Arsenal needed a late equaliser from Theo Walcott to salvage a 1-1 draw against acrh-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a pulsating League Cup semi-final first leg at the Emirates Stadium this morning (NZT).
Tottenham took the lead after 37 minutes when Robbie Keane squared for Jermaine Jenas to score
with a first-time right-footed shot despite looking to be offside.
Spurs, who had not beaten Arsenal for 20 matches since November 1999, had the better of the second half but the home team equalised with 11 minutes to go.
Eduardo, who replaced Robin van Persie at halftime, found Walcott with a clever through ball but although Spurs defender Lee Young-pyo appeared to have stifled the effort, the ball bounced off him, on to Walcott's chest and into the net.
Tottenham coach Juande Ramos dropped England goalkeeper Paul Robinson for the match and his replacement Czech Radek Cerny and the Spurs defence needed to be at their best to survive an opening 30-minute onslaught from Arsene Wenger's young team.
But despite dominating much of the first half, Arsenal's only serious attempt was restricted to a 14th-minute header when Cerny dived to his left to save Nicklas Bendtner's powerful effort.
Spurs gradually began to assert themselves and Steed Malbranque squandered an excellent chance to give them the lead after 32 minutes when he fired wide with only goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski to beat.
A minute later Malbranque headed wide under pressure and Berbatov forced Fabianski into a save with a long-range shot.
Spurs, enjoying a rare spell of domination, then found the net through Jenas.
Keane had a chance to increase Spurs's lead but shot wide early in the second half and Jermain Defoe, who came on as a late substitute, went close to winning it for the visitors only to fire high and wide.
The second leg is at White Hart Lane on January 22 with the winners meeting either Chelsea or Everton in the final at Wembley on February 24.
- REUTERS
