Premier League: Tottenham 2 Arsenal 1

Tottenham triumphed 2-1 over rivals Arsenal in a fast-paced and enthralling north London derby on Sunday.

Aaron Ramsey cancelled out Rafael van der Vaart’s opener, before Kyle Walker struck from long-range to give Spurs the three points in front of their home fans at White Hart Lane.

Tottenham started the brightest, and Wojciech Szczesny was called into action after five minutes when Alex Song gave the ball away softly, allowing Rafael van der Vaart to feed Scott Parker, whose shot was tame and duly saved.

At the end of a fast-paced but chance-thin opening 20 minutes, Gareth Bale stole Ramsey’s attempted past and skipped 60 yards in the blink of an eye before pulling it back to van der Vaart on the edge of the area, but the Dutchman’s unorthodox finish went innocuously over the bar.

The Gunners should have had the lead, though, when van Persie centred to Gervinho after a strong run into the box, only for the Ivorian to scuff his shot wide of the mark.

With the half drawing to a close, Tottenham broke with Defoe through the middle, who fed Adebayor.

The Togolese then lofted a ball just through Arsenal’s high defensive line for van der Vaart, who chested down and evaded his marker to deliver a calm, left-footed finish into the far corner.

Arsenal were incensed and insisted van der Vaart had used his arm to control the pass, and, given that he had been booked earlier in the half for clumsily felling Kieran Gibbs, should technically have received a second yellow for his celebration, during which he ran into the crowd.

After the break, both Bale and Luka Modric had sights of goal but Arsenal made a vital early strike.

Coming forward after an initial attack was rebuffed, Alex Song pushed down the left.

Afforded acres of space by the Spurs defenders, he had an easy time of squaring the ball across the face of goal, with Ramsey waiting to tap it in for the equaliser.

Spurs were taken aback but should have retaken the lead a few minutes later when van der Vaart sent Adebayor one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but Szczesny was equal to the task and fended off the striker weak effort.

With just over twenty minutes remaining, Tottenham recaptured their advantage out of nowhere when a poor clearance out of the Arsenal box found Kyle Walker rushing forward, and the right-back took a first-time snap-shot from outside the box. It caught Szczesny by surprise and sailed under his outstretched arms to delight the home fans.

The visitors kept plugging away but found no openings, and White Hart Lane exploded in celebration as the final whistle confirmed Spurs’ bragging rights.