Published: 29 November, 2012
by ALLAN LEDWARD at Goodison Park
and PAUL COWLING at White Hart Lane

PREMIER LEAGUE
Spurs 2, Liverpool 1
Everton 1, Arsenal 1

TOTTENHAM leapfrogged rivals Arsenal last night (Wednesday) as both clubs picked up good results against the Merseysiders.

First-half goals from Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale were enough to earn Spurs a hard fought win over Liverpool at White Hart Lane.

Andre Villas-Boas hailed Bale’s “never ending energy” in a game that saw the Welsh winger score all three goals, one of which was a freakish own-goal that gave Liverpool late hope of salvaging a draw.

“I am amazed at what he can do for us,” said the Spurs boss. “A draw would have been fairer, but we have momentum now. We are in a really good position.”

Meanwhile Arsenal took the lead within the opening minute against Everton thanks to a clinical finish from Theo Walcott, but in the end were happy to escape from Goodison Park with a 1-1 draw.

Arsene Wenger praised his players‘ spirit in a game that he described as “remarkably intense”, but admitted he was disappointed that his side failed to build on an early lead.

He said: “Overall I believe that 1-1 is a fair result – it’s a good point. It was a game of remarkable intensity and we needed to show great spirit to go away with a point.

“I can say I’m pleased with the effort we put in. In the Premier League we have had 14 games, eight away, including at Liverpool and the two Manchesters. If we play well at home we have the chance to come back.

“We had a few good chances, but with the final ball we didn’t do well. In the second half, with two or three counter-attacks, we really could be more clinical.

“But you cannot fault the effort and the spirit that we put in,” he added.

Backed by a stoic travelling support on a frosty Merseyside evening, Arsenal raced into the lead when Walcott hit a measured shot into the far corner of Tim Howard’s net after just 52 seconds.

It stunned Everton, but also appeared to shock the Gunners players themselves, as the visitors never looked anything like as dangerous for the rest of the half.

The equaliser came in the 28th minute after a long period of Arsenal possession when Bacary Sagna played a loose ball in a dangerous position to former Evertonian Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard was robbed by Steven Pienaar before the ball broke to Marouane Fellaini who hit a low shot past Wojciech Szczesny.

A determined home side continued to push forward and went close to grabbing a winning in the final few moments of the match.