It was very much a game of two halves in an intense North London derby, the home side started well with Dimitar Berbatov opening the scoring with a header from close range after just twelve minutes. The Bulgarian hitman injured himself in the opening encounters and was replaced by Robbie Keane within twenty minutes.  An unusual strategy for Jol who has often been quoted saying that he prefers to play a little and large strike partnership.

Spurs increased the lead when a Tom Huddlestone free-kick was turned into the net by Julio Baptista. However fortunes were to change in the second half for the player they call ‘The Beast’.  He managed to force the ball past Robinson after just evading Michael Dawson’s outstretched leg to bring the Gunners back into the game.

Once they had conceded Tottenham looked like a different team, even the fans could sense the unease among the players and felt that there could have been a Liverpool style flood of goals from the young guns. Arsenal continued to play containing football, forcing Spurs to clearing the ball; bringing wave after wave of attack upon themselves.

Baptista made amends for his own goal, by scoring the equaliser. He was gifted a tap in after substitute Eboue broke down the right flank, drawing Paul Robinson out of his goal into no mans land, playing a pass across the area for Baptista to guide home.

The result sets up a fantastic encounter for the return leg, which kicks off at 19.45 on Wednesday.