LONDON (AP) — Juande Ramos has needed less than three months to turn Tottenham from a candidate for relegation into cup finalist.

The Spanish coach replaced the popular Martin Jol in October with Spurs near the bottom of the Premier League, and yesterday led the team to a 5-1 rout of north London rival Arsenal and a place in English soccer's League Cup final.

Jermaine Jenas, Nicklas Bendtner's own-goal, Robbie Keane and Aaron Lennon put Spurs 4-0 ahead before Emmanuel Adebayor replied for Arsenal.

Steed Malbranque then added a goal in injury time to give Spurs a 6-2 aggregate semi-final victory that ended a record 21-match winless streak against its fiercest rival.

The end of Arsenal's nine-year unbeaten run against Spurs means three-time League Cup winner Tottenham will play either defending champion Chelsea or Everton in the February 24 final at Wembley.

The other two teams play the second leg of their semi-final today, with Chelsea leading 2-1 from its home match.

"To reach Wembley is a fantastic achievement, but more so for the fans," Ramos said. "It's