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Sturmer's avatar

I sense a disturbance in the informational force field... a football agenda is emerging!

Wadd Enderas's avatar

My favourite North London derby from recent years was the 5-2 crushing of Tottenham by Arsenal at the Emirates in the 2012-2013 season.

The reason lies in a similar bracket to the William Gallas comment in the bounty. Not only was it the second time in a row that Arsenal had posted that identical scoreline against Spurs, but both games were also after Emmanuel Adebayor had made the shift across the divide to Tottenham. And he was particularly vindictive in his attitude to Arsenal and the fans after his departure. So it was immensly satisfying to see him wilt so comprehensively, particularly at a time when the Arsenal squad really wasn't that good.

Can you guess who I support?

Ford James's avatar

Adebayor was another player I almost mentioned in the bounty copy, but Gallas took it since he also played for Chelsea. What a mercenary. And then there's Sol Campbell...

Wadd Enderas's avatar

When its considered such a taboo act, the list of players doing it is quite staggering to be honest. On the Arsenal theme, I'm thinking of Ashley Cole and Fabregas going to Chelsea as well. Or Teves jumping between Manchester clubs... surprisingly some players pull it off and are still liked by both fan bases though.

Ford James's avatar

Michael Owen coming to United after being a Liverpool legend, scoring the winner against City, then buggering off to Newcastle always makes me laugh too!

Retro Stu's avatar

As I've already shared my tale of predicting the score and scorers when Bendtner came off the bench and scored with his first touch to win the game 2-1 on another bounty I'll use this as an opportunity to share another memory.

April 25th 2004 - we may have given away a victory from a 2-0 lead with a silly penalty conceded by Jens Lehmann in the 90th+ minute to draw 2-2 but to not only win the league at White Hart Lane but to also do it on the season that would be our invincibles run was even sweeter.

Looking back at the penalty now, it's ridiculous what Lehmann was doing, but in this day of VAR I wonder whether Keane would've been penalised for being right on the keeper's toes, but that's irrelevant.

We didn't need to win, sure, a victory would've made it even sweeter but for Spurs to celebrate equalising in the 94th minute and still end up with their bitter rivals winning the league on their turf - well that still tastes pretty damn sweet even 20 years on.

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/12596028/on-this-day-in-2004-arsenal-win-the-league-at-white-hart-lane

Ford James's avatar

That's a hell of a throwback. How many games were left at that point? I'm surprised Spurs did celebrate that last minute equaliser so much, would've thought they'd have grabbed the ball and hurried back to kick off again in the hopes of one last attack to try and stop Arsenal from winning the trophy there.

Also as an aside, football kits are so tight now aren't they? I've realised in my head I equate a lot of nostalgia with when players wore baggier tops.

Retro Stu's avatar

There were 4 games left after that:

Birmingham at home Portsmouth away Fulham away Leicester at home

Oh and totally agree on the baggy tops! You look at players like Ljungberg and Pires tearing down the wing and start thinking "how much wind resistance is the shirt giving?!"

Scrbzy's avatar

I see what you mean now James, my other bounty submission was literally perfect for this 😂

Good thing I have lots of good moments to choose from!

I'm gonna go for the iconic Henry knee slide celebration (literally caste in bronze), the game itself was a fairly run of the mill demolishing of Spurs but the goal that lead to aforementioned moment was peak Henry. Receiving the ball in our own half he runs the length of the pitch slicing through the Tottenham midfield before foxing into the box to put away a perfect low, left corner finish.

https://youtu.be/bKZLiBOuJq4?si=lpgmQUEFBjcr0JRX&t=398

The celebration that followed is cold, unmatched and obviously iconic.

Sturmer's avatar

People at the stage are not quite happy about the event lol

Scrbzy's avatar

Hang it in the Louvre 😂

Wadd Enderas's avatar

I see we have strong Tottenham Hotspur representation on JA Sport so far.... :P

BeyondBelief's avatar

One of the greatest solo goals in a London derby and it has to be Cesc Fabragas in 2009 right from kickoff! Pure talent, confidence, and just unreal skill. One of the best players to play in a Arsenal shirt! What a game.

Ford James's avatar

Strewth, just watched a clip of this, unreal goal. Pure limbs in the crowd.

JB

Adebayor was quite the character in his playing days. I remember his chaotic style getting him sent off when he played for spurs against arsenal and subsequently Arsenal smashed spurs 5-2. He was never one to shy away from confrontation and the Derby always packs a bit more bite when a player has defected one way or the other between the two rivals.

The game today didn't disappoint, either. I'll be honest I was hoping for a spurs win to make the title race a bit edgier but it was at least a nervy end to the game with them clawing their way back to 3-2.

Ford James's avatar

Yeah, it was a decent game in the end! Thought Spurs were genuinely the better team at points despite being 3(!)-0 down in the first half which isn't something you can say often, and I reckon a draw would've ultimately been a fair result, but Arsenal seem to keep finding a way through this season...

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