Baptista rescues Arsenal after Wenger gambles all on his youngsters

Tottenham 2 Arsenal 2

Arsene Wenger saluted the resolve of his young side after they came back from two goals down to level their Carling Cup semi-final with Tottenham.

Arsenal have the edge going into next week's second leg at the Emirates Stadium and, with two away goals in the bag courtesy of Julio Baptista, who also put through his own goal, look favourites to meet Chelsea in the final on February 25.

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Wenger said: "They have shown great quality but also great heart and great resilience.

"Many teams would have crumbled at 2-0 down but we kept going and came back. It is great for the confidence of the young players to know that away from home they can come back after a shaky start.

"We were surprised by Tottenham's pace and quality in the first half. We looked vulnerable defensively but we always looked like we could score goals."

Arsenal started slowly as Dimitar Berbatov and a Baptista own goal gave Tottenham a 2-0 lead after 21 minutes.

The hostile home crowd were jubilant but Brazilian Baptista struck twice after the break to equalise.

Arsenal's shadow team won 6-3 at Liverpool in the quarter-final and their manager hopes to stick with them in next Wednesday's second leg.

Wenger added: "At Anfield, everything went for us but here everything went against us. It was a good test of heart and mental strength, which is a very important quality at this level.

"The tie is 50-50 but we feel strong at the Emirates. I will try to play most of the young players because they have done well. They have shown they are ready for the final."

Midfielder Alexander Hleb limped out of the game with hamstring injury which could rule him out for some time, while striker Jeremie Aliadiere came off after a kick on his back.

Spurs lost Berbatov with a groin strain in the first half. Arsenal were snarled up in heavy London traffic on the way to the game so the kickoff was delayed by 15 minutes.

But Wenger refused to blame the late arrival for their sluggish start.

He said: "We had problems with traffic and had no help from the police to get in. It took us one hour and 45 minutes to get here."

Spurs manager Martin Jol said: "We are very disappointed but we have only ourselves to blame. It did not help losing Berbatov but we were still at 2-0 when he came off. We gave back control of the game, dropped off and conceded goals.

"We have achieved something to be in the semi-final and we are making little steps but to win something you have to be mentally strong.

"Everybody knows we are better at home than away but we will go there and give it a go."