Goodbye Dignity, Hello Champions League Qualifying Round

Spurs 3-3 Arsenal

Chelsea are into second after the latest in a growing line of collapses.

3-1 up not long before half time, but there was never much point celebrating.

Spurs came back to win a point, and nobody was too surprised. It would have been more surprising to see Arsenal negotiate the rest of the game with a bit of authority.

THINGS STARTED WELL when Walcott burst through onto a vintage Fabregas pass. Corluka had no chance of catching Walcott and he slipped a tidy finish, Henry-style, into the bottom corner.

As against Liverpool, Arsenal showed that they could not hold it together even for a couple of minutes. After the whirlwind start, one might have hoped that Arsenal had turned a corner, but instead they immediately served notice that anarchy still reigned.

Corluka saw Van der Vaart make a clever run off the typically dopey Diaby, played a good pass infield, and the Dutchman was in behind the Arsenal defence. Diaby could not even bother throwing his lazy arse in front of the shot, which flew past Szczesny and in at his near post. 1-1.

Arsenal got their noses in front again. Tippy tappy tippy tappy BANG. A bout of short passing around the Spurs area ended with Nasri taking a potshot, which clipped off Dawson and scipped past an unsighted Gomes.

Close to the interval, a mistake by Gallas from a right wing cross saw the ball break to Walcott. He stood up a lovely cross for Van Persie, whose initial header was brilliantly clawed away by Gomes. The rebound dropped for Van Persie again, and he lashed it into the roof of the net.

Of course, for the team that can blow a 4-0 lead, 3-1 is a narrow advantage.

Minutes later, Szczesny rushed out to stop Bale, who was injured in the collision. This could perhaps have signalled that Arsenal's luck was turning, only for the fact that, moments later, Tom Huddlestone found the net with a left-footed piledriver from long range. Half time: 3-2.

Throughout the second half, there was never a sense that Spurs were thumping on the door, but they didn't need to. Arsenal's attacking was less convincing, and the first decent spell they had in the half ended with Spurs equalising.

Lennon was sent racing in behind Sagna, and Szczesny rushed out rashly, and clearly fouled the winger. Van der Vaart buried the penalty, and for the second time this season, and the third in three seasons, Arsenal had blown a two-goal lead against their local rivals.

Although Fabregas drove a decent effort straight at Gomes, if anyone deserved to win the game, it was Tottenham. Szczesny made a couple of decent stops and, for the most part, Arsenal were hanging on. When Wenger made changes, he was fairly cautious, keeping three central midfielders on the pitch. Despite that emphasis on possession, Arsenal's passing game went to pieces, and they spent a lot of the second half launching hopeful, ineffective long balls.

Chelsea won at home to Birmingham and they are now 2nd. The crumbliest, flakiest team in the world continues its slow, sad decline of 2011. Since the Carling Cup collapse, they have beaten two teams- Leyton Orient and Blackpool.

Is the Gulf of North London Closing?

May not seem the most suitable time to pose the question- Spurs league form has been patchy at best. This has generally been put down to their participation in the Champions League, but Harry Redknapp will have to learn how to juggle the dual demands of league and European competition, because, assuming Spurs can't win the Champions League, it does not look like they'll be in it next season.

But, to be fair, despite their frailties, Spurs are threatening Arsenal's supposed status as the most entertaining team in England. As was seen during the World Cup, the prevailing trend of 4-5-1 formations can lead to a lot of negative football, but Spurs' version of it has a striker supported by not only Van Der Vaart, but two fliers on the flanks, and the usual central duo of Modric and Huddlestone is more attack-minded than pretty much any I can think of- Huddlestone does sit, but he's more a quarter-back, a poor man's Xabi Alonso, than a Makalele-style terrier (stupid analogy- Huddlestone is clearly more a St. Bernard than a terrier).

That said, away to Arsenal there is a possibility that the strangely out-of-favour Wilson Palacios will be called on to add a bit more steel.

Arsenal have a strange record at home this season. Some of the wins have been less than routine, and then there were the woeful defeats to Newcastle and West Brom. Of course, Spurs ought to be a different proposition. They don't really have the personnel to play cat and mouse football. Both teams tend to play open football, and each will be confident of hurting the other. Signs are that it could be a thrilling encounter, although a kick-off time of around noon Saturday often leads to yawns of boredom, a poor atmosphere and a listless game.

With the injury crisis that has hit Chelsea, and United still struggling to convince, a win this weekend might have me eating my own pessimistic words. Could Arsenal emerge as leading contenders thanks to the flaws of the top sides? I remember asking similar questions last season, and that's the problem really. People seem to expect Arsenal to succeed almost despite themselves. It is only a fortnight since they capitulated so feebly to Newcastle and that shouldn't be forgotten just because Chelsea lost a couple of games. Ok, the Blues and Man Utd don't look as formidable as previous years, but that was the case last year aswell. Arsenal have to improve to take advantage. If United or Chelsea throw it away, Arsenal still have to catch it.

And watch out for that shnake Gallas...