Scoregrid Game of the Week: The North London Derby

The North London derby – Tottenham vs Arsenal

First Half

Spurs seemed to be spurred on by the re-arrival of their new captain Robbie Keane and were chasing every 50-50 ball with a sense of purpose from early on in the game. In the first 20 minutes neither team seemed able to stamp their authority on the game and the heat maps showed a game spread wide and deep across the pitch.

Spurs started to gain some stride and the edge in possession as the half progressed, Woodgate finding space in their air on a few occasions, and Modric finding support in Keane and Palacios seemed to step his game up a level.

The pivotal moment of the second half came out of the frustration of Eboue who having been carded earlier on for talking back to the referee received his second yellow and marching orders after a retaliatory kick after a Modric foul.

Spurs tried to step the game up a gear but rather than slowing the pace and looking for holes they opted to continue the high paced push forward perhaps running on energy more than strategy and while they had a few opportunities Arsenal survived to regroup at half time.

Second Half

As expected Spurs were dominant in the second half in terms of possession and position, holding the ball comfortably in the midfield and up the flanks. However with Arsenal dug in in defence they struggled to find a way through and create meaningful chances. Modric had two of the closest attempts in the second half both of which come from a rare counter attack.

Arsenal in the guise of Van Persie were able to trouble the home side on occasion but the opportunities on both sides were rare in the second half. Spurs surprisingly found more space upfront in the first half against a full Arsenal Side than they were able to find in the second against 10 men.

All credit to the Arsenal defence and Almunia for holding on for the draw. No doubt both teams left White Hart Lane a little disappointed – Arsenal will have wanted 3 points to stay in the chase for Europe and Spurs fans will be bitterly disappointed to not have capitalized on their dominance.

A draw – but in somes ways both teams will have felt they lost.

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