous 5 Matches

6 days earlier

3 days later