Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur: live
Follow minute-by-minute commentary of the Premier League game between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday August 31, 2013, kick-off 15.00 (BST).
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Do Spurs now have a stronger squad than Arsenal? Emailed.ballard@outlook.com with your thoughts.
85 min Nacer Chadli. Into the stand.
84 min Koscielny sprints out of defence to cut the ball out before it gets to Defoe. In the end he cuts Defoe out. The defender gets a ticking-off, Spurs get a free kick.
82 min Giroud has the chance to play Walcott through as he collects the ball on the halfway line. It's a difficult pass to execute, though; he would need to produce something Xavi-like to curve the ball over the defender and into his team-mate's path. Safe to say Giroud doesn't produce anything Xavi-like.
80 min Monreal should really have doubled Arsenal's lead with his first touch there. Giroud pulls the ball back towards Walcott after yet another dangerous Arsenal break, and while the striker doesn't get on the end of the pass the ball breaks for the newly-introduced full-back, who has the goal at his mercy if he can get there first. He doesn't though, dithering somewhat instead of throwing himself at the ball, and Walker clears.
78 min Nacho Monreal comes on for Rosicky, who was a very effective, bustling presence in the Arsenal midfield.
75 min So close for Defoe! The ball breaks to him on the edge of the box after a Spurs free-kick, and he lashes a first-time shot towards the bottom corner. Szczesny pulls off a quite brilliant one handed save, but can't put the ball out of play; moments later Soldado is denied when his close-range effort bounces off one of a crew of Arsenal defenders mobbing the box. He appeals for handball - maybe the ball struck Giroud on the arm, but it would have been a brave call for the referee to make.
74 min Sandro and Lamela come on for Townsend and Capoue, who is being stretchered off. It wasn't a foul by Cazorla, or not a bad one - after a fairly unexceptional tussle for the ball, I think Capoue fell awkwardly on his own foot.
72 min That's more worrying - Etienne Capoue goes down awkwardly after a tussle for the ball with Santi Cazorla, and he's grimacing on the turf and calling for help.
71 min Ramsey goes down by the touchline and now he's the one hobbling somewhat and holding his hamstring. He'll play on but that doesn't look too encouraging.
70 min Arsenal break again and this time it's Walcott who is sent clear. Giroud slightly overhits his through-ball, though, allowing Lloris to get there first.
68 min Dembele, not at his sharpest in midfield today, is dispossessed in the middle of the pitch by Rosicky, who has been extremely lively by contrast. That's Dembele's last contribution - he makes way for Defoe.
66 min Dembele sets the ball nicely for Paulinho, who has a swing from 25 yards. Comfortably wide. Still no subsititions from Villas Boas, but Defoe is warming up. How long till we see the boy Lamela?
64 min With Spurs defending high up the pitch, and now pressing hard for the equaliser as well, Arsenal are getting more chances to break. Somebody - Rosicky again, I think - intercepts another pass, and it's four on four. Walcott's run drags Vertonghen out of position ad Giroud finds himself through on goal. He makes a hash of his first touch, but the ball breaks kindly for him eventually and he gets a low shot away. Just wide.
62 min A spell of promising intensity for the visitors, as Dembele tries to find a way into the penalty box with one of his mazy dribbles. Spurs have upped the tempo in the last few minutes but still lack a cutting edge.
60 min Walker has been confined to his own half for the most path, Townsend not being all that keen to hang back and wait for overlapping runs, but now he finds himself ahead of the winger. Townsend feeds a nice pass upfield and Walker burns Gibbs for pace as they race to it; Gibbs taps him from behind and it's a Spurs corner. Walker takes it himself but Soldado is beaten to the header by Mertesacker.
59 min Arsenal break, and Walcott aims a low, early pass across the face of goal. Perhaps a little ambitious, and Vertonghen intercepts without too much trouble. Nothing comes of the ensuing Arsenal corner.
56 min Chadli punts the resulting free kick into the stands.
55 min Flamini goes into the book for a flying challenge on Danny Rose as the Spurs man cut inside from the left. As flying challenges go, it was pretty well-timed - he got the ball cleanly enough - but still, Rose went tumbling, and it's always slightly alarming to see somebody completely airborne as they go in for a tackle.
53 min That's slightly dicey play from Koscielny, having a bit of a tussle with Soldado as they contend for the ball on the edge of the box. Michael Oliver waves play on.
51 min Jenkinson tackles Chadli sturdily on the left touchline to break down a promising attack for Spurs. He's got the better of the Belgian so far; Chadli's struggled to make an impressiono on the game.
49 min Wilshere update: it's just a stomach cramp, not a recurrence of his ankle-knack. Good news, insofar as agonising (as far as you or I know) stomach cramp is ever good news. Ramsey has a punt from 25 yards but his effort flies well wide.
