Arsenal’s title aspirations are all but over as they lost a two-goal lead and drew 3-3 with Tottenham Hotspur. Meanwhile Chelsea jumped over the Gunners into second place as they beat Birmingham City 3-1.
The North London derby was an enthralling game and if you were a neutral, must have been a fantastic game to watch. It was end-to-end stuff for the whole 90 minutes and both teams had enough chances to have won it.
The game exploded into life with three goals in the opening 12 minutes at White Hart Lane. Theo Walcott’s cool finish was soon cancelled out by Rafael van der Vaart on 82 seconds later. Samir Nasri restored the Gunners’ advantage. Robin van Persie made it 3-1 five minutes before the break, only for Tom Huddlestone to halve the deficit with a sweetly-struck shot right before half-time.
The tempo in the second half was just as frantic as a draw didn’t really help either team. Spurs’ comeback was complete when Aaron Lennon was felled by Arsenal’s goalkeeper and Van der Vaart kept his composure from the spot.
Despite a flurry of late chances the spoils were shared, meaning Tottenham trail fourth-placed Manchester City by two points while Arsenal drop to third following victory for Chelsea in Wednesday’s other match.
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea moved six points back of Man United as they beat Birmingham City 3-.
Since the Champions League defeat to Man United, Carlo Ancelotti has moved from the 4-4-2 formation that Fernando Torres prefers and reverted back to to his preferred 4-3-3 formation with Drogba down the middle and Malouda and Kalou playing just behind him.
Malouda and Kalou are playing a lot better in this formation (both scored tonight) and suddenly Chelsea look like a title contender again.
1 at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals from Florent Malouda (3, 62) and Salomon Kalou’s solo effort (26). Sebastian Larsson replied for the visitors from the spot.
