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Baptista goes from villain to hero

Tottenham Hotspur's Pascal Chimbonda, left, grapples with Arsenal's Mathieu Flamini during their English League Cup semi-final soccer match at White Hart Lane, London, on Wednesday. PHOTO: AP

Julio Baptista scored two goals for Arsenal after conceding an own-goal in a 2-2 draw with Tottenham in the English League Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

After Dimitar Berbatov gave Spurs a 12th-minute lead at White Hart Lane, Baptista, who scored four goals in the Gunners' 6-3 victory at Liverpool in the previous round, made it 2-0 when he deflected a free kick into his own net in the 20th.

But the Brazilian, who is on a season's loan from Real Madrid, scored in the 64th and 77th minutes to capture a draw, and the Gunners are now favorites for the second leg at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

The winners will face Chelsea in the Feb. 25 final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

Against a virtually full-strength Tottenham lineup, Wenger kept faith with the youngsters who had played in the previous three rounds. Thierry Henry, Jens Lehmann, Gilberto Silva and Tomas Rosicky weren't even on the bench while Robin van Persie was ruled out with a foot injury.

Martin Jol's team took the lead in the 12th minute when Defoe crossed from the right and Berbatov took advantage of confusion between Gunners goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and defender Kolo Toure. The Bulgarian was left unchallenged as he headed home from only 5m.

Berbatov injured his groin in the act of scoring and went off five minutes later. But it was 2-0 in the 20th when Tom Huddlestone curled in a free kick from the left. Michael Dawson skipped over the ball which struck Baptista and deflected inside the near post.

Arsenal came back in the second half and Dawson headed the ball off the line in the 61st when goalkeeper Paul Robinson ran out and failed to reach a free kick from Cesc Fabregas.

Two minutes later Baptista collected a low cross from Emmanuel Eboue and, after stumbling, got up to retrieve the ball and shoot home from 12m.

The Brazilian made it 2-2 in the 77th when Justin Hoyte beat the Spurs offside trap with a break down the right. The fullback crossed low for Baptista to arrive unmarked in the middle and slide the ball home.
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