Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham

Arsenal rediscovered their attacking flair with 5-2 victory over 10-man Tottenham in a captivating north London derby that hinged on a first-half red card shown to Emmanuel Adebayor.Adebayor put Tottenham in front in the 10th minute but the former Arsenal turned from hero to zero eight minutes later as he was sent-off for a dangerous challenge on Santi Cazorla.From that point on, Arsenal took complete control and were 3-1 up by half-time thanks to goals from Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud.Santi Cazorla, the Gunners’ Spanish magician, scored the fourth on the hour mark and Theo Walcott added the fifth in the closing stages either side of a Gareth Bale strike that will offer little consolation to Tottenham supporters.The final score mirrors the same fixture last season, the turning point in Arsenal’s campaign, and takes the Gunners up to sixth in the Premier League, two points ahead of Spurs.The boos that have greeted recent Arsenal performances here were replaced by a sound of ‘Ole’ as Arsene Wenger’s side toyed with their great rivals, a renewed optimism sweeping around the red half of north London.It all started so well for Tottenham as they controlled the early exchanges and took the lead in the 10th minute. Jermain Defoe raced on to a long ball as the Arsenal defence stood statuesque and after his shot was saved by Wojciech Szczesny, Adebayor scrambled in the rebound.But Spurs’ afternoon fell apart eight minutes later