Jenas spikes Gunners with last-gasp equaliser

AFP - 21 April 2007 16:17

Tottenham´s Robbie Keane, the first half goalscorer, has a shot on goal, during the Premiership match against visitors Arsenal at the White Hart Lane Stadium, London, 21 April 2007. Jermaine Jenas ensured Arsenal´s tortuous week had a sting in the tail as his dramatic injury-time goal gave Tottenham a 2-2 draw against their fierce rivals.

LONDON (AFP) - Jermaine Jenas ensured Arsenal's tortuous week had a sting in the tail as his dramatic injury-time goal gave Tottenham a 2-2 draw against their fierce rivals on Saturday.

The England midfielder sent a spectacular 25-yard drive skidding into the bottom corner with virtually the last kick of the game, just when Arsenal were preparing to celebrate their third win in a week.

The visitors had already over-turned Robbie Keane's first-half goal thanks to strikes from Ivory Coast international defender Kolo Toure and Togolese international striker Emmanuel Adebayor, but they had no answer to Jenas's extraordinary intervention, more than four minutes into stoppage time.

It was a suitably unhappy ending to a unsettled few days at the Emirates stadium, which is still absorbing the impact of David Dein's shock departure as vice-chairman and the subsequent speculation over the future of Arsene Wenger.

The French manager must now wait a little longer to see his side seal a place in next season's Champions League, while Spurs - thanks to Jenas - can now tackle their late charge for UEFA Cup qualification with more relish.

There was little hint of the drama to come in a tepid first half, which lacked all the usual fizz and sparkle of a north London derby.

Arsenal, initially shorn of their creative fulcrum, Cesc Fabregas, through a virus, struggled to make any headway against a tightly-packed home defence while Spurs looked equally barren.

There were some neat touches from Dimitar Berbatov, who almost punished William Gallas for an early error by lobbing over Jens Lehmann only for the ball to drop wide of the open net, but that initial foray aside, the visitors remained reasonably unflustered until they fell behind in the 30th minute.

The circumstances were all too familiar for Wenger, who has seen his side leak countless goals from set-pieces this term.

Once again, his defenders failed dismally to deal with a Jenas corner, which was headed down by Michael Dawson and over the line by the lurking Keane.

The Frenchman's consternation was compounded shortly afterwards when Freddie Ljungberg hobbled off to be replaced by Fabregas, but the Spaniard's introduction appeared to lift the visitors.

They came agonisingly close to snatching an equaliser moments before half-time, when a clever one-two between Emmanuel Eboue and Alexander Hleb ended with the Ivory Coast defender smacking the post with a cross-shot.

The interval did nothing to disrupt Arsenal's rhythm and the second period quickly turned into a siege.

Toure made the woodwork shudder again with a thumping effort from Fabregas' corner, Adebayor clipped the top of the crossbar with a looping header and when Gilberto saw a ferocious 20-yard drive deflected narrowly wide, Wenger must have feared his side's perennial profligacy was going to cost them again.

Not so. In the 63rd minute, Toure comfortably evaded the dozy Pascal Chimbonda to meet Fabregas' in-swinging free-kick at the back post. He scuffed his first-time shot, but the ball bobbled in regardless.

By now, the momentum was with Arsenal and an increasingly bedraggled Spurs began to creak. Julio Baptista, sent on as a substitute, might have made an immediate impression but dragged a 20-yard shot side, but Arsenal were not to be denied.

With 13 minutes remaining, Tom Huddlestone conceded a needless free-kick tight by the right-hand touchline. Fabregas swung over an inviting cross and Adebayor, left alone eight yards out, headed neatly into the net.

That appeared to be that, with Spurs showing no hint of being able to conjure an equaliser until stoppage time, when Jenas produced his unlikely party-piece to snatch a point.