The way into the ground was as nasty and intimidating as ever, with Spurs fans generally allowed by the police to do whatever they wanted, including staking out the away turnstiles to sing their lovely songs about our manager being a paedophile. Possibly the scummiest collection of individuals one could ever hope to encounter, and it isn't just Arsenal fans that seem to think so.
The first half of the game was quite like most of our recent trips to the Lane - Arsenal remaining asleep whilst Spurs came flying out of the blocks during the first half hour or so. Arsenal scarcely seemed to put a decent attack together, apart from once, somewhat against the run of play, where we had a goal disallowed for offside. After some ridiculous Lehmann theatrics at a corner (the old routine where somebody gets too close to him, and he goes ballistic), Spurs managed to score. Given their huge ability to lose games from winning positions, I did think Robbie Keane went a little bit too far in his celebration, he looked like he thought they had won the game already.Then, just before half time, Arsene Wenger seemed to spot that our midfield was being overrun. So, with Ljungberg pulling up injured, he put Cesc Febregas on instead. From then on for most of the rest of the game, Fabregas ran the show, pulling most of the strings, being behind almost everything good that Arsenal did, and setting up both goals (more of which in a minute). He didn't start the game because of a virus, in that case I'd love to have seen what a fully firing Cesc could have done today! Undoubted man of the match, despite starting on the bench.
The second half saw Arsenal cranking up the pressure, and Spurs struggling even to get possession of the ball, let alone to do much useful with it. We were level when a Fabregas free kick sailed over most of the defenders, and Toure stole in at the far post to poke the ball home. Then we took the lead when Adebayor rose above the Spurs defenders to head in another dead ball from Cesc.
I was saying after the last game that Adebayor really deserved a goal - he again worked tirelessly for the team, and it looked like he wouldn't get his reward again. His confidence has been dipping for several games now, and he really needed and deserved a goal to change all that. So, when he scored, the relief, and the intensity of his celebration, were obvious for all to see. He is alleged to have been screaming "I love this club", whilst trying to rip his shirt off. Great stuff, and well done and well deserved.
So, Arsenal won 2-1. Except that they didn't, because Jenas equalised in the last minute of injury time. Some have questioned where the referee got his four minutes of injury time from in the first place - it was mainly from Eboue's timewasting in the last 10 minutes whilst pretending to be injured, and a needless substitution in injury time which added another 30 seconds to the clock. Oh, and some more Lehmann timewasting which the referee added more time on for. So although we were not 100% blameless, Spurs were nevertheless very, very, very lucky to have got a point from the game - they dominated the first half hour, but it was all one-way traffic once Fabregas came on, and Arsenal could have won by four or five goals. Games like that feel more like a defeat than a draw, just as coming back from 2 goals down last time felt like a victory.
After the game and the usual High Road hardmen (who only say a word when they have a 10 to 1 numerical advantage), it was the long walk to Seven Sisters, which was duly closed when I got there. So, a further walk to Manor House tube station, which is practically the entire way back from Spurs to Arsenal. One of the more annoying hours of my life, starting with the loss of a last-minute equaliser, and ending with a nice comfortable seat on the Piccadilly Line.
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