48 min Walker is pulled up for grabbing Ramsey's shirt as they raced to a loose ball - not sure why he needed to do that. Surely he's way faster.
47 min Walker takes a corner from the right, trying to pick out Soldado's near-post run. His effort flicks off Ramsey and there's an anxious moment for Arsenal before Szczesny clears. Spurs swiftly win another corner, which Walker takes again. Arsenal see off the danger again.
46 min The second half is underway and Flamini is immediately involved, chipping sumptious lofted pass straight to Lloris.
HALF TIME: An energetic, balanced game so far, with Arsenal perhaps justly in front. Spurs have had more of the ball than I expected, but they've been a bit sluggish on the ball and haven't found it easy to break Arsenal down. Most of the visitors' chances have come through Townsend, who has been dangerous on the right. Here's Giroud, perhaps not looking his best, after he bagged the opener.
Here's Olaleke Ayodeji with his two cents, a nice closing metaphor, and Lots Of Capitals. "Arsenal Squad Is Not better Especially because Of a Certain...Mr Wenger. Arsene Wenger Is a Brilliant Manager no Doubt...But I Guess Its HighTime Arsenal Move On and get a More Modern Manager(Not Tony Adams) like AVB...Fresh Wine Must Be Poured In Fresh Wine-Skin."
Here's Olaleke Ayodeji with his two cents, a nice closing metaphor, and Lots Of Capitals. "Arsenal Squad Is Not better Especially because Of a Certain...Mr Wenger. Arsene Wenger Is a Brilliant Manager no Doubt...But I Guess Its HighTime Arsenal Move On and get a More Modern Manager(Not Tony Adams) like AVB...Fresh Wine Must Be Poured In Fresh Wine-Skin."
45+1 Rosicky, one of Arsenal's more impressive performers, intercepts another pass and tries to launch a counter attack with a through-ball slid through to the right for Walcott, but again he asks too much of him. And that's that for the first half.
45 min Lloris punches Cazorla's speculative ball-into-the-mixer safely out of the mixer.
44 min Arsenal have a free kick in Spurs' half after Flamini, on for Wilshere, is clattered by Kyle Walker.
43 min Szczesny kicks the ball out of play, and the Emirates claps regretfully as Wilshere strides grumpily off the pitch. It didn't look too bad - i.e., he didn't need anybody to carry him - but it's a shame to see him injured again.
42 min Wilshere is hobbling about in the centre circle and Mathieu Flamini is warming up.
40 min Townsend does his thing again, picking up the ball on the touchline, skipping infield, and shooting as soon as he has a sight of goal. This one's OK, straight at the keeper though.
39 min Rosicky steals possession in the opposition half and in no time at all he's beaten a challenge and feeding a through-ball through for Walcott, cutting in from the right, who has escaped Rose again. This time Rosicky's pass is overhit.
36 min Not very much happening. Lots of slow own-half passing. The commentators have started talking about transfer deadline day. Has it come to that already?
34 min Rosicky was booked after that little controversy, not sure why.
32 min Suddenly Walcott is clean through, searing past Danny Rose from the right touchline. Lloris is alert and stationed near the edge of his box. Walcott pokes the ball past him and tries to skip around the keeper, but Lloris just about gets a toe to it. Walcott goes down in a heap and the Emirates howls for a red card, but referee Michael Oliver waves play on. A good decision: the replay shows that was a great tackle.
30 min At the other end, Giroud fires over from a difficult position on the corner of the box.
28 min Spurs have gone back to patient passing in their own half, which is what they were doing before they conceded. Townsend has another go at cutting infield and letting fly, and it's a fierce low effort this time, stinging the palms of Szczesny. "Why can't Wenger go for players like Jordan Rhodes, Jackson Martinez etc?" grumblesKiran Kulkarni. "Is he thinking about Claude Makalele, Milan Baros, Jeremy Aliediere, Jose Antonio Reyes?" I don't think so, Kiran; why would he be thinking about those players in particular?
27 min Now it's Jenkinson who has a go at running at Danny Rose, but the defender does better this time and tackles easily.
26 min Ramsey half dribbles, half stumbles past Danny Rose, and manages to feed a pass inside for Walcott. From a tight angle, he tries to finagle a shot under Lloris from close range, but there's not enough power on his effort.
23 min GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Spurs (Giroud) Having spent the last quarter of an hour on the back foot, Arsenal come to life and score the first time they manage to prise Spurs open. Great movement from the home side's front four, and Dawson is playing Walcott onside when he collects a pass in the inside-right channel. The same centre-back is to blame, perhaps, when Giroud steals across and turns Walcott's low cut-back past Lloris from the near post. A fine finish, and that's the first goal Spurs have conceded this season.
