Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham

Emmanuel Adebayor went from
Tottenham Hotspur's hero to zero
against former club Arsenal as he
scored and was then sent off in a
dramatic 5-2 North London derby
defeat.
The Togolese striker, who angered
Arsenal fans when leaving for
Manchester City in 2009 before this
summer making a permanent transfer
to Spurs after an initial loan, set up a
typically hectic meeting at Emirates
Stadium with the opener.
Adebayor's goal added to his lack of
popularity among Gunners fans
following his controversial celebration
three years ago for City when scoring
in his first reunion with his ex-
employers and then his penalty goal in
last season's ultimate repeat 5-2 defeat
for Spurs.
But his emotions got the better of him
shortly after the quarter-hour mark on
Saturday and his red card for a lunge
on Santi Cazorla allowed Arsenal to
come back and win through Per
Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski, Olivier
Giroud, Cazorla and Theo Walcott
despite Gareth Bale's consolation.
Tottenham started well and, less than a
minute after a William Gallas effort was
ruled out for offside, they took a 10th
minute lead when Adebayor tapped in
the rebound after Wojciech Szczesny,
back after a two-month injury lay-off,
could only palm a Jermain Defoe shot.
But Adebayor's joy was short-lived, as,
in the 18th minute, he was shown a
straight red card by referee Howard
Webb for a wild, studs-up sliding
challenge on Cazorla, which sparked a
melee between both sets of players.
Adebayor had let his team-mates down
and, with a man disadvantage, they
were only able to hold onto their lead
for six minutes before Mertesacker's
excellent header from Walcott's
pinpoint cross opened the German's
account for Arsene Wenger's Arsenal.
The home side, dominating
possession, cranked up the pressure
and took the lead in the 42nd minute
when a Podolski shot from inside the
penalty area ricocheted off Gallas to
strand Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo
Lloris, who was preferred ahead of
Brad Friedel.
Things went from bad to worse for
Tottenham in injury time before half-
time when Giroud, who had earlier
been denied from two headers by
Lloris, slid in to meet Cazorla's low
cross and make it 3-1.
Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas, in
charge of his first North London derby
and now under greater pressure in his
job after this latest defeat, sent on Clint
Dempsey and Michael Dawson at half-
time in place of full-backs Kyle Walker
and Kyle Naughton.
Arsenal, though, remained in the
ascendency and, on the hour mark,
Podolski's excellent, passed cross from
the left provided Cazorla a one-touch,
right-foot finish at the back post to give
his side a comfortable cushion.
Bale's fine 20-yard finish, which
arrowed into the bottom corner from
his weaker right foot, in the 71st
minute gave Spurs some hope but any
thoughts of a comeback were already
over long before Walcott made sure of
the points in injury time.