Gilberto believes that Arsenal’s impressive record in North London derbies could be affecting Tottenham. On Wednesday night, Arsène Wenger’s 20-game unbeaten run against the ‘old enemy’ was within 11 minutes of being shattered. Even Arsenal’s equaliser had an element of good fortune as Lee Young-Pyo’s clearance hit Theo Walcott and bobbled into the net. The Brazilian admitted his side ‘escaped’ with only a one-goal deficit in the first half. But, he added, that late equaliser keeps the tie alive for the second leg. “Maybe [the run] does affect them,” said the 31-year-old. “It is hard when you face a team and have not beaten them for a long time. You do not know what is going to happen, especially if we score first.
“It is important for us in these types of games to be mentally strong because, if you let things happen, they can take advantage of it. “The only thing on our mind when we play them is that it will be hard, even though we have not lost for some time.
“Every game is tough and if we do not do our game properly, it can become difficult for us. Things have worked well for us [in the past] because we have done the job properly.” But it so nearly went wrong on Wednesday. Arsenal were dominated towards the end of the opening period and few were surprised to see them go behind eight minutes before the interval.
“In the first half, they created so many good chances and could have killed the game,” said Gilberto. “We escaped a second or even third goal.
“In the second half, we did not give them much space. We got a goal from Walcott and we are still alive in the competition. “It was not the result we wanted, we know that but, in the circumstances, being 1-0 down against a good side [it was OK]. We now have the second leg to decide our future. “It will be a difficult game at White Hart Lane but we know what we have to do to get through.”
“It is important for us in these types of games to be mentally strong because, if you let things happen, they can take advantage of it. “The only thing on our mind when we play them is that it will be hard, even though we have not lost for some time.
“Every game is tough and if we do not do our game properly, it can become difficult for us. Things have worked well for us [in the past] because we have done the job properly.” But it so nearly went wrong on Wednesday. Arsenal were dominated towards the end of the opening period and few were surprised to see them go behind eight minutes before the interval.
“In the first half, they created so many good chances and could have killed the game,” said Gilberto. “We escaped a second or even third goal.
“In the second half, we did not give them much space. We got a goal from Walcott and we are still alive in the competition. “It was not the result we wanted, we know that but, in the circumstances, being 1-0 down against a good side [it was OK]. We now have the second leg to decide our future. “It will be a difficult game at White Hart Lane but we know what we have to do to get through.”
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