Tottenham ends brawling Arsenal's jinx

• by Soccer America , Jan 23, 2008

[ENGLAND] Only four months into his job as Tottenham manager, Spaniard Juande Ramos is the toast of White Heart Lane.

Spurs snapped a nine-year run of 21 games without a victory over archrival Arsenal in grand style on Tuesday when it crushed the Gunners, 5-1, to win their English League Cup series, 6-2, on aggregate.

Ramos credited his players for the success that puts them in the League Cup final against Everton or Chelsea on Feb. 24.

"Obviously, it makes me tremendously happy that the fans are happy with my work and with the team," he said. "But the players are the ones who run and make it work on the pitch. It's been a big change but without the collaboration of the players this would have been impossible. The huge efforts they have made to come out of that bad period have made the difference. I want to publicly acknowledge that they are the architects of the revival."

Arsenal came so unglued at the end that Togolese star Emmanuel Adebayor and Dane Nicklas Bendtner became involved in an altercation that left Bendtner with a cut on the bridge of his nose and blood staining his shirt.

GAME SUMMARY:
Jan. 22 in London
Tottenham 5 Arsenal 1. Goals: Jenas 3, own goal 27, Keane 48, Lennon 60, Malbranque 90; Adebayor 70.
Tottenham -- Cerny, Chimbonda, Dawson, King, Lee, Lennon (Huddlestone, 74), Jenas, Tainio, Malbranque, Keane (Boateng, 64), Berbatov (Defoe, 64).
Arsenal -- Fabianski; Sagna, J. Hoyte, Gallas, Traore (Eduardo, 65), Hleb, Denilson (Fabregas, 18), Gilberto, Diaby; Walcott (Adebayor, 65), Bendtner.
Referee: H. Webb.
Att.: 35,979.
(Tottenham wins 6-2 on aggregate.)