Premier League Wednesday: Tottenham Hotspur And Arsenal Battle To Draw In Enthralling North London Derby

Florent Malouda scored in the third minute to kick off Chelsea's 3-1 win over Birmingham City, before picking up a second goal in the second half. In between, Salomon Kalou, handed a rare start, found the net as well, while the visitors needed a penalty to besmirch Petr Cech's clean sheet. A comfortable win for Chelsea, then, to take them to second in the Premier League after Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal played an exciting 3-3 draw. Carlo Ancelotti insists his Blues' title race is over, but now they sit just six points back of Manchester United. Meanwhile, Birmingham are in 15th with 38 points, although the way this season is going they're certainly not safe yet.

Malouda's opener came via a fantastic ball from John Terry, whose long ball found Paulo Ferreira near goal. Didier Drogba got his head on Ferreira's cross, nodding down to Malouda who only had to tap the ball into the back of the net.  In fact, Drogba was an absolute beast throughout the match, clearly determined to show Ancelotti just how valuable he remains to the team. It was he who provided the assist for Kalou's goal as well, although the Ivorian's stunning shot from 25 yards out was impressive in its own right.

Chelsea appeared to have declared themselves the presumptive winners of the match as early as the 56th minute, when they handed Ryan Bertrand his Premier League debut, putting him on in place of Ashley Cole. The 21 year old proved up to the challenge, setting up Malouda's second goal within minutes. Bertrand sent in a beautiful cross to the middle of the box, where three Birmingham defenders were giving Malouda an absurd amount of room, making it easy for the Frenchman to head the ball past Ben Foster and into the net.

The home side did start to show signs of weakness in the last fifteen minutes, however. David Luiz gave substitute Matt Derbyshire a slight shove just inside the area, and the ref showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Which is more than could be said for the Birmingham players, with Craig Gardner and Sebastian Larsson arguing over who would take the kick. In the end it was Larsson, making his 200th appearance for the club, that took the penalty, sending it high and hard over Cech.

Birmingham nearly made a game out of it in the last ten minutes, as Derbyshire took the ball down the field. With no Chelsea defenders even close by, the striker had plenty of space to score, but he took the shot too quickly and sent the ball wide. Then on the other end of the field, Birmingham made their own silly mistake, with Ben Foster scooping up a backpass from Larsson. Chelsea were given a rare indirect free kick just in front of the Birmingham goal, and although everyone expected Fernando Torres to take it (for goodness sake, just let the man score so we can all move on with our lives) it was Drogba that stepped up. And Drogba who put the ball not just over the crossbar but far into the stands. Someday, Fernando.

What a stunner of a match that was. Three early goals set the tone before Arsenal eventually ran out to a 3-1 lead, but they couldn't hold it and eventually let Tottenham Hotspur back into the match thanks to a second half penalty. Although the second half didn't quite live up to the frenetic pace of the first, one couldn't help but feel one of the teams would be able to win it in the four minutes of injury time. However, it wasn't to be, and Arsenal had to depart with just one point, falling behind Chelsea into third place on goal differential.

The match started with a bang, Theo Walcott sprinting through onto Cesc Febregas' delightful through pass to fire Arsenal into the lead, but that goal stood for maybe eighty seconds before Spurs right back Vedran Corluka found Rafael van der Vaart in the Arsenal area, who promptly dispatched a first time shot past Wojciech Szczesny at his near post. Then within five minutes the visitors were ahead ahead after Samir Nasri played a one-two with Abou Diaby before smashing a long-range shot between Michael Dawson's legs, surprising Heurelhio Gomes to make it 2-1.

The two sides exchanged goals before halftime, with Robin van Persie taking advantage (eventually) of some terrible defending by Michael Dawson following a cross by Bacary Sagna. Tom Huddlestone replied with a gorgeous half-volley after a Spurs corner was only half-cleared, and the first half ended at 3-2, one of the more impressive 45 minutes of football you're likely to encounter. The only negative, as far as entertainment was concerned, was an injury to Gareth Bale which would eventually force the PFA Player of the Year to be substituted at the interval.

The second half was always going to disappoint compared to the first, but it was actually fairly good on its own merits. It was a lot less open and there was just the one goal, but there was a decent amount of chances for both teams and the final minutes were incredibly tense. Tottenham equalised on a penalty earned by Lennon after the substitute was upended by Szczesny, van der Vaart smashing home to make it 3-3. That's how it would stay, despite a series of chances from both sides with the game level, and despite the excellent match both sides are going to be disappointed by the result. Tottenham are now two points behind Manchester City in fifth place, while Arsenal fall behind Chelsea on goal difference in second place.

