It was indeed a dramatic weekend of English football in the Barclays Premier League where Manchester United edged an intriguing victory over Norwich City and Arsenal made a comeback to flog fellow Londoners Tottenham Hotspur.
The Spurs looked as though they had won the North London derby after taking a two goal advantage courtesy of Louis Saha and Emmanuel Adebayor.
Tottenham took advantage of its neighbor’s poor defense as Saha broke through in the fourth minute to tuck in a deflected opening goal. The Gunners had just recovered from the early goal when Mike Dean pointed to the spot after an illegal tackle on Gareth Bale in the 34th minute. Adebayor’s well-taken penalty kick doubled the Spurs’ lead and gave them a bit of security.
Arsenal, on the other hand, was challenging Tottenham’s sentinel but didn’t find it quite easy. Gunners’ skipper Robin van Persie fired a couple shots in attempt to put his team back on track but his efforts were either saved by Brad Friedel or sailed agonizingly wide.
Then right after one of Van Persie’s numerous misses, Sagna headed in a beautiful goal to give Arsenal some hope. Less than three minutes later, the Emirates Stadium watched van Persie complete the comeback with a phenomenal left-footed curler from 20 yards. With that the players headed into the dressing room to ponder the theatrical 45 minutes of football they had just witnessed.
It’s a mystery what Arsène Wenger lectured his side at half time but it sure worked wonders in Arsenal’s offense and granted the spectators pure entertainment. Tomas Rosicky worked his way to the 18-yard box before slotting in a fantastic 51st minute goal to give the Gunners the lead for the first time. The Czechoslovakian couldn’t have picked a better date to score his first goal in two years.
But Arsenal wanted more and Theo Walcott was the candidate for the next goals. Harry Redknapp and his side were utterly speechless after Walcott’s display of tactical finishing.
Van Persie was strong enough to shake off the Spurs’ defenders right before he rolled a fine pass for Walcott to finish. Walcott was yet again a beneficiary of a quality pass, sponsored by Alex Song. The Englishman rounded up Arsenal’s scoring with delight as the game ended 5-2.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils left Carrow Road ablaze after defeating the Canaries of Norwich City 2-1. Even though Norwich currently has the best away record, Manchester United did not hesitate to cage the Canaries in front of their home fans.
Just seven minutes into the game, Luis Nani picked out Paul Scholes with textbook cross and the latter headed the ball in with ease. It was Scholes’ second goal since his return to Old Trafford.
As stubborn as the Canaries were, they began to trouble United’s defense, but David De Gea was certainly an excellent shot stopper. However, the hosts were able equalize in the 84th minute with a top-drawer shot from Grant Holt.
The Canaries were a whisker away from flying high with a Premier League point when legendary Ryan Giggs scored a remarkable injury-time. What a way to celebrate his 900th game for Manchester United!
So there we have it; two top-notch teams turned an ordinary Sunday afternoon into a day to remember. Tune in Saturday as Manchester United crushes the remains of Tottenham.
