ARSENAL 1 SPURS 0
By Ricky Butler at the Emirates Stadium
A FIRST half goal of real quality from Olivier Giroud settled a tense North London derby at the Emirates on Sunday as Arsenal's miserly defence showed it is not necessarily about how much you spend.
Spurs, who have splashed out nearly £107m this summer, arrived on the back of four wins from four matches in all competitions this season, while Arsene Wenger's side, with only two free transfers brought in so far, had apparently been going through something of a crisis.
Not that you would have known it here as they produced a display of real grit and determination to show that money cannot buy this kind of team spirit. In fact it was the sort of performance that used to be synonymous with the club - 1-0 to the Arsenal.
Of course this result will not have changed Wenger's need to bring in new recruitments ahead of today's transfer deadline, but perhaps things are not quite as bad in this part of North London as many would have you believe.
This crucial and hard fought victory was achieved with a threadbare squad too. Already depleted by injuries to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lukas Podolski and Thomas Vermaelen, Wenger's plans were further disrupted by illness to Bacary Sagna and Jack Wilshere.
While the England midfield man was considered fit enough to start, he did not make it to half time before being replaced by Wenger's most recent signing, the returning Mathieu Flamini - on a free transfer of course.
But despite conceding far more possession at the Emirates than they usually do, make no mistake about it, Arsenal fully deserved this victory.
After a bright start in which Santi Cazorla had twice threatened with free kicks, the Gunners were forced back by a Spurs side who looked determined not to suffer a third successive 5-2 defeat on the ground of their bitter rivals.
It was therefore no real surprise that when the goal arrived - midway through the first half - it was scored on the counter attack. Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey combined with Tomas Rosicky, who fed Theo Walcott down the right.
With Michael Dawson playing him onside, the England winger advanced towards the bye-line before drilling a low cross into the six yard box for the late-arriving Giroud to stab home with the outside of his left foot.
With talk of a big-money striker arriving, the Frenchman has now scored four goals in five matches this season and is really starting to look the part.
Arsenal could now relax and Walcott was denied by Hugo Lloris as Wenger's side looked for some breathing space before the break.
The second half followed a similar pattern, with the visitors dominating possession but playing mainly in front of an Arsenal defence that looked strong and organised, and the visitors rarely threatened Wojciech Szczesny's goal.
In fact it was the Gunners who came closest to a second when only a fine save from Lloris denied his compatriot Giroud after another rapid counter-attack.
Arsenal came under an inevitable Spurs onslaught in the final 10 minutes and Szczesny had to be at his best to keep out a deflected effort from substitute Jermain Defoe.
But that was as close as Andre Villas-Boas' side came to preserving their unbeaten start and it was the much-maligned Wenger who was celebrating at the final whistle.
The Arsenal boss said: "In the end we had to hang on because we could not score the second goal. It was a very intense game but overall I feel we deserved it as their goalkeeper was their best player.
"We have had some very intense games in the last two weeks and we had to dig deep to win in the end."
When asked about the form of Giroud, Wenger said: "Last year, he came to a new league which is a level up and he had to adapt. Now in his second season he is more comfortable and you can see from his movement and technique how much he has improved."
"He is a fantastic guy with a great charisma and he was a real leader on the pitch today."
Villas Boas, meanwhile, felt his side were a little unfortunate to come away from the Emirates empty-handed again. He said: "It was very tight in the first half and they had one or two opportunities but I thought the second half was very, very strong from us.
"I thought we deserved something in the end. Arsenal was more clinical in front of goal but I thought a draw would have been a fair result."
There was more bad news for the Spurs boss last night when it was revealed that Real Madrid had finally completed the signing of Gareth Bale for a world record fee of 100m Euros.
ARSENAL - Szczesny 7, Jenkinson 6, Mertesacker 8, Koscielny 8, Gibbs 7, Ramsey 8, Wilshere 5 (Flamini 43, 7), Rosicky 7 (Monreal 78, 6) Cazorla 8, Walcott 7 (Sagna 90), GIROUD 9.
SPURS - Lloris 8, Walker 6, Dawson 5, Vertonghen 6, Rose 7, Dembele 6 (Defoe 67, 6), Paulinho 6, Capoue 6 (Sandro 73, 6), Chadli 7, Townsend 7 (Lamela 73, 6), Soldado 5.
REFEREE - M Oliver 7
ATTENDANCE: 60.071
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