Arsenal have beaten arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 in the first North London derby this season – with Robin Van Persie grabbing a brace and club captain and Spanish playmaker Cesc Fabregas scoring the other. Arsenal’s Croatian striker Eduardo was guilty of missing a whole host of chances – which would have made the scoreline even more convincing.
Tottenham Hotspur’s manager Harry Redknapp was disappointed with certain aspects of the match yesterday – however, surprisingly, not with the goals. “I’m sitting there two or three minutes before half-time saying I fancy us today, but we walked in 2-0 down,” the Spurs manager told journalists. The former West Ham and Portsmouth manager also added “It was a real knockout blow. I was angry with the goals but not the performance”. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was in upbeat mood and stated that his Arsenal side exploited the mistakes made by Tottenham: “We took advantage of the mistakes Tottenham made but we provoked them as well and could have scored more”.
Elsewhere Chelsea thrashed Bolton 4-0 at the Reebok with Ivorian forward Didier Drogba getting on the scoresheet. Champions Manchester United beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 – with goals from Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov and England’s number ten Wayne Rooney. Fulham piled more pressure on Rafa Benitez as the Spaniard saw his side go down 3-1 at Craven Cottage. Portsmouth got their season back on track with an impressive 4-0 victory at home to Wigan Athletic.
