Arsenal quality tops Spurs' quantity

The France international struck the only goal
of the game midway through the first half after
cleverly clipping home Theo Walcott's low
cross.
Arsenal made two changes to the side that beat
Fulham 3-1 last week, with Laurent Koscielny
and Jack Wilshere coming in for Bacary Sagna
and the injured Lukas Podolski, while new
signing Mathieu Flamini – in his second spell
with the club – was named on the bench.
Erik Lamela was among the Tottenham
substitutes, although fellow new additions Vlad
Chiriches and Christian Eriksen were not
included in the squad.
Arsenal seized the early momentum almost
immediately and twice came close to going
ahead in the opening five minutes. Santi
Cazorla forced Hugo Lloris into a fine save with
a curling free kick before shooting narrowly
wide from another set-piece shortly after.
The hosts' dominance looked to have come to
an end as Tottenham began to dictate the game
and press forward.
However, Andre Villas-Boas' men were undone
on the counter-attack after 23 minutes, with
Giroud meeting a low near-post cross from
Theo Walcott to prod home from point-blank
range.
Arsenal wasted no time in attempting to add to
their lead, Walcott again causing problems as
he burst free down the right wing only to be
denied by another athletic save from Lloris.
Aaron Ramsey fired over from distance on the
half-hour mark before Lloris had to be fleet of
foot to race out of goal and win the ball after
Walcott had again broken through the
Tottenham backline.
Villas-Boas will have been disappointed by his
team's performance at both ends in the first
half, with Andros Townsend the only player to
force Wojciech Szczesny into a save with a
tame effort.
Flamini's comeback came earlier than expected
for Arsenal, the Frenchman thrown into the
action two minutes before the interval after
Jack Wilshere was forced off through injury.
Arsenal's superiority waned somewhat after the
break, although Spurs still struggled to create
any meaningful chances, Nacer Chadli sending
a free kick way over the bar in the early stages
of the second period.
Tottenham's lack of creativity was nearly
punished again by Giroud, the France
international denied by compatriot Lloris, who
produced a superb finger-tip save to push the
striker's left-footed shot wide of the post.
Lamela was introduced midway through the
second half, the former Roma man brought on
for Townsend, while Brazilian midfielder
Sandro was also thrown into the fray after
Etienne Capoue was taken off on a stretcher
with an ankle injury.
Spurs had their best chance of the game
moments later as Szczesny kept out a vicious
volley from substitute Jermain Defoe from the
edge of the area, with Roberto Soldado's
follow up blocked by Giroud.
Giroud almost turned provider as Arsenal
launched another excellent counter, the 26-
year-old pulling back for Walcott, only for
Lloris to keep the deficit at one goal with
another fine stop.