Before the red card, Tottenham was the better team and that was reflected in the 0-1 scoreline. The goal looked like a devised plan by Andre Villa Boas as Verthongen made a few of such long passes during the game. The goal was also due to the good movement of Defoe, with him running towards the halfway line, drawing Mertesacker along with him before turning back to run onto the long ball. Mertesacker was left flat footed and Defoe had space to shoot and a clear sight of goal.
I am surprised none of the commentators picked up on this but I think Szczesny could have done better to prevent the goal. He hesitated when the long ball was played, moving forward before quickly retreating when he saw that Defoe was advancing. Therefore, Defoe's shot came at him while he was backtracking and the shot looked a little weak and close to him. He managed to get a touch on it but if his positioning was better, he could have got a better distance on his palming away of the ball and it would not have fallen for Adebayor to score the rebound.
After the red card, Arsenal began dominating possession and looked more comfortable in attack. The first came in the 23rd minute, with Walcott providing a great cross after a nice fake that showed he was not all about pace that Mertesacker powered in. It is to Arsenal's credit that they left the big guns up even after the corner had been cleared and their attacking intent paid off. Arsenal's second goal had a tad of luck attached to it. After a deflection took a pass meant for Arteta to Podolski, Podolski produced a nice turn and struck the ball right at Gallas's legs and it rolled into goal. The third goal though was all about Carzola, with his persistent run even after getting fouled and good low drilled ball for Giroud to slide home. Honourable mention also must go to Wilshere for the goal, as his great back header after the ball had been cleared from a free kick showed how he always is aware of the players around him. The goals for Arsenal after half time were both due to Spurs pushing players forward in search of an equaliser. Half time saw Spurs change to a 3-5-1 formation with the two full backs Walker and Naughton replaced by Dempsey and Dawson. Dawson had a much better game this time round and he made several important blocks and tackles. The threat mainly came from the counter attacks of Arsenal as Tottenham pushed one of their three center backs forward every attack, leaving two central defenders and Huddlestone behind. This made them susceptible and was exposed in the 59th minute, when Walcott and Podolski outnumbered Gallas on the right side of the penalty box, with Walcott being able to slide Podolski in easily who crossed for Carzola to score. Arsenal's fifth came under similar circumstances as Tottenham was outnumbered two to one and Chamberlain passed for Walcott to score comfortably. The high line of Tottenham seemed strange given their numerical disadvantage and speed of Walcott and Arsenal could have easily scored a few more from their long balls behind Arsenal's defence such as in the 75th minute when Arteta sprayed it behind Vertonghen for Walcott to run on to.
What interested me deeply was the positioning of Arsenal's attackers. Their attacking play was fluid, and with both their wingers declaring that their favoured position was down the middle, there was a lot of interchange of positions during the match. The default front three for Arsenal was Giroud in the middle flanked by Podolski on the left and Walcott on the right. However, while attacking, it often ended up with Carzola on the left flank with Podolski moving inwards to become the second central striker. The situation got even weirder on the Carzola goal, when Walcott and Podolski both popped up on the same flank. In the 61st minute, both Walcott and Podolski moved into the central striker role in the penalty box while Giroud dropped outside of the box and Carzola was in his usual spot on the left flank. Defensively though, Arsenal stuck to their default formation.
Some comments on Wilshere too. He made some good passes in the game and showed that his form before his injury might be getting back to him. However, his temper surfaced once again during the game. When Adebayor made that tackle on Carzola, Wilshere was the first to run there and confront Adebayor. He even had a quarrel with Bale over it though the camera did not catch much of it so I was not really sure what happened. In the 69th minute, Wilshere was once again involved in an argument, this time with Dempsey. Dempsey had lashed out at Koscielny after a challenge but Koscielny did not even argue with him and yet Wilshere managed to get himself involved unnecessarily. This young kid really needs to get his temper in check if he wants to have a bright future.
There is a lot of what ifs in this game, particularly what if Adebayor had not got himself sent off. The two striker combination seems to be working just fine before the red card and Andre Villa-Boas will feel outraged that his striker from Togo has let him down in such an important derby.
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