Yep, there's our goal. We hadn't had a penalty yet, so Wojciech Szczesny decides to make things even more interesting by taking down Aaron Lennon as the substitute went a-racing into the Arsenal area down the left. Bacary Sagna's whereabouts are when Lennon was making that run are unknown, and that left Szczesny but with little choice but to cut down the little winger and give away a stonewall penalty in the process. Rafael van der Vaart stepped up to crash it home, leveling the scores at White Hart Lane.

So, it's now Tottenham Hotspur 3-3 Arsenal, although the Gunners have attempted to mount a rather interesting reply with Heurelhio Gomes called into action a couple of times and making at least one brilliant save since the equaliser. There are about fifteen minutes left for one of these teams to find the winner they both need. The draw does nobody any good, so they'll both be going for it.

Injured PFA Player of the Year Gareth Bale is off for Aaron Lennon and Younes Kaboul is also substituted as Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp makes two of his three allotted changes at half time. There's not much else going on yet, although in the context of the match 'not much else' means that tonnes of stuff has happened but a goal has not. There've been a few interesting scoring chances, mostly for the hosts, but nothing particularly close - and no, a Robin van Persie goal ruled out for offside doesn't count.

That's not to say we haven't had plenty of entertainment. Spurs are doing a good job attacking, Arsenal are defending by the collective skins of their teeth, and there've been a few heart in mouth moments for Arsenal fans as their lead - and place in second place - has been threatened, but they're still looking like they can go ahead and get another goal whenever they want. Maybe they should go ahead and do that.

It's been all easy for Chelsea so far at home, and though they were expected to win against Birmingham, Chelsea fans might be wondering why they don't play with Florent Malouda and Solomon Kalou on either side of Didier Drogba every week. The front three has been spectacular so far, and Chelsea very much deserve their 2-0 halftime lead.

Malouda scored the opener just three minutes into the match, and it was a fantastic team effort to set up the tap-in. John Terry started the move with a great long ball out of the back to Paulo Ferreria, who swung in a near post cross. Didier Drogba flicked a header behind him, setting up Malouda for an easy finish.

The second goal came from Solomon Kalou, and it was an absolute screamer from about 25 yards away from goal. Once again, Didier Drogba was the man who provided the assist.

The front three of Chelsea combined beautifully throughout the half, and there's no reason their great play shouldn't continue into the second half. Carlo Ancelotti's seriously gotten it right with his team selection today.

It's 3-2 Arsenal at halftime at White Hart Lane, and considering the events of the first few minutes it's a surprise that there haven't been more goals. Theo Walcott got the visitors off to a perfect start when he latched onto Cesc Fabregas' brilliant through ball and steered home expertly past Heurelhio Gomes, but Rafael van der Vaart cancelled that goal out almost instantly, slamming a first-time effort inside Wojciech Szczesny's near post.

Samir Nasri's surprise low shot from outside the penalty area beat Gomes (making the score 2-1 in the 12th minute), and Arsenal would go on to extend their lead after terrible defending allowed Robin van Persie to beat Gomes on the second attempt late in the half. However, Tottenham weren't going to let a two-goal deficit stand for long, and Tom Huddlestone made it 3-2 after a Spurs corner was only half cleared, lashing home from outside the box.

I think it's probably fair to say that this was one of the more eventful halves of the Premier League season. Remember, this is a must-win for both teams as they go for the title (Arsenal) or a Champions League spot (Tottenham). Expect more goals in the second half.

Yep, that was that goal that was coming. It's now 3-1 Arsenal thanks to Robin van Persie, although it nearly wasn't - Huerelhio Gomes was really unlucky to concede there. The ball was on the right with with Arsenal right back Bacary Sagna, and although the delivery was poor Tottenham Hotspur centre half Michael Dawson opted to nod in the direction of Theo Walcott for some reason. Walcott duly swung in another cross, finding van Persie, but his first-time effort was kept out in spectacular fashion by Gomes. Unfortunately for Tottenham the rebound fell to the Dutch striker and he absolutely buried it.

More bad news for Spurs - Gareth Bale is down injured after a collision with goalkeeper Wojiech Szczesney. The two have already clashed in the match, but this time it looks a little more serious. A stretcher has appeared, but Bale's just about managed to haul himself off the pitch under his own power. Hopefully he's ok. 

While Spurs were down to ten men, we had another goal, this one from Tom Huddlestone, who picked up a loosely-cleared corner kick and rifled it home. Rafael van der Vaart had to leap acrobaticallly over the ball on its way to the back of the net, but Szczesny was totally screened and had no chance of making a save. Oh, and Gareth Bale is back on. Yay!

