Adebayor has Scored for Tottenham and Arsenal in North London Derby

Adebayor only second player to score for both clubs in NLD

Emmanuel Adebayor became only the second player to score for both Tottenham and Arsenal in the north London derby at the Emirates Stadium last February. His penalty put Spurs two up but Tottenham celebrations were premature as Arsenal recovered to score five without reply. Adebayor made a habit of scoring for Arsenal against Tottenham while he was with them and even continued that trait when Tottenham met his former club Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final tie in 2010. Adebayor scored twice in the match in Spain as Real took a commanding four goal advantage in the first leg match.

Jimmy Robertson

Jimmy Robertson

The first player to score for both clubs in the north London derby was Jimmy Robertson who joined Spurs from St Mirren in 1963 and was a member of Spurs FA Cup winning team in 1967, scoring in the Final against Chelsea. His goal for Spurs against Arsenal was in the 3-1 home win in October, 1964, the other goals scored by Jimmy Greaves and Frank Saul.

He was transferred to Arsenal in October, 1968, in exchange for David Jenkins – not one of manager Bill Nicholson’s best transfer deals. Jenkins made only a few appearances for Spurs while Robertson played for Arsenal for two seasons before moving on to Ipswich Town and Stoke City. His goal for Arsenal against Spurs was at Highbury in September, 1969 when Spurs won 3-2 with goals from Alan Gilzean, John Pratt and Martin Chivers.

Emmanuel Adebayor

Emmanuel Adebayor’s goal, on his twenty eighth birthday, from the penalty spot after a foul on Gareth Bale gave Spurs a two goal lead after 34 minutes but unfortunately Arsenal were level before the interval and over ran Spurs in the second half to record a 5 – 2 victory. Adebayor, who was with Tottenham on a season long loan deal from Manchester City, prior to signing permanently during the summer, had spent three years with Arsenal before joining Manchester City in 2009. He made over 100 League appearances for the club, scoring 46 goals. Adebayor made a habit of scoring against Spurs for Arsenal being their joint top scorer with eight goals in League and Cup matches.

Andre Villas-Boas is hoping that the rivalry between the two clubs will inspire Adebayor against his former team. Last weekend Adebayor started his first League match of the season against another of his former clubs, Manchester City, and it certainly appeared to motivate him as he proved a great nuisance to the City defenders, especially in the first half. Villas-Boas commenting ahead of this weekend’s derby match said,

"“I suggest to make the most of it we can use individuals’ motivations and that is why we used Adebayor also in the game versus City last week. These are things that you have to count on. But hopefully it can have an positive effect but it can have a negative effect. So last year he scored from the penalty spot and had a good game and this is the type of revolt and motivation for matches like this.”"

How will Spurs get om against Arsenal? Vote on HotspurHQ Poll: www.hotspurhq.com