Oct 31, 2009 - 12:01 PM
0 shoutsBy NEIL RICHARDS STATS European Football Writer=
LONDON (SE) - Two goals in 49 seconds from Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas helped Arsenal continue their domination of the North London derby with an emphatic 3-0 win over arch-rivals Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium.
Harry Redknapp's side had done a magnificent job of frustrating the Premier League's top scorers before one of the more mundane derbies of recent years burst into life in sensational fashion just before the interval.
Van Persie gave the Gunners the lead on 42 minutes, reacting a split-second quicker than his marker Ledley King to meet a right-wing cross from Bacary Sagna with an effort that beat goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes at his near post.
Spurs barely had time to blink when the Gunners struck again, with the ball nestling in the net for a second time just 11 seconds after the restart.
Wilson Palacios gave the ball away straight from the kick-off, missed with an attempted slide tackle on Fabregas, who then weaved his way past King and beat Gomes with an early shot from the edge of the penalty area.
"On 42 minutes I felt the crowd were getting onto them, they weren't creating anything worth talking about, and I felt very comfortable," Spurs boss Redknapp said. "I'm looking up at the clock with three minutes to half-time and thinking we've done our job. I could see us certainly getting a big result. But it all turned upside-down.
"We switched off from a throw-in, then gave them the ball back, we're 2-0 down and the game's over. We committed suicide, really. All three goals were scandalous, there wasn't a good goal amongst them. Giving Fabregas the ball from the kick-off was Sunday morning football."
Van Persie scored his second of the game and his seventh of the season on the hour, profiting after a defensive mix-up between Gomes and King.
The victory stretched Arsenal's unbeaten league run in this fixture to 20 games and took manager Arsene Wenger to exactly 1,000 points won in the Premier League.
"It was the kind of game where both teams lacked fluidity in the first 25 minutes," Wenger said. "We took advantage of two opportunities and that changed the game completely - it could have been four or five. We should have scored more.
"The back five did very well, we didn't give any chances away and during a difficult period of the game they kept us in it. But any mistakes and your opponent can take advantage of them, and we did that. It was a shock for them to concede the first goal and we took advantage of the goal."
The quickfire double-strike knocked the stuffing out of a hard-working Tottenham side. Up to that point, Arsenal had just about edged a first half short on chances. The best opening had fallen to Fabregas, who had forced a magnificent diving save from Gomes after Andrey Arshavin's blocked shot had fallen kindly to him inside the area.
Tottenham's plan had been to come and frustrate, with Robbie Keane lining up as a second striker behind Peter Crouch but dropping back into a left midfield position every time Arsenal had the ball.
The Irishman was close to giving Spurs the lead eight minutes before the break, but he was just unable to collect a slide-rule pass from Jermaine Jenas with the Arsenal backline appealing in vain for offside.
The only disappointment for Arsenal was losing Nicklas Bendtner in the first-half. The Dane, who was replaced by Eduardo, suffered a groin injury and could be out for a month.
No player had scored three in this fixture since Alan Sunderland for the Gunners back in 1978, though on another day van Persie could have written his own name in the history books.
The Dutchman's second on the hour was a gift. Spurs stopped, expecting Arsenal to be awarded a free-kick for a foul on Eduardo, but referee Mark Clattenburg waved play on. Sagna's cross from the right should have been cut out by a combination of King and Gomes and van Persie was as surprised as anyone when the ball landed at his feet in front of goal.
Tottenham's only threat of the second half saw the recalled Manuel Almunia tip over a curling free-kick from David Bentley.
Arsenal, though, were oozing confidence and the excellent Fabregas almost conjured a fourth for Eduardo. A nonchalant ball put the Croatia striker in the clear but he couldn't make up his mind how to beat Gomes and ended up rolling a disappointing shot past the post. Abou Diaby also headed a Fabregas corner wide when it seemed easier to score.