Somehow Abou Diaby has escaped without a booking for a disgusting challenge on little Luka Modric that could easily have done the Tottehan Hotspur midfielder some serious damage. Yes, he got the ball, but no, getting the ball and then maiming the player in possession is not legal in any sense of the term. At the very least, Diaby should have been shown a yellow card.

Anyway we've gone about fifteen minutes without a goal, at that's mainly the fault of Theo Walcott, who is absolutely destroying Benoit Assou-Ekotto out on the Arsenal right. This time he gets away from his man and buzzes the edge of Heurelhio Gomes's far post with a low drive from the edge of the area. Seconds earlier, Roman Pavlyuchenko somehow contrived to miss a Peter Crouch knockdown entirely - he had the chance to head the ball in from four yards out and didn't even bother jumping, which was a little bit odd. Anyway, it probably won't be long before another goal comes along.

Prediction: This game will end 38938928092-28792782021. We're all of twelve minutes into the match and Samir Nasri has made it 2-1 Arsenal against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, immediately after a promising-looking Spurs attack, no less. The French winger picked up the ball in a central position and opted for a surprise snap-shot through centre back Michael Dawson's legs, which ended up fooling Heurelhio Gomes and finding the back of the net. It's a crazy start to the match, which has seen each side attack like crazy people.

I'm not entirely sure what will happen next - Arsenal are on the attack again but that didn't stop Tottenham from scoring their equaliser last time. One thing's for sure though: This isn't going to be a boring game. If you have any way of turning it on and watching it, I would strongly advise that you go ahead and do just that.

That goal could be huge (Edit: Or maybe not!) from Theo Walcott, and it's terrible defending from Tottenham Hotspur to let him in. Abou Diaby has the ball in the midfield, but is pressed backwards and has to push a pass to Alex Song. However, the press draws the Spurs midfield out of position, leaving Cesc Fabregas open higher up the pitch. Song finds him with a quick pass, and the captain turns William Gallas, spots Walcott's run, and sends him through on Heurelhio Gomes' goal. It's an easy finish to put the visitors 1-0 ahead.

However, that lead lasted all of a minute, after Rafael van der Vaart latched onto a long ball over the top of the Arsenal defence and hit a first time shot past Wojciech Szczesny at his near post despite being put under pressure by Diaby. So that's 1-1, and this game is already crazy. Neat!

Sit down, Fernando Torres! The lineups are out for the English Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Birmingham City, and Torres, along with Nicolas Anelka, is sitting. Carlo Ancelotti has opted for a 4-3-3 setup with Solomon Kalou and Florent Malouda on either side of Didier Drogba. Ramires sits as well, as John Obi Mikel comes in and Michael Essien presumably plays a more attacking role than usual.

For most of his time as the Birmingham City manager, Alex McLeish has been a 4-4-2 type of guy, but he's opted to play an extra man in the midfield today, situating Alexander Hleb as an attacking midfielder behind a lone striker, Cameron Jerome.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Petr Cech; Ashley Cole, John Terry, David Luiz, Paulo Ferreira; John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard, Michael Essien; Florent Malouda, Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou

Substitutes: Ross Turnbull, Branislav Ivanovic, Ryan Bertrand, Yuri Zhirkov,Yossi Benayoun, Nicolas Anelka, Fernando Torres.

Birmingham City (4-4-1-1): Ben Foster; Stuart Parnaby, Liam Ridgewell,Roger Johnson, Stephen Carr; Keith Fahey, Barry Ferguson, Craig Gardner, Sebastian Larsson; Alexander Hleb; Cameron Jerome.

Substitutes: Colin Doyle, Lee Bowyer, Kevin Phillips, David Bentley, Matt Derbyshire, Jean Beausejour, Curtis Davies.

It's crunch time at White Hart Lane. Arsenal's title chase is on life support after yet another waste of points at the Emirates on Sunday, while Tottenham Hotspur will be desperately looking to reclaim their place in the Champions League from Manchester City, who are all of a sudden looking fairly vulnerable in fourth spot. With both teams needing all three points from the match, all signs point to a pulsating fixture. It's the North London Derby - would we expect any different?

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): Heurelhio Gomes; Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Michael Dawson, William Gallas, Vedran Corluka; Gareth Bale, Tom Huddlestone, Luka Modric, Rafael van der Vaart; Roman Pavlyuchenko, Peter Crouch.

Substitutes: Carlo Cudicini, Younes Kaboul, Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe, Sebastien Bassong, Sandro, Steven Pienaar.

