Originally Posted by SkySports

Spurs held by depleted Gunners

Arsenal had Emmanuel Eboue sent off at White Hart Lane but were still able to grind out a 0-0 draw against Tottenham.


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A feisty derby was, for the most part, high on passion but low on quality as the points were shared in North London.

An action-packed first half failed to produce a breakthrough, but conspired to throw up everything but.

Eboue had the ball in the net inside 15 minutes but saw his effort chalked off for an earlier infringement by Emmanuel Adebayor.

Arsenal's talismanic Togolese striker was then stretchered off after pulling up with a hamstring problem, before Eboue saw red for a second yellow card.

The Ivorian was cautioned for dissent after 17 minutes and was handed his marching orders 20 minutes later after tangling with Luka Modric.

The hosts did look lively on the occasions they ventured forward but Aaron Lennon and Roman Pavlyuchenko wasted the better of their opportunities.

Chances continued to come and go for Harry Redknapp's men after the break, with Pavlyuchenko blazing over when well placed and Robbie Keane glancing a header onto the top of the netting as Manuel Almunia found himself stranded in no man's land.

Arsenal's ten men began to tire as the game drew on, but Alexandre Song did have a glorious opportunity to steal the points on 70 minutes when he diverted a volley the wrong side of the post from eight-yards out.

Tottenham finished the game well on top but were ultimately unable to turn their mounting pressure into a match-winning goal.
Tripped

It was the home side who started brightly, forcing a couple of early corners.

Keane, making his second debut for Spurs, went down under the challenge of William Gallas on the right side of the penalty area, but referee Mike Dean was having none of it and waved play on.

Robin van Persie and Eboue combined down the Arsenal right to release the Ivory Coast winger, but his centre across goal from a tight angle was just too far ahead of Adebayor.

Eboue was in again after 13 minutes when he scampered into the left side of the Spurs box, but was crowded out.

However, he then tripped Jonathan Woodgate before regaining the loose ball and stabbing it into the net, with celebrations cut swiftly short by the referee's whistle.

Bacary Sagna got clear on the overlap down the right, but his cross was not deep enough and easily cut out at the near post with red shirts waiting in the middle.

Eboue picked up a needless caution, but one which would later prove so costly, for complaining at the award of a free-kick against Sagna on Modric after 17 minutes.

On the half-hour, Croatian Modric created space for a shot from the edge of the penalty area, and Almunia had to make a smart save low to his right.

Gael Clichy chased what looked like a lost cause down the left with Vedran Corluka, Samir Nasri nicked the ball from on the goalline before the full-back sent a low pass across the face of goal, which just eluded Adebayor.

That proved to be the last action for the African, who pulled up mid-run and was eventually carried off on a stretcher around the perimeter.

Advantage

Before Arsenal could make a change, they were down to 10 men.

Modric and Eboue clashed on the near touchline and the referee had seen enough to caution both men - showing Eboue, who kicked out to trip the Spurs man, a second yellow card followed by a red.

Once calm had been restored, Nicklas Bendtner replaced Adebayor in the 38th minute.

Spurs looked to make their advantage count before the break and in stoppage-time Almunia tipped over a fierce 20-yard effort from £14million-man Wilson Palacios.

At the start of the second half, Pavlyuchenko capitalised on an error by Kolo Toure to get clear into the left side of the Arsenal penalty area, but then made a complete hash of his shot which skewed wide.

After 56 minutes, Spurs came within inches of taking the lead when Keane got up to meet Lennon's cross from the right, but his close-range header skimmed the top of the crossbar.

With 20 minutes left, Arsenal had a great chance to snatch the lead when Van Persie's corner fell to Song in the six-yard box - but the midfielder could only hook the ball wide.

There was a hold-up when Clichy received treatment for a cut following a clash of heads with Darren Bent and was replaced by Kieran Gibbs.

Both sides pressed during four minutes of stoppage-time, with Carlo Cudicini tipping over from Bendtner and Almunia denying Modric.

