Kevin McCarra at White Hart Lane
Tottenham 5 Arsenal 1:A place in the League Cup final is the very least of it for Tottenham Hotspur. Even a first victory in the north London derby since 1999 is a curio for the statisticians. How can that compare with the surging joy of flattening Arsenal, of tearing Arsene Wenger's team apart and savouring a rout rather than the accursed moral victory in which Tottenham have too often traded?
This was just Wenger's second loss to Arsenal since he came to England in 1996, but it was also Tottenham greatest margin of victory over Arsenal in 25 years. Such was the supremacy over the course of the semi-final second leg that Dmitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Aaron Lennon could all be substituted.
The vanquished Arsenal were not at full strength but even the captain William Gallas, who was in the line-up, was as overwhelmed as any stripling.
Against a team as habitually poised as Arsenal, most opponents realise they will have to launch a campaign of disruptiveness. Tottenham caused about as much upheaval as was conceivable by taking an immediate lead through Jermaine Jenas. It was more debatable at the time if they could count on luck when one of the opposition's players was soon injured. Denilson gave way to Cesc Fabregas, perhaps the best performer in Wenger's squad.
The Arsenal substitutes were, with the exception of the little-known goalkeeper Vito Mannone, a throng of stars, but this was a night when reputations were in peril. Fabregas, with his side a goal down, then saw the deficit expand.
Tottenham opened with a tempo and confidence that revealed vulnerability in Arsenal. With three minutes gone Jenas had taken a lay-off from Dimitar Berbatov, spotted the space vacated by backpedalling defenders and burst into the penalty area on the right to fire home off the inside of the far post.
This was a superficial resemblance to the early exchanges in the first leg, where Spurs had exposed the callowness of this version of Arsenal. It was not to be penalised properly in that 1-1 draw. There seemed to be a difference here that stemmed from both the impassioned support and the conviction of the team.
Much as Arsenal sought to pass the ball with urgency, Tottenham's focus did not become blurred in the first half. They were convinced then that they could break the visitors' defence and did so once more in the 27th minute. Jenas flighted a taxing free-kick from the left and Nicklas Bendtner, under grave pressure from Michael Dawson, headed into his own net.
This, of course, had all been seen before. A year ago, in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, Tottenham had also led by two goals before being dragged back to level terms. They could not quite shed the burden of dismay and were beaten in the return. Nonetheless, the parallels would have seemed compelling only to the most doom-ridden of the regulars at the Lane.
On that occasion, the collapse at home had been caused by an early injury to the dazzling Berbatov, who had been terrorising Arsenal. That was not his function here. Tottenham should have held a crushing 3-0 advantage after half an hour, but the Bulgarian faltered. Jenas chested the ball to Berbatov, who saw his finish rebound off a post.
Wenger was also being compelled to address the weaknesses Ramos's team had so deftly exposed, but he waited until his team were four down before he sent on the big guns, Emmanuel Adebayor and Eduardo da Silva, and by then it was too late.
Robbie Keane made it three after picking up a fine through ball from Berbatov and advancing to the edge of the area and shooting in to all but secure their place. Aaron Lennon knocked in the fourth from close range after a pass by Keane and although Adebayor pulled one back with a curled right-foot shot from 20 yards, Spurs were never in danger and Steed Malbranque's goal in injury time underlined their superiority. - Guardian Service
TOTTENHAM:Cerny, Chimbonda, Dawson, King, Lee, Lennon (Huddlestone 74), Jenas, Tainio, Malbranque, Keane (Boateng 64), Berbatov (Defoe 64). Subs not used: Robinson, O'Hara. Booked: Malbranque, Jenas.
ARSENAL:Fabianski, Sagna, Justin Hoyte, Gallas, Traore (Eduardo 65), Hleb, Denilson (Fabregas 18), Silva, Diaby, Walcott (Adebayor 65), Bendtner. Subs not used: Mannone, Flamini. Booked: Justin Hoyte, Adebayor.
Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).