Arsenal (4-3-3): Wojciech Szczesny; Gael Clichy, Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou, Bacary Sagna; Alex Song, Abou Diaby, Cesc Fabregas; Samir Nasri, Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott.

Substitutes: Jens Lehmann, Aaron Ramsey, Sebastian Squillaci, Jack Wilshere, Andrei Arshavin, Kieran Gibbs, Nicklas Bendtner.

Manchester United dropped two potentially vital points at St. James' Park after being held to a draw by Newcastle United. Despite there being several opportunities to break the deadlock in both halves - not to mention no less than four contentious decisions for referee Lee Probert to make regarding penalties and diving - neither team could break through in the end, ultimately leaving the match without a goal.

The visitors unquestionably had the best chances of the match. Within the first two minutes Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez was denied a chance at a tap-in by the strong left arm of Newcastle goalie Tim Krul, and it wasn't long after that that the Dutchman was called into action again to keep out Wayne Rooney's angled drive. The best was saved for last, however, when Patrice Evra surged into the United box and picked out Ryan Giggs in space. Giggs, twelve yards out and unmarked, proceeded to sidefoot the ball roughly half an inch wide of Krul's right post.

Newcastle had a couple of chances from open play - a Jonas Gutierrez shot blocked by Chris Smalling probably the most notable - but their biggest opportunity came when Anderson came in and swiped at Peter Lovenkrand's leg as the striker was backing away from the goal. It probably should have been a penalty, but Probert waved play on, much to the Dane's disgust.

That wasn't the only penalty appeal turned down on the night. The first half saw Nani execute a comedic flop after being brushed by Jonas Gutierrez and United appealed twice more in the second, the first coming when the impressive Chiek Tiote appeared to block the even more impressive Rooney's long-range shot with a raise right arm and the second coming after Chicarito acrobatically fell over the outstretched leg of Danny Simpson, receiving a yellow card for his efforts.

All in all then, it was an interesting match despite there being no goals. Ultimately, United can afford to drop points. They still have a seven point cushion on second place Arsenal, although both the Gunners and third place Chelsea have a game in hand on the leaders, so if they win out they'll secure the title no matter what. However, with a visit to the Emirates on the cards next, a draw wasn't the best result for Sir Alex Ferguson and company. I'm sure Alan Pardew will be delighted with the point though.

Well the game had a crazy start, so why not have a crazy finish. Here is what's happened since the four minutes of injury time began:

• Javier Hernandez booked for a dive in the penalty area.
• Nile Ranger sent through by Stephen Ireland only to get the ball stuck between his feet and challenged before he could shoot.
• Javier Hernandez put through by Ryan Giggs only to get the ball stuck between his feet and challenged before he could shoot.
• Wayne Rooney heading wide when wide open with the last kick (uh, head?) of the game.

So yeah, that was exciting. Ultimately, though, it was all rather pointless - the game has ended 0-0 despite an enterprising display from both sides. Credit for Newcastle for starting out as an attacking force before transitioning to a stubborn defence when they realised a scoreless draw was possible, and Manchester United weren't quite good enough to force it through.

Hey, a Manchester United corner. I haven't seen enough of these this half. It's not a particularly interesting one - Nani picked it up short and was confronted by Jonas Gutierrez doing his best impression of 'defender with a seizure', which apparently prompted the winger to smack the ball wide of Tim Krul's goal. Anyway, I mention the corner only because it was the result of a very dangerous free kick 20 yards out and just left of the 'D' that United spent a full minute lining up only for Ryan Giggs to smack it straight into the wall. Hence, corner.

Michael Owen has now been introduced for Nani, which has resulted in a rather loud and overwhelming chorus of boos for the ex-Newcastle player. I agree, Newcastle fans. How dare someone leave when out of contract? That sort of behaviour is simply reprehensible, right? You've earned those boos, Michael Owen you monster.

I guess I should also mention that Newcastle aren't attacking anymore and it's still 0-0. Manchester United, meanwhile, are going all out, and you can't really blame them.

How on earth are Manchester United not 1-0 up? The visitors break into the penalty box and left back Patrick Evra threaded a perfect pass into the middle of the area, where Ryan Giggs was waiting in penalty of space after Fabricio Coloccini lunged for the ball and missed. The Welsh legend had the whole goal to aim at with his first time shot, but incredibly, he miss entirely, grazing Tim Krul's right-hand post in the process (not to mention giving the Dutch goalkeeper a heart attack in the process).

Both teams are making subsitutions now - Nile Ranger and Stephen Ireland are on for Newcastle, while Antonio Valencia has replaced Anderson, who would have given away a penalty earlier if not for some very generous officiating by Lee Probert. Ireland nearly made an immediate impact, flashing a snapshot just wide within seconds of coming on. We'll have to see whether the other newcomers can do the same.

