EPL: Arsenal 2 - 1 Spurs (22.12.2007)

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Arsenal substitute Nicklas Bendtner scored the winner with his first touch as Tottenham wasted a glorious chance to finally beat their rivals by losing 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium.

Dimitar Berbatov had cancelled out Emmanuel Adebayor's opener before earning a penalty - only for Robbie Keane to see his spot-kick saved by Manuel Almunia.

The Barclays Premier League leaders, who have not lost to Spurs since 1999, then grabbed the winner in the 76th minute when Bendtner was brought on.

This was billed as the campaign Spurs were to launch their challenge to Arsenal dominance, although those hopes quickly faded this season and Juande Ramos was brought in as head coach.

• Adebayor: Spurs gave us a fright

Ramos' tactic was to ask his makeshift team to contain the league leaders and hit them on the break.

Such is the injury crisis at White Hart Lane, Jamie O'Hara was given his first start. The 21-year-old was on the books at Arsenal as a trainee before joining Spurs and he was on loan at Millwall earlier in the season.

He, Steed Malbranque and Kevin-Prince Boateng fizzed around the midfield looking to break up Arsenal attacks - and it initially worked as the first half saw only half chances.

The Gunners had their first sight of goal in the second minute when Mathieu Flamini hooked a volley that went just the wrong side of the angle of post and crossbar.

Kolo Toure also got a header on target from a Cesc Fabregas free-kick - but neither of the early chances troubled Paul Robinson.

Spurs' early threat came from Aaron Lennon on the right wing. He curled in a cross that Bacary Sagna needed to head clear as Keane looked to pounce.

Arsenal were stifled in terms of early chances, but they were enjoying the majority of the ball and looked to break by using Fabregas.

A promising run for Lennon was halted by referee Rob Styles failing to play advantage when the England winger was fouled but remained on his feet.

Lennon and Gael Clichy's battle of pace was one of the more interesting match-ups in a first half-hour when chances proved difficult to come by.

Robinson was finally forced into a save, at his near post from Emmanuel Eboue, who had recovered from knee and ankle problems.

Gunners skipper William Gallas picked up a yellow card for a foul on Berbatov, but the striker wasted the free-kick, with Almunia saving easily.

Boateng then curled an effort just over the bar when Lennon laid the ball to him on the edge of the penalty area.

Robinson had to save when Toure got on the end of Fabregas' corner just before the break.

If Arsenal looked short on ideas in the first half, they were quickly into gear after the restart and opened the scoring in the 48th minute.

Tomas Rosicky fed Fabregas on the edge of the penalty area and the Spaniard backheeled to Adebayor. The Togo striker curled the ball around Robinson for his sixth goal against Spurs in just over a year.

Fabregas then tried his luck from long-range as the atmosphere intensified.

Boateng took his frustration out on Alexander Hleb from behind and was replaced by Tom Huddlestone on the hour.

Keane volleyed against the crossbar from point-blank range after Lennon had lofted a cross to the far post - but the equaliser came a minute later in the 66th minute.

Keane held the ball up on the touchline before backheeling to Berbatov. The Bulgaria striker took a touch and squeezed his shot through Toure and Flamini at the near post.

Then came Keane's chance to put Spurs ahead after Berbatov was tripped by Toure. Almunia dived the right way and got enough on the ball for it to go to safety.

Wenger responded by bringing on Bendtner for Eboue in the 74th minute and his goal came seconds later when he rose to head Fabregas' corner home.

Adel Taarabt had a late penalty shout turned down as Arsenal held on to extend their lead at the top.

# Adebayor: Spurs gave us a fright

Emmanuel Adebayor admitted Arsenal had been pushed all the way after they claimed a narrow 2-1 victory over north London rivals Tottenham.

Adebayor scored the opened shortly after half-time following an exquisite back-heel fro Cesc Fabregas.

Adebayor told Sky Sports 1: 'It was a tough game, in the first half it was very difficult.

'We opened the scoring but Tottenham did well and came back.

'We won, it was the most important thing.

'Today's game was to fight to the end and we had to show the fans that.

'We are going to celebrate very well but focus and win as many games as possible.'

Almunia admitted his penalty save was down to guesswork rather than studying Keane's spot-kicks.

'It was guess work. It's intuition, lucky, I don't practice too much.'

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also admitted Spurs had proved tough opposition.

The Frenchman said: 'It was difficult. I believe we were a bit flat in the first half and not at our best. Tottenham played well.

'In the second half I think we dominated from the start but at 1-0 up maybe we wanted too much to keep the result.

'Tottenham played a good game and came back to 1-1. But then Manuel saved the penalty and it was a mental blow for them.

'We got another goal but it was a tough game.'

Spurs assistant manager Gus Poyet admitted he had expected Keane to convert the penalty as the Irishman is normally successful from the spot.

'Everybody was thinking about that,' he said. 'Unfortunately Robbie didn't score today but even after that we weren't expecting to lose the game.'

Poyet also admitted Spurs were hugely deflated after the defeat.

He added: 'That is the problem, that is why we are a bit disappointed because it was a perfect game for us to get some points.'