Originally Posted by SkySports

Lucky 13 as Utd go back top

Manchester United kept a 13th straight clean sheet in the Premier League as a stunning solo goal from Ryan Giggs earned a 1-0 win at West Ham United.


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The evergreen Giggs grabbed the only goal of a tight game at Upton Park just past the hour mark as fellow veteran Edwin van der Sar set a new record in goal.

West Ham matched the title favourites for long periods, with England new boy Carlton Cole having his team's best chance in the first half as his attempted chip was plucked out of the air by Van der Sar after he had been sent clear.

At the opposite end, Robert Green produced a smart reaction save after Cristiano Ronaldo had turned Paul Scholes' wayward shot back towards goal.

In the 34th minute, Van der Sar set a British league record for the longest run without conceding a goal and he was never seriously tested by the Hammers thereafter.

The reigning champions were not at their best, and struggled to create chances until a moment of magic from skipper Giggs settled the contest.

Scholes swept a fine ball out to the left flank on 62 minutes and Giggs cut inside, jinking past two defenders before curling a right-footed shot beyond Green.

Late Hammers pressure failed to yield an equaliser as the Red Devils returned to the top of the table after being temporarily displaced by Liverpool on Saturday.
Bobby Moore day

The hosts reserved their usual white-hot atmosphere for a Red Devils visit on 'Bobby Moore day', in recognition of a man who will shortly have to share top billing with David Beckham on 108 caps for England.

That appreciation continued once the match started too, as Matthew Upson slid in on Giggs to execute a perfect tackle of which Moore himself would have been proud.

By that point, Giggs had already sliced a volley wide in an encouraging start for the champions that also involved a couple of trademark piledrivers from Scholes, one of which Ronaldo turned goalwards, forcing Green to make an impressive save.

A brilliant passage of close control involving Giggs, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov ended with the Bulgarian lashing a volley goalwards that James Collins found himself accidentally in the way of.

Another move of similar quality brought a Nemanja Vidic shot into the body of the same man as pretty passing failed to result in clear-cut chances.

Instead, with Upson outstanding and Scott Parker snapping into a series of tackles in midfield, the Hammers slowly got themselves a foothold in the contest.

If ever there was a man needing to impress watching England coach Fabio Capello, it was Cole.

Unfortunately, Cole turned like a giant barge as he collected Jack Collison's short pass with his back to goal.

What seemed like a clear shooting chance quickly disappeared as Vidic and Ferdinand converged on the former Chelsea man, who seems set to win his first cap in Seville on Wednesday.

Cole had earlier managed to gain half a yard on Ferdinand to reach David Di Michele's through ball but he is not the first striker in recent times to find Van der Sar too big a wall to knock over.

When the 34th minute ticked by, Van der Sar eclipsed the record of old Aberdeen stalwart Bobby Clark, who went 1,155 minutes of league action without conceding a goal during the 1970-71 campaign to claim that British record.

The veteran Dutchman's goal was still intact when Di Michele was crowded out on the edge of the visitors' penalty area and the loose ball fell to a marauding Lucas Neill, whose curling shot probably did not stretch Van der Sar enough.

Agitated

It was a similar story for the Red Devils, with Ronaldo in particular getting increasingly agitated with his team-mates, John O'Shea receiving one mouthful and even Sir Alex Ferguson getting a passionate response as the Scot made a point to Ronaldo on the touchline.

Yet if the bad temper was taken as a sign the champions' focus was not fully wired in, West Ham got it horribly wrong.

After Giggs had his corner half-cleared, Scholes swiftly spread the ball back to his long-time colleague.

Cole flew in to make a tackle by the touchline. He failed, as did his Hammers team-mates, who expected Giggs to eventually transfer the ball to his generally lethal left foot. Instead Giggs struck it with his right, beyond a startled Green, and into the net.

Ronaldo, his mind back on the job, watched his thunderbolt effort curl just wide after taking a deflection before Neill's next, wayward, shot.

Originally Posted by Flash_Back
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Great goal by Giggsy making him the only player to score in every premiership season I believe.

Good game for a 0-0 at the lane today aswell.