Tottenham will have been buoyed by the promising displays from the youthful Jamie O'Hara, Kevin Prince Boateng and Younes Kaboul but they will know statistics rarely lie. Arsenal have so much power, pace, quality and depth in their squad. Juande Ramos must realise now what a challenge he has taken on and that success can only come from shrewder recruitment in future.
His team gave sturdy resistance but, for all they impressed in the first half with a game-plan that affected the home side's rhythm, they wilted. Arsenal emerged in the second half and showed far less respect. That, and a penalty miss from Robbie Keane, was all it took to prevail and keep Tottenham waiting for their win across town since 1993.
Where Spurs surprised Arsenal in the first period was how they stretched the play, with O'Hara pinging crossfield passes from left to right to feed Aaron Lennon, who had attached himself to the right touchline. The benefit of having a natural left-footer in central midfield was clear as Gaël Clichy was forced to sacrifice cover to close Lennon. O'Hara distributed confidently on his first Premier League start. He showed confidence, searching for the penetrative ball but keeping tight possession.
Boateng anchored and the reshaped Tottenham back four kept tight, ensuring Alexander Hleb, Tomas Rosicky and Cesc Fábregas found it difficult to gain a foothold. Dimitar Berbatov found room to receive the ball, eluding William Gallas to find space and setting up attacks from forward positions.
All that changed at the interval. Arsenal learned from their first half frustration with their back four tightening on Berbatov. The Bulgarian found less room to manoeuvre and rarely received the ball unchallenged, as he had in the first half. He duly showed the other side of his character: falling under challenges, going to ground too easily, appealing and not retrieving, even if few would have had the imagination to equalise from no angle at all.
As Arsenal squeezed, Spurs found it more difficult to keep them at bay. Fábregas and Mathieu Flamini were tighter on Boateng and O'Hara. Wenger's half-time call was as much about attitude and tempo as tactics. They played a higher line and gave Berbatov less room and they reaped reward.
