Berbatov sparkles against an untidy, stuttering display by Arsenal but despite their dominance, Spurs couldn’t capitalise to take a lead into the second leg of the Carling semi. Here’s my notes on tonight’s Emirates clash…

Arsenal 1 Spurs 1

Arsenal will be thankful for a lucky break which saw them escape defeat here. Wallcott’s goal was clearly fortunate while Spurs had prolonged spells of dominance and had the Arsenal defence at see at times, particularly in the first-half.

Berbatov issued a reminder of his class once again, demonstrating some gorgeous touches including one deft volleyed pass to help set up the Spurs goal from Jenas. In contrast Van Persie returned from a lengthy absence for Arsenal and looked weary.

There were no real surprises from Wenger, except perhaps the recall of Van Persie who played up alongside Bendtner. The pair didn’t look effective though, making similar runs and while the Dutchman showed some nice touches, he looked woefully short of match sharpness in general. He seems very unlikely to shift the Eduardo/Adebayor partnership against Birmingham at the weekend.

Elsewhere Wenger took a look at his two options at centre back while Toure is away and won’t have been very impressed. Neither Senderos or Djourou looked secure in a very shaky Arsenal backline. Djourou was eventually subbed at half-time – Senderos, skipper for the night, looks the hot favourite to come in at the weekend then.

The big talking point in the Spurs side was the relegation of Robinson to the bench with Cerny coming in between the sticks. Robinson was of course deemed to have carried Hunt’s cross over the line in the FA Cup tie against Reading last weekend and clearly Ramos doesn’t fancy him long-term. Cerny seems likely to keep his place at Chelsea at the weekend.

There were few surprises elsewhere with O’Hara preferred to Boateng in midfield to replace the suspended Huddlestone. King came back into the defence to partner Dawson and Chimbonda and Lee kept their places at full-back despite the speculation that they are both on their way. Berbatov and Keane were again paired up front with Defoe on the bench under a cloud of speculation himself.

It’s likely to be a similar Spurs lineup at Chelsea then, although tonight’s scorer, Jenas, is banned so Boateng is likely to come into midfield.

Injuries and Suspensions
Arsenal suffered a couple of knocks – one to Sagna which he ran off. The other to Wallcott which he didn’t. He was subbed in the last minute and will be a doubt for the weekend fixture with Birmingham.