Spurs battle back to stun rivals Arsenal at Emirates

Tottenham staged a stunning fightback from two goals down to clinch a 3-2 win over bitter rivals Arsenal in Saturday’s north London derby.

Harry Redknapp’s side trailed to goals from Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh at half-time at the Emirates Stadium.

But Gareth Bale reduced the deficit for the visitors, who equalised through Rafael van der Vaart’s penalty before Younes Kaboul headed the winner with five minutes left to give Spurs their first victory at Arsenal since May 1993.

The temperature of an already combustible clash was raised before kick-off when Nasri carried out his pre-match threat not to shake the hand of Spurs captain William Gallas following a long-running feud between the French internationals.

Nasri will have taken extra delight in opening the scoring in the ninth minute as he raced onto Cesc Fabregas’s pass, punished the indecision of Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes and clipped the ball into the net from a tight angle.

Arsene Wenger’s team increased their lead in the 27th minute when Andrey Arshavin crossed for Morocco striker Chamakh to flick his shot past Gomes from close range.

But Bale gave Tottenham hope when he scored in the 50th minute after sloppy Arsenal defending.

And Redknapp’s team were level in the 67th minute when van der Vaart stroked home a penalty after referee Phil Dowd ruled Fabregas had handled in the area after raising his arm to block a free-kick.

Tottenham snatched the winner in the 85th minute as Kaboul rose highest to glance a header past Lukasz Fabianki from van der Vaart’s free-kick.