Arsenal’s Historic Victories at Spurs – A Tale of Triumph and Tension

Arsenal cannot say that they haven’t been warned, because the midweek defeat of Liverpool at Everton, where they hadn’t lost in nearly 15 years, was a timely reminder of the danger of local derbies. This weekend is the Gunners’ turn to travel to their local rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, where they will have to win to maintain any pressure on Manchester City ahead of their trip to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest. But Arsenal and their fans can be buoyed by the memory of past triumphs at Spurs. Here are five famous Arsenal wins at Spurs, two of which secured the title for Arsenal. Another win at Tottenham’s ground on Sunday would not be quite as decisive, but it would still be hugely important.

Five Famous Wins: Arsenal Victories At Spurs

Five Famous Wins: 13th November 2004: Tottenham Hotspur 4 Arsenal 5

This was the match that José Mourinho, who had just arrived in England earlier that summer to take over at Chelsea for the first time, famously compared to “basketball” for its seemingly unceasing end-to-end attacking play and apparent lack of any defensive play whatsoever. Spurs took the lead through Noureddine Naybet just before half-time, before Thierry Henry levelled in first-half injury time. But even that exchange of goals at the end of the first half did not indicate the goal-fest to follow in the second.

Arsenal twice led by two goals after the break, but Spurs pegged them back to a single-goal lead. First, Lauren scored a penalty, and then Patrick Vieira scored from open play to put Arsenal 3-1 up on the hour mark. Then, after Jermain Defoe had scored for Spurs just a minute after Vieira, Arsenal extended their lead when Freddie Ljungberg fired home in the 69th minute.

Ledley King got another goal for Spurs in the 74th minute to make it 4-3, but it seemed that Robert Pires had finally killed Spurs off seven minutes later when he made it 5-3. Incredibly, Frédéric Kanouté made it 5-4 in the 88th minute, forcing Arsenal to hang on in injury time to secure victory in this remarkable nine-goal thriller. Nearly 20 years on, this remains the highest-scoring North London derby ever.

5th May 1999: Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 3

Going into this match, Arsenal were the defending Premier League champions, having won the league and cup double the year before in what was Arsène Wenger’s first full season at the club. However, they were locked in a monumental title battle with Manchester United, who on the same night, were also playing their arch-rivals, Liverpool, away from home. And to add even more spice to the match, Spurs were being managed by Arsenal’s former manager, George Graham, who had outraged Gooners by joining their local rivals a year earlier.

This North London derby was conclusive proof that Wenger’s ultra-attacking style had moved on beyond the more defensive style with which Graham had won his two league titles at Arsenal nearly a decade earlier. Arsenal roared into a 2-0 lead through Emmanuel Petit and Nicolas Anelka and seemed set for a comfortable win until Darren Anderton got one back for Spurs just before half-time. Consequently, the second half was a far more even affair until Kanu sealed victory in the 85th minute.

When news came through that Manchester United had surrendered a two-goal lead to draw at Anfield, it seemed that the momentum in the title race had swung Arsenal’s way. Unfortunately for the Gunners, a late-season defeat away at Leeds allowed United to win the league, and they went on to win the treble of league, cup and Champions League.

23rd December 1978: Tottenham Hotspur 0 Arsenal 5

Arsenal fans thought that Christmas had come early when their team achieved their biggest-ever away win at Spurs just two days before Christmas in 1978. Spurs had only just been promoted from the old Division Two the previous season and had celebrated with two acquisitions from Argentina’s 1978 World Cup-winning squad, Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa. However, Ardiles and Villa were completely outshone by Arsenal’s midfield genius, Liam Brady, who ran the game and scored a curling goal. Indeed, Brady outshone his teammates, including strikers Alan Sunderland, who scored a hat-trick, and Frank Stapleton, who scored a fine goal.

Recently, Arsenal celebrated Irish History Month for the first time, and I was truly honoured to write a piece for the club and the London Irish Centre on what it meant to be a “Green Gooner” (an Irish Arsenal fan or, as in my case, an Arsenal fan of Irish descent) in the 1970s. At the time of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, when there was widespread hostility in England towards Irish immigrants and their families, Brady, Stapleton and all the other Irish Arsenal players at the time made us proud to be Irish or of Irish descent. And I was thrilled to be able to tell Liam Brady that in person when I met him at the club’s first-ever “Arsenal Irish” celebration.

25th April 2004: Tottenham Hotspur 2 Arsenal 2

Before any pedant points it out, I know that Arsenal did not win this match, but they won something far more important at White Hart Lane that day, namely the Premier League title. They did so by producing one of their finest performances of the Invincibles season when they went the entire league campaign undefeated, and even though they blew a two-goal lead to only draw at Spurs, it didn’t matter a jot. A draw has never felt so much like a win.

Arsenal went ahead as early as the third minute through Patrick Vieira, and Robert Pires doubled their lead just after the half-hour mark. Jamie Redknapp got one back for Spurs just after the hour, but even so, Arsenal remained in complete control and seemed to be coasting to victory. However, in the last minute of extra time, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was penalised for a foul on Robbie Keane, who promptly scored the penalty to make it 2-2. But a last-minute equaliser has never felt so meaningless, as Spurs fans still left the stadium as quickly as they could to avoid having to watch Arsenal’s title celebrations on their pitch.

3rd May 1971: Tottenham Hotspur 0 Arsenal 1

Of course, as any Arsenal fan worth their salt will know, 2004 was the second time that Arsenal had secured a league title at Spurs, meaning that Arsenal had won as many titles at their rivals’ ground as Spurs themselves had ever managed. The first had come over thirty years earlier and was even more important as it gave the Gunners their first league title for nearly 20 years (their previous league title had come in 1953). It also propelled them to their first-ever league and cup double a few days later at Wembley, when they came from behind in extra time to beat Liverpool 2-1.

What many modern-day Arsenal fans might not know is that going into that 1971 title “decider” at White Hart Lane, Arsenal were in a strange, indeed unprecedented, position. At that time goal average, whereby the number of goals that a team scored in a league campaign was divided by the number of goals they conceded, was used to divide teams level on points, rather than goal difference, which was only introduced in England in 1975. As a result, Arsenal knew that a 0-0 draw would win them the title, but a 1-1 draw would give it to chasing Leeds. Fortunately for Arsenal and their fans, Ray Kennedy scored in the 85th minute to win the game and title.