English Premier League Player Ratings: Arsenal Versus Tottenham:3-2:

Arsenal

Arsenal

Tottenham Hotspur

• Gareth Bale, 50'
• Rafael van der Vaart, 67' (penalty)
• Younes Kaboul, 86'

Arsenal's form, pride, confidence, and title aspirations were considerably decimated as Tottenham defender Younes Kaboul headed strongly into the Arsenal net to give his side a remarkable 3-2 win against their fiercest rivals alongside breaking a 17 year winless drought against Arsenal at their homegrounds.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could offer little analysis as to why his side managed to lose such a match having dominated the encounter from the first whistle.   The Gunners took the lead early from French play maker Samir Nasri, who sparked controversy before the game by refusing to shake former Arsenal and current French teammate cum Tottenham captain William Gallas's hand at commencement.

The 23 year old elegantly latched onto Cesc Fabregas's through ball and despite then boasting a heavy touch that look destined to fall into Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes's hands before Nasri managed to gain a touch to round the Brazilian and finish sensationally from an almost impossible angle to give Arsenal the lead after ten minutes.

Nasri's opener instilled more confidence and life into the Gunners as they continued to hound the Tottenham goal. Captain Cesc Fabregas was beautifully played into an open box by Alexandre Song but failed to capitalize, swaying his effort well wide.

Arsene Wenger's men were enjoying the weight of possession with Tottenham looking frail and lifeless in attack. Arsenal dominance paid off three minutes before the half hour. After a neat build up that contained entertaining exchanges of passes between Samir Nasri, Denilson and Cesc Fabregas, Andrei Arshavin soon found himself in space and played a delicate, delicious cross into the center of the box to which sharpshooter Marouane Chamakh was the first to react, finishing strongly from short range.

Tottenham became more involved but looked akin to a League One side and as the half time whistle sounded Harry Redknapp's men looked destined for another failure against their bitter rivals. However Redknapp made a vital substitution at half time, the English manager brought on star striker Jermaine Defoe, who had been absent from first team football since August, to spark up Tottenham's lifeless attack.

The change had an immediate impact. Five minutes after the main break, Defoe was able to out jump the Arsenal centre halves and head the ball to an onrushing Rafael van Der Vaart. The Dutch maestro was able to slip a ball past three Arsenal defenders, all of which had failed to pick up on Gareth Bale. The Welsh young gun found himself with acres of space and only keeper Lukasz Fabianski to beat.

The inform midfielder was as expected able to calmly slot home and bring Spurs back into the encounter. Arsenal began to look shaky despite creating numerous other chances. Marouane Chamakh failed to capitalize on consecutive through balls from Cesc Fabregas.

But the momentum swung considerably when Tottenham received a free kick after Gareth Bale was brought down and as Rafael van Der Vaart shot from the resulting free kick, Cesc Fabregas suffered a brain wave and thrusted a lone arm upwards, blocking the balls path and resulting in a penalty.

As expected van Der Vaart had no issue equalizing and all of sudden Tottenham were level despite being considerably behind for majority of the game. Wenger than brought on strike power and attempted to salvage three points and pride but despite numerous chances created nothing materialized.

Then with five minutes remaining Tottenham received a free kick just ahead of half way. Van Der Vaart swung in a tantalizing cross and Younes Kaboul was able to out jump Cesc Fabregas and head home the winner leaving the footballing world stunned.

Full credit to Tottenham, their second half hunger alongside a complacent Wenger, gained them a rare victory against their neighbours but at best Tottenham were deserving of a draw. Furthermore although the gap between the two London giants is closing, but there is no denying that the Gunners are still ahead of Tottenham in quality.

Player Ratings

Lukasz Fabianski:6: The Polish shot stopper could do little to stop any of Tottenham's strikes but blame his somewhat shaky defenders.

Bacary Sagna:6.5: The French defender was solid and reliable at the back. Contained Gareth Bale impressively and wasn't afraid to get physical. Contributed well in attack too.

Sebastien Squillaci:6: The Frechman was solid for the predominant part of the game but was guilty of poor positioning at times. Squillaci was also unlucky to have a goal disallowed.

Laurent Koscienly:5.5: Koscienly started strongly but as Tottenham began to return to the contest, the Frenchman faltered. Out of position for Tottenham's first and worsend his troubles by missing an easy chance to give Arsenal the winner.

Gael Clichy:6: The experienced defender contained the likes of Aaron Lennon and Alan Hutton, ensuring his left flank was neat and tide but as Tottenham regained to ascendancy the Frenchman was forced to slim his attacking regime.

Alexandre Song:7.5 The Cameroon midfielder aided his defenders strongly as well as containing some of Tottenham's danger men. Furthermore Song was menacing in attack and deserved an assist to his name.

Cesc Fabregas:6: The captain was superb in attack for majority of the game but when Arsenal needed a leader late on, the Spaniard failed to conquer. Furthermore what Fabregas's was thinking from the van Der Vaart free kick remains to be unseen.

Denilson:6: The Samba star will endure heavy criticism from the Arsenal faithful but in truth Denilson was not overly poor. Did the simple things well alongside frustrating van Der Vaart and making some vital interceptions.

Samir Nasri:6.5: The Frenchman scored an absolutely superb goal and was involved in all of Arsenal positive first half play but was virtually anonymous in the second half which prompted a wrong substitution from Wenger.

Andrei Arshavin:6.5: The Russian dynamo looked more lively an energetic than recent weeks. Assisted Chamakh for the second and caused havoc for Alan Hutton down the right flank.

Marouane Chamakh:6: The Moroccan striker calmly scored the second but wasted two golden chances to score due to a tentative, hesitant approach. Chamakh needed to back his shooting but failed to capitalize. Rightly substituted.

Substitutes

Robin van Persie:6: Short of match fitness but the Dutch maestro was still able to produce a moment of brilliant when he turned and twisted before supplying an inch perfect cross for Laurent Koscienly, who unfortunately skied the header.

Theo Walcott:N/A: Failed to receive enough ball and a wayward effort late on broke down the Arsenal attack.

Tomas Rosicky:N/A: The Czech replaced Nasri and failed to provide any attacking options before wasting possession with a frail cross that gave Tottenham the win.