These two sides have produced an astonishing 33 goals in their last six encounters but the first half an hour of the match did not reflect that fact, with few clear cut chances at ether end of the pitch. Arsenal had the first effort on goal in the opening minutes, but Giroud’s header was comfortably saved by French goalkeeper Lloris. Minutes later Vertonghen made a key tackle in the box to deny the lively Giroud again when he looked like he was in on goal.
Adebayor, who was sent off in the reverse fixture, got an early booking for a needless tackle on Ramsey with both sides trying to control the middle of the park. Arsenal were more dominant in the opening exchanges but could not exact a way through the Spurs defence.
Arsenal really did look good and started the game much better than has been the norm this season but unfortunately the positive start amounted to nothing as Spurs took the lead against the run of play when Bale latched on to Sigurdsson’s through ball, beating the parking cone like Mertesacker and the out of postion Vermaelen in the 36th minute, and coolly slotted it past Szczesny. Incredibly, Spurs went 2-0 up a minute later as the defensive line was too high with Monreal and Vermaelen looking lost as Lennon made a great run catching the Gunners’ defense asleep completing the move with a composed finish to put his side in a comfortable position before the break.
Arsenal started the second half brightly clearly looking to make inroads into the 2-0 deficit and sure enough they pulled one back when Mertesacker flicked a Walcott cross goal-ward which ultimately went into the net via Bale’s deflection. Arsenal really came to life from that point and upped the tempo but could not seem to find that incisive pass in the final third to carve open the Spurs defense.
Arsenal were pouring forward at every opportunity and naturally left gaps at the back. Spurs had chances to score a third and Bale spurned a glorious chance by firing over from three yards. Defoe, who had come on for Adebayor, was next to have a shot for Spurs, but dragged his shot wide before Ramsey was sent clear on the right hand side. His shot was deflected wide of the post.
Spurs were almost left to rue their missed chances with Walcott curling a 25 yard free kick with his right foot just wide towards the end. Dembele’s injury lead to six additional minutes of stoppage time but Arsenal could not find a way through. Spurs withstood the Arsenal onslaught to keep them 12 games unbeaten and within touching distance of Champions League football for next season and the Gunners now face a genuine uphill battle to finish in the top 4 with Chelsea looking like the team that they can most likely catch at the moment.