Arsenal have completed a stunning fightback to defeat Tottenham 5-2 in the North London derby at the Emirates Stadium today.
The Gunners fell two goals behind by the 34th minute but were able to level the score by half-time then go on to score three in the second half to record arguably their biggest win of the season.
The 150th league meeting between the clubs saw Tottenham take the lead inside four minutes when an Emmanuel Adebayor through ball had the Gunners defence at bay. Louis Saha took control before getting some luck with his shot from the top of the area which bobbled up off Thomas Vermaelen and over Wojciech Szczesny.
Thirty minutes later, Spurs were two ahead when referee Mike Dean awarded a questionable penalty when Gareth Bale went down in the area under pressure from Wojciech Szczesny and Kieran Gibbs. The fact that Dean did not produce a card for either player suggests he was unsure of the call, but nonetheless it was made with Adebayor stepping up to slot home past Szczesny's outstretched left hand.
Arsenal's day was looking like it was going to be a long one with some near misses in the first 30 minutes or so but they got themselves back into proceedings when Bacary Sagna powerfully headed home Mikel Arteta's cross from the left in the 40th minute.
Three minutes later, the Gunners were back on level terms courtesy of some pure class from Robin van Persie who made something out of nothing when he took control, turned and curled it in from top of the 'D' for his 23rd league goal of the campaign.
Six minutes into the second half, Arsenal found themselves in front when Tomas Rosicky played a ball to the right of the area which Sagna slid back to the Czech midfielder who flicked it past Friedel with his left foot for his first league goal in almost two years.
Arsenal then scored a fourth in the 65th minute when van Persie made a clever run amidst pressure from two defenders before sliding it into the path of Theo Walcott who fired home from an angle before the England winger scored a second three minutes later when he beautifully controlled Alex Song's chipped through ball to again finish past Friedel to wrap up the match for the home side.
Three minutes from regular time, Spurs midfielder Scott Parker was sent off for a second bookable offence when he challenged Vermaelen but the damage had already been done.
It was a magnificent attacking performance from Arsene Wenger's men who turned around a poor early showing to move back to fourth and are now within seven points of Harry Redknapp's third-placed Spurs.
TRIBAL ASKS: Is this the win that allows Arsenal to make a push for the top four and resurrect their otherwise flailing season?
Arsenal: 5 (Bacary Sagna 40', Robin van Persie 43', Tomas Rosicky 51', Theo Walcott 65'/68') Tottenham: 2 (Louis Saha 4', Emmanuel Adebayor (p) 34')
Emirates Stadium, London - 60,106
Yellow cards:ARS - Laurent Koscielny 31', Mikel Arteta 42', Robin van Persie 78' TOT - Luka Modric 30' Scott Park 30'/87', Sandro 61' Red card:TOT - Scott Parker 87'
