view photoA quick-fire double set Arsenal on their way to a comfortable 3-0 Premier League victory over north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur Saturday.
A close first half was transformed minutes before the break when Robin van Persie met Bacary Sagna's low cross for Arsenal's first goal before Spaniard Cesc Fabregas scored a brilliant second moments later.
Sagna and Van Persie combined once more after the break for Arsenal's third and the Dutchman's seventh this season, while substitute Eduardo da Silva spurned an easy chance for a fourth.
Fabregas' goal was the highlight of the match, with the midfielder seizing on a loose ball before scything through the Spurs defence and firing past a shell-shocked Heurelho Gomes just 11 seconds after the restart from Van Persie's strike.
"I'm sitting there two or three minutes before halftime saying I fancy us today, but we walked in 2-0 down," Spurs manager Harry Redknapp told reporters.
"It was a real knockout blow. I was angry with the goals but not the performance."
It got worse for Spurs after the break in bizarre circumstances.
Both teams stopped playing after the linesman had flagged for Benoit Assou-Ekotto's foul on Arsenal striker Eduardo but referee Mark Clattenburg signalled the advantage and Sagna and van Persie reacted quickest for the third goal.
"We took advantage of the mistakes Tottenham made but we provoked them as well and could have scored more," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told Sky Sports News.
Eduardo should have added a fourth but fired wide as the hosts quickly found their rhythm while Spurs struggled to test Manuel Almunia who was back in the Arsenal goal after a five-game absence.
Spurs, who stay fourth, fought back from two goals down for a shock 4-4 draw at the Emirates last season but this time David Bentley, making his first start since January, was the closest they came to scoring with a free-kick tipped over by Almunia.
"I am very confident that we will win (the title) but we are in October so come back in May," Wenger added.
(Additional reporting by Justin Palmer; Editing by Pritha Sarkar and Ken Ferris)
Comment 1 - 8 of 8
alex d it looks like lee disagree with u about how important this game to the fans.lee didn t seem to like arsenal fans celebrating,or did he wish it was spurs fans,well maybe lee have to wait another 10 years ,maybe never
lemme what we will see on the news tomorrow...so cesc stole the ball ran past 3 defenders and put the ball in the net with a great strike, those barca cry babies are gonna start whining and begging fabregas to warm their bench.
I was in Finsbury Park yesterday evening. All Arsenal fans running around singing 3-0 etc... How effin childish and pathetic that your whole lives revolve around football fighting and being a C*** to your wife
So Harry, you think spurs and The Arsenal are on the same level, may i suggest you wake up and smell the coffee and stop kidding yourself.
Tottenham were not good yesterday and it just hurts like hell to lose in this way to the gooners! It makes you wonder if the players really know how important this games is to the Spurs fans. Some of the individual players really need to have a long hard think about the game yesterday, because whichever way you look at it, the performance was pretty appalling! GUTTED!!!
cos Dos Santos is at Blackburn, a team who also got smashed by Arsenal, idiot
As I have said several times recently, Spurs are far from convincing top four material as Arsenal proved again to day. They have been comprehensibly thrashed by Man. U and Chelsea as well and could not beat Stoke at home. This team despite all the talent at their disposal do not look as though they yet believe in themselves. Playing with belief is the first step. Today was a shambles and for heaven's sake Harry give Pav a run. Crouch and Keane together dont cut it for me and why not use Dos Santos in Lennon's absence. At least give him a run. He's got the talent to go by people and open up defences. Lastly get O'Hara back. He and Boateng are doing it for Portsmouth!
Osama Bin Laden sent out a new video to prove he was still alive, in it he said Spurs were rubbish recently,And that arsenal would win 3-0. But Britsh intelligence dissmissed it saying: ''That could have been recorded anytime in the last 8 years
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