23 min GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Spurs (Giroud) Having spent the last quarter of an hour on the back foot, Arsenal come to life and score the first time they manage to prise Spurs open. Great movement from the home side's front four, and Dawson is playing Walcott onside when he collects a pass in the inside-right channel. The same centre-back is to blame, perhaps, when Giroud steals across and turns Walcott's low cut-back past Lloris from the near post. A fine finish, and that's the first goal Spurs have conceded this season.
21 min Wenger stalks the tactical pacing zone, his brow furrowed. So far Arsenal haven't really been able to hurt Spurs in open play.
19 min Townsend cuts inside from the right, sees a gap, shoots. It's deflected behind for a corner, which Arsenal defend tidily enough.
18 min Here's Becks with two of his sons. It's Romeo's birthday. Is Romeo the one with the hat? I'm going to be honest: I don't like the hat. Maybe it would be a good hat on a grown-up. From the old days.
16 min Soldado can't quite get on the end of a long ball aimed hopefully into the penalty are, but Spurs are definitely looking slightly the stronger side at the moment. Rosicky is pulled up for a rash challenge on Paulinho in the centre circle.
13 min Soldado, arriving late in the box, side-foots straight at Szczesny after running on to Townsend's pull-back. A very good chance.
12 min Excellent play from Capoue, who dribbles around two Arsenal players with an almost arrogant air of calm, then plays a nice give and go with Dembele in the centre circle to start a Spurs attack.
11 min Arsenal have spent the last few minutes pinned back in their own half without looking particularly threatening. A corner to fend off, a couple of crosses for Szczesny to field, nothing too exciting as of yet.
9 min Spurs knock the ball around slowly in midfield for a while before Chadli foxes Carl Jenkinson by poking a low pass infield towards Soldado when the full-back was expected him to make for the byline. Koscielny cleans up.
7 min He rolls the ball speedily under the jumping wall - inches wide. Such a cool trick when it comes off, that one. Was it Ronaldinho who invented it?
6 min Another free kick in dangerous territory for Arsenal as Dembele brought Walcott down from behind as the striker tried to find space to pick out a return pass to Giroud, who had played him in with a clever flick. Not much in that challenge to be honest, but Cazorla has another chance, dead central this time...
5 min Townsend runs the ball out of play as he tries to dribble past Gibbs.
3 min It's a good effort from the Spaniard, who whips a shot up and over the wall towards the top corner. Not quite fast or accurate enough, though, and Lloris can palm the ball out for a corner. Giroud has a free header from the set-piece but can't get it under control. Goal-kick.
2 min Etienne Capoue can't keep up with Rosicky as the Czech wriggles past him and heads towards the penalty area. Free kick for Arsenal to the left of the D; Santi Cazorla is lining it up.
1 min Andros Townsend is upended in the penalty area by Koscielny after skipping around Kieran Gibbs without too much trouble. A good challenge.
16.00 The teams are out, Spurs to kick off.
15.55: Mixed signals from Laurent Koscielny, warming up with some kind of headwound.
15.49: Spurs' strength in depth is pretty frightening, but I still reckon Arsenal's first eleven is a touch stronger. Here's a minor matter that's been passed over in all the discussion of Arsenal's failure to spend money this summer: why did they loan out Francis Coquelin? He has been pretty sturdy and reliable in midfield whenever I've seen him - why loan him out if you're not going to buy somebody who shunts him further down the pecking order?
Sky Sports, meanwhile, have cornered the two managers and probed them a bit, but to be honest it was very sub-par probing this week, nothing really interesting to report. AVB is confident that it will be an exciting game, and so is Arsene. What's new? They're both wearing that supercilious expression football managers reserve for patronising Sky Sports employees in tunnels.
15.30 So, what have we got here? Koscielny returns from a one-match suspension for Arsenal, while Mathieu Flamini goes straight into the squad after rejoining his old club this week on a free transfer from AC Milan. He joins Arsenal's only other signing, Yaya Sonogo, on the bench. Aaron Ramsey has recovered from a groin problem, but Lukas Podolski is out for up to three months with a torn hamstring. Aaron Lennon is out with a foot injury, but Erik Lamela is on the bench. Gareth Bale is off doing his thing, while his fellow newbies Vlad Chiriches and Christian Eriksen are nowhere to be seen.
15.25: THE TEAMS:
Arsenal: Szczesny; Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Ramsey, Wilshere; Rosicky, Cazorla, Walcott; Giroud. Subs: Fabianski, Sagna, Monreal, Flamini, Zelalem, Gnabry, Sanogo.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris; Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Rose; Capoue, Paulinho; Townsend, Dembele, Chadli; Soldado. Subs: Holtby, Naughton, Defoe, Sigurdsson, Friedel, Sandro, Lamel
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