Harry Redknapp Dismayed By Tottenham Hotspur's Defending Following Arsenal Defeat

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp was left ruing two minutes of madness for a 3-0 defeat by Arsenal in the north London derby at the Emirates Stadium.

The hosts struck twice in a matter of seconds through Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas shortly before half-time to set themselves on the way to victory, and Redknapp admits he was stunned by the sudden deficit.

"On 42 minutes I felt the crowd were getting onto them, they weren't creating anything worth talking about, and I felt very comfortable," said Redknapp, as quoted by BBC Sport. 

"I'm looking up at the clock with three minutes to half-time and thinking we've done our job. I could see us certainly getting a big result. But it all turned upside-down.

"We switched off from a throw-in, then gave them the ball back, we're 2-0 down and the game's over. We committed suicide, really."

Redknapp was also upset by the manner in which Van Persie was allowed to add to his own personal tally in the second half. But the Spurs manager insists his team are still capable of mounting a serious challenge to the established elite in the Premier League.

"All three goals were scandalous, there wasn't a good goal amongst them," added Redknapp.

"Giving Fabregas the ball from the kick-off [after the first goal] was Sunday morning football.

"We've not hit a blip - we got beaten by Arsenal today but we've got 19 points and we'll still be right up there at the end of the season."

Akshay Mirchandani, Goal.com UK