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Sad day for Gunners; Lampard sizzles

Comment: 0 October 3rd, 2011 by: admin

Another loss, another woe for Arsenal and manager Arsene Wenger.

The Gunners slumped to their 4^th setback in the Premier League as Tottenham Hotspur won their north London derby 2-1 on Sunday.

Rafael van der Vaart netted the 10,000^th goal in Tottenham history just before the interval, while Kyle Walker connected the winning brace with his first strike for the club in the 73^rd minute after Aaron Ramsey had levelled for Arsenal.

Harry Redknapp’s outfit clinched the third of their last four league derbies and drawn the other against the Gunners who have landed in the top 4 for the last 15 years.

Their 4^th straight triumph moved the Spurs to 6^th place in the standings after 6 fixtures, 3 points behind 4^th-place Newcastle United with a game in hand.

While it was a sad day for Arsenal, it was a joyous one for Chelsea.

Frank Lampard, regaining his starting 11 post, answered his critics and proved he is still a force to reckon with by scoring a hat-trick in the Blues’ 5-1 victory at bottom-place Bolton.

At Fulham, Andy Johnson also notched a hat-trick, while Clint Dempsey converted his second goal of the season and 4t overall as the Cottagers routed Queen’s Park Rangers 6-0. In the other game, promoted Swansea trimmed Stoke 2-0.

Aside from the latest loss which saw them skidding at 15^th, just 2 points above the relegation zone, Arsenal also had another injured player in defender Bacary Sagna who incurred a broken right leg after a nasty fall brought about by Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s challenge. Sagna is expected to be out for three months.

“We dug deep and got the result we needed,’’ said a jubilant Spurs boss Harry Redknapp. “The further in front (of Arsenal) we can get the better.’’

Wenger, on the other hand, said “We are not where we want to be. It is important we respond quickly.’’

The French manager, who marked his 15^th year as Arsenal boss on Saturday,has now seen his team allow 14 goals in 4 games after the club’s worst start to a season in 58 years.

“The further in front (of Arsenal) we can get the better,” Redknapp said.

Tension rose in the match as Spurs’ Emmanuel Adebayor faced his former team but he stayed calm and parried the jeers which centred on the deadly attack on the Togo team last year.

Lampard, who has been tagged as way past his prime already after being dropped to the bench by both cluib and country recently, turned back the clock by scoring in the 15^th, 27^th and 59^th minutes. Daniel Sturridge tallied the other 2 goals (2^nd and 26^th minutes) for the visiting Blues.

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