Peter Lovenkrands has been denied a clear penalty for Newcastle at St. James' Park, and that's going to be a major talking point after the game. The striker was being shepharded around the edge of the box by Patrice Evra and Chris Smalling only for Anderson to race back and give him a fairly hefty kick to the left shin, getting none of the ball in the progress. It would have been a stupid, pointless penalty to give away, but it was still a penalty nonetheless. Mistake from Lee Probert there, I think.

Still, it's a good sign from Newcastle, who've since engineered a couple of good opportunities, from which Lovenkrands has nodded over the crossbar twice. It's certainly better than the early stages of the half, during which all of the play was taking place in and around Tim Krul's penalty area. That said, Javier Hernandez gave them a scare just now, only just failing to latch onto the end of a long ball forward before Krul managed to come out and claim.

Either Manchester United are having some extra set piece training during the break or the second half has kicked off. I'm not quite sure which of those is going on, because they have been taking corners for the last five minutes now and are showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. They're mostly not doing a very good job of taking those corners, mind you - they're just multiplying into more corners.

Newcastle have finally seen some of the ball after that six minute long corner flurry, but they're not really doing a very good job keeping it. Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez are absolutely terrorising the Newcastle defence, and the hosts aren't going to be able to keep United out unless they settle down and actually retain possession for any length of time. This is a far cry from the first half, when Alan Pardew's side looked confident, assured, and capable of taking the visitors apart at will.

Despite a series of chances for both sides we're going into halftime at St. James' Park looking at a 0-0 draw. For the first twenty minutes or some Newcastle were well on top against Manchester United, with Joey Barton in particular wasting a massive chance early on to test Edwin van der Sar. That's not to say that the hosts aren't still getting some opportunities to attack - they are - but they're no longer keeping their guests penned up to the point they were in the early going.

Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez have both had excellent chances to open the scoring only to be denied by Tim Krul - Rooney in particular has been excellent throughout the match, and his relatively free role is letting him drift into space with the home side more or less totally unable to pick him up. There are goals in this one, though - both sides' attacks are playing too well to see this game end scoreless.

5/10 to Manchester United's Nani for his dive in the box after being brushed by Jonas Gutierrez, which fortunately Lee Probert was having absolutely none of. It was a bit of a disgraceful effort ant the Portuguese winger should probably have seen yellow for that, but since there was no penalty given justice was (mostly) served. Wayne Rooney is throwing his weight around too, but in a rather more controlled way than his tumbling teammate, scything through Newcastle's defence almost at will.

United have generated a series of almost-chances, which is to sad that sliding defenders have just about done enough to prevent them from getting into shooting positions in the penalty area. Newcastle are playing almost exclusively on the break now, which is more or less what was expected while heading into the match. Incidentally, Chris Smalling and John O'Shea are both looking like major weaknesses in that United back line - the hosts will be looking to exploit that through Jonas Gutierrez's trickery on the left flank.

Newcastle's centre backs will be relieved that Wayne Rooney hasn't put that chance away. Despite a lengthy spell of Newcastle pressure, Manchester United were able to push forward, with Javier Hernandez twisting away from Fabricio Coloccini before releasing the ball for Rooney, who blew up Mike Williamson before fizzing an angled drive over Tim Krul's crossbar. Krul himself helped get the ball to safety, but the referee didn't notice and gave Newcastle the goal kick. Close one for the hosts though.

After maybe fifteen minutes of Newcastle bossing the game (they really should have scored, so panicked was the United defence), United are back in this a little bit. Still, they need a win here and they're not really playing like they're going to get it, at least for now. Newcastle, for their part, will be slightly worried that for all of their early dominance they've failed to force Edwin van der Sar into any significant save.

Early action at St James' Park and that man Wayne Rooney is in the middle of it, to absolutely nobody's surprise. Patrive Evra pings a long ball out to the left flank for the England striker to run onto. Rooney raced clear of the defence, and sent in a sizzling cross for Javier Hernandez making a run into the box, who managed to make contact only for goalkeeper Tim Krul to stick out a big right arm to prevent what looked like a certain goal. That was very close to a perfect start for Manchester United.

But Newcastle have responded strongly - this might be an excellent United forward line but their defence is being repeatedly carved open. Joey Barton, Jonas Gutierrez, and most recently Shola Ameobi have all been presented with excellent scoring opportunies, Newcastle have won three corners, and only a couple of crucial blocks have prevented the home side going ahead. It's a pretty open game so far - hopefully that will continue.