Camden New Journal - Sports: Walcott strike levels cup derby

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Camden New Journal - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 10 January 2008

Walcott strike levels cup derby

Arsenal hit back late in first leg clash as Spurs fail to make dominance pay

Carling Cup Semi-Final First Leg
Arsenal 1, Spurs 1

IT was all even at the Emirates stadium last night (Wednesday) as Spurs and Arsenal thrashed out the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final.
Tottenham, searching for their first win away against the Gunners in 15 years, had the better of it in a fast-paced first half and went ahead on 37 minutes. Robbie Keane sprang the Arsenal offside trap, and squared the ball to Jermaine Jenas who passed into the empty net in front of the Spurs fans.
With England manager Fabio Capello watching from the stand, Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson was dropped by manager Juande Ramos in favour of Radek Cerny.
Spurs had the early chances and the Gunners, fielding a weakened line-up despite welcoming back Dutch ace Robin van Persie in attack, looked disjointed in the early stages.
The home side’s first attack came on 15 minutes when Theo Walcott crossed for Bendtner whose header drew a diving save from Cerny.
Steed Malbranque missed two golden opportunities for Spurs to take the lead near the end of the first half. The Frenchman shanked a snapshot wide and failed to hit the target with a header moments later.
Tottenham could have scored again in the second half but both Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov squandered their big chances in front of goal.
With just 10 minutes remaining, a through ball from Eduardo found Theo Walcott in a dangerous position. As full back Lee Young-Pyo came across his tackle made the ball spin up, hitting Walcott’s chest and looping past the stranded Cerny.

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