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Adebayor (left) is congratulated after scoring Arsenal's equaliser

Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice as Arsenal came from behind to beat north London rivals Tottenham.

Gareth Bale curled in a 15th minute free-kick to put Spurs ahead before Paul Robinson twice denied Adebayor.

Abou Diaby hit the bar as Arsenal pushed on, then Dimitar Berbatov was thwarted by a last-ditch Kolo Toure tackle and Adebayor blazed over.

Arsenal equalised when Adebayor nodded in before Cesc Fabregas' drive put them ahead and Adebayor volleyed a third.

But for long spells it had seemed Arsenal's profligate finishing would lead to Spurs beating their neighbours for the first time in 17 attempts - particularly as there was no such wastefulness from Bale, who took advantage of Manuel Almunia's poor positioning to whip a free-kick into the bottom corner.

But then time and again, Spurs' defence - which included fit-again Michael Dawson for the first time this season - was cut open by the visitors' quick, incisive passing.

As well as the two Adebayor efforts - the first tipped over by Robinson and the second beaten away by the England keeper - Arsenal's Alex Hleb also wasted a good first-half chance.

Fabregas, influential throughout, stormed through the midfield before releasing Adebayor, whose clever lay-off found Hleb in a central position.

But his shot was parried by a well-positioned Robinson, whose confidence had clearly been restored after his two clean sheets for England.

As the half wore on, though, Tottenham - who had only managed a Berbatov header as their other effort on goal, aside from Bale's success - began to settle.

Striker Berbatov floated a teasing cross for Robbie Keane but the Republic of Ireland star was judged to have handled the ball as he tried to control it.

After the break, Berbatov should have doubled Spurs' lead when he raced through on goal and rounded a stranded Almunia, who had left his area, but the Bulgarian attempted to trick Toure rather than shoot into an unguarded net and was dispossessed.

Yet if that was a bad miss, Adebayor quickly edged ahead in the miss-of-the-match stakes as he blasted over from eight yards following a great run and pull-back by Bacary Sagna.

The game then entered a period of niggling challenges, flared tempers and players squaring up to each other.

Perhaps that unsettled Tottenham - and fired up Arsenal.

And when Fabregas' free-kick came in from the right - after the Spaniard had been fouled by Steed Malbranque - Adebayor finally demonstrated he has a striker's touch by powerfully heading home.

The hosts responded well and Berbatov had a shot cleared off the line by Gael Clichy.

But Tottenham suffered a crushing blow when Fabregas set his aim from distance and crashed in a fierce strike to put Arsenal ahead for the first time.

Spurs then had a great chance to even things up again but substitute Darren Bent scuffed his shot horribly wide when clear through on goal.

And, remarkably, there was still time for Arsenal to score a third goal when Adebayor flipped up the ball on the edge of the box, swivelled and crashed a magnificent volley into the top corner.

BBC news