Barclays Premier League - Two goals from Rafael van der Vaart on either side of the half time helped Tottenham fight back from 3-1 down and secure a draw against the Gunners at White Hart Lane.
The North London derby promised some blistering football and boy it lived up to the expectations as the game got off to a lively start with Gunners opening their account in as early as the fourth minute when a brilliant through ball by Fabregas met Walcott who managed to calmly slot it past Heurelho Gomes after making a blistering run from outside the box. Spurs immediately struck back two minutes later when Vedran Corluka's cross from the right was brilliantly slotted past Szczesny by Van der Vaart, beating him at his near post. Minutes later Arsenal bounced back as a brilliant skill by Nasri set up Van Persie down the left whose powerful left-foot drive was palmed away by the keeper.
Arsenal got back their lead in the 12th minute when a Nasri played a neat one-two with Diaby before blasting it past Gomes from 25 yards to make it 2-1. Moments later, Arsenal were lucky to get away without a booking when Diaby brought down Modric via a crunching tackle. Walcott's blistering pace down the right flank was creating problems for the defenders and he nearly doubled Gunners' lead in the 28th minute when he ran through the defence down the right and unleashed a side-footed shot which went narrowly wide.
Two saves in as many minutes from Szczesny denied Spurs the equaliser. A defensive mistake by Gallas in the 41st minute , failing to clear the ball inside his own box, helped Walcott cross to Van Persie whose initial header was palmed away which again met the Dutch who was clinical this time around blasting it past Gomes to secure a 3-1 advantage. Two minutes later Huddlestone unleashed a brilliant half-volley from outside the box past Szczesny to bring Spurs back into the game and just on the stroke of half time a massive penalty appeal from Spurs was turned down when Djourou seemed to have brought down Modric inside the box.
Spurs made two changes in the second half bringing in Kaboul in place of Corluka, while an injured Gareth Bale was replaced by Lennon, while the Gunners brought in Wilshere in place of Diaby in the 53rd minute. The second half started off comparatively sedately and Spurs had the first chance of the half in the 54th minute when Modric slipped in Van der Vaart whose ferocious shot from the left was brilliantly saved by Szczesny. Van Persie slotted home a minute later but was controversially flagged offside when replays suggested he was half a yard on.
A moment of madness in the 70th minute saw Spurs earn a penalty when Szczesny tripped Lennon inside the box. Van der Vaart stepped in and converted from the spot to make it 3-3. Szczesny then made up for his blunder when he brilliantly saved Modric's shot from six yards. Fabregas came close to scoring the fourth on the other side and was denied twice by Gomes. Spurs hit back with a Crouch header which was brilliantly tipped over the cross bar by Szczesny.
Gunners' last throw of the dice saw Nicklas Bendtner replace Nasri, while Arshavin replace Walcott. Spurs made their last change bringing in Sandro in place of Pavlyuchenko and the substitute made an immediate impact dancing past two defenders and unleashing a right-footed shot from the left which was saved by Szczesny. Desperate attempts for a winner by both teams in the dying minutes of the game failed as the match ended in a lively 3-3 draw.
Man of the Match: Rafael van der Vaart: The flying Dutch was omnipresent on the field defending when needed and scoring two important goals to earn his team a crucial point.
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