Tottenham Hotspur striker, Emmanuel Adebayor, has apologised to everyone connected to the club, after he was dismissed 17 minutes into the North London derby yesterday.
The Togolese had already scored in the 10th minute, before Webb showed him a straight red card for a reckless lunge on Santi Cazorla. It proved to be a crucial turning point in the match, as the Gunners found their feet and conducted wave after wave of attack.
“I completely understand my sending off changed the entire outcome of the game and I whole-heartedly apologise to my team-mates, the manager and all the Tottenham fans for letting them down,” he told the Sun. “But I must stress that my challenge was not malicious in any way whatsoever. I was genuinely trying to win the ball and probably stretched my foot out a bit too far in the heat of the moment.
“Nobody could have felt more devastated than me as I walked off the pitch. I so much wanted to help Tottenham win and thought for a moment that I’d actually set that win up when I scored, but football changes so quickly. One minute a hero, the next a villain.”
His manager, Andre Villas-Boas, has however insisted that the 28-year-old, has no reason to apologise, as he does not blame him.
“The red card did not change the running of the game,” Villas-Boas said. “We understand that it could have been any other player on any other day. This is football. Challenges like this happen. I don’t think he was too wound up. We make the most out of players’ motivations.
“Ade was in full control of his emotions and in a north-London derby, you want players to be strong and brave. Ade did not go in to harm Cazorla. Cazorla is quick, he reacted and took the ball away before Ade’s feet met his foot.
“We felt at half-time [at 3-1 down], that if we could cut the margin to one goal … the stadium wasn’t with Arsenal, there was nervousness around … we felt that we could have a chance. At 4-2, we had chances for 4-3.
“Yes, we suffered but there were chances that, had we converted and brought the score to only one goal difference, it could have gone our way. We were very, very good from the first minute to the last, with 11 men and with 10 men. We were in control from the first minute to the last minute.”
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