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On Wednesday, the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final match took place between two North London teams - "Tottenham" and "Arsenal". After a dramatic battle, the match ended in a draw. The second leg will take place next week. The winner of the final will face London's "Chelsea".
2 - 2 12' [1 - 0] Dimitar Berbatov 20' [2 - 0] Julio Baptista (own goal) 64' [2 - 1] Julio Baptista 77' [2 - 2] Julio Baptista
"Arsenal" took to the field without many of their main players, and taking advantage of this, the "Tottenham" players took the initiative from the first minutes of the match and began to dictate their style.
6 minutes in, after a combination between Dimitar Berbatov and Jermain Defoe, the Bulgarian hit the post. But after six minutes, D. Berbatov's shot found its target. Receiving a pass from J. Defoe from the right, he defeated Manuel Almunia with a precise header. Soon after, the same J. Defoe had a dangerous shot.
In the 20th minute, the second goal fell. Tomas Huddlestone lifted the ball into the penalty area with a free kick, where the hero of the previous Carling Cup match against "Liverpool" Julio Baptista directed the ball into his own net (2-0).
Although "Tottenham" controlled the situation until the end of the first half, in the last moments, J. Baptista could have softened the result, but hit the post.
If the hosts had a total advantage in the first half, the second half saw a significant change. Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Eboue, who appeared in the ranks of "Arsenal", noticeably revitalized the game, and the gunners started to press their opponents. The pressure quickly paid off.
In the 64th minute, after a pass from Theo Walcott, Julio Baptista corrected his mistake and softened the result. Just 13 minutes later, J. Baptista scored again, when after a pass from Justin Hoyte from the edge, he directed the ball into the goal from a few meters away and leveled the score - 2-2.
Furthermore, "Arsenal" did not ease off and could have snatched victory, but in the 84th minute, Theo Walcott's shot from a comfortable position hit the post.
The second leg of the match between these teams will take place at "Arsenal" stadium on January 31.
