Arsenal invincible Lauren claims his Tottenham-supporting English teacher inspired him to ensure he never lost a north London derby… as he recalls ‘very special’ feeling of winning the title at White Hart Lane

Former Arsenal favorite Lauren has claimed his Spurs backing English teacher was the inspiration for his impressive record against north London rivals Tottenham.

The Cameroon international played ten times against Spurs during his time in England and never came out on the losing side.

Lauren even scored a late North London derby winner from the penalty spot in the 2001-02 season as Arsenal won the league and FA Cup double under Arsene Wenger.

The defender was already well aware of the importance of the match at that time, thanks in no small part to the English teacher he was assigned after joining from Mallorca in 2000.

He told Talking sport: ‘The person who really pushed me to play well against Tottenham and beat Tottenham was my English teacher.

Lauren never lost a North London derby against Spurs in ten North London derbies and even scored a late winner in the 2001–02 season

‘She was a big Tottenham fan, so by the time we had English lessons she would always say, ‘now we’re going to beat you’, I said, ‘Okay, we’ll see’, so we had that kind of argument between us .

“So she was the one who pushed me forward to play well in those games.”

Lauren, who spent a total of seven seasons at Arsenal, revealed that the teacher was not the only source of inspiration for games against Spurs.

Although he said no one at the club ‘specifically’ emphasized the importance of the match to him, it became clear which sides had to be beaten.

He said: ‘When you arrive at Arsenal they generally start talking to you about which teams you should win against.

‘And that was Tottenham, Man United, Chelsea, West Ham, all the London derbies, but especially against Tottenham.

“They introduced me to some previous history and you know you have to win that game.”

One of Arsenal’s most famous encounters with Tottenham came in April 2004, when the Gunners secured the Premier League title at the home of their most hated rivals.

The match finished 2-2 at White Hart Lane after Spurs equalized after being two goals down thanks to a late goal from Robbie Keane.

His biggest moment came when Arsenal secured the Premier League title at White Hart Lane in 2004

But it was not enough to deny Wenger’s side the title as they recorded an unbeaten ‘invincible’ league campaign.

However, Lauren recalled that some Tottenham players failed to realize that they had failed to deny their hated rivals their moment of glory.

He said: ‘Some Tottenham players scored (Keane equalised) and thought we wouldn’t win the league.

“So when the referee blew the whistle we just couldn’t contain our emotions and happiness, it was something very special.”