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Spurs rout Gunners, make final

Tottenham Hotspur players celebrate after beating Arsenal in London on Tuesday. PHOTO: EPA

Juande Ramos has needed less than three months to turn Tottenham from a candidate for relegation into a cup finalist.

The Spanish coach replaced the popular Martin Jol in October with Spurs near the bottom of the Premier League, and on Tuesday led the team to a 5-1 rout of north London rivals Arsenal and a place in English soccer's League Cup final.

Jermaine Jenas, Nicklas Bendtner's own-goal, Robbie Keane and Aaron Lennon put Spurs 4-0 ahead before Emmanuel Adebayor replied for Arsenal.

Steed Malbranque then added a goal in injury time to give Spurs a 6-2 aggregate semi-final victory that ended a record 21-match winless streak against their fiercest rivals.

The end of Arsenal's nine-year unbeaten run against Spurs means three-time League Cup winner Tottenham will play either defending champion Chelsea or Everton in the Feb. 24 final at Wembley.

The other two teams were to play the second leg of their semi-final yesterday, with Chelsea leading 2-1 from their home match.

"To reach Wembley is a fantastic achievement, but more so for the fans," Ramos said. "It's been a long time since they've had the flavor of a final, so that makes it much more satisfying."

So satisfying that the home fans were dancing and singing outside White Hart Lane stadium more than an hour after the match.

But Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insisted the size of defeat, the Gunners' largest to Tottenham since 1983, was unwarranted.

"The score is high and very brutal but does not reflect what we saw on the pitch," Wenger said. "They defend like mad and they catch us on the break."

Hampered by injuries, Arsenal made three changes from the first leg, drafting the experienced William Gallas, striker Bendtner and first-team fullback Bacary Sagna to boost a young team that could only draw their home leg 1-1 two weeks ago.

But Spurs were too good on the day.

"To beat a team like Arsenal you have to play well," Ramos said. "The team did not make any mistakes and was perfect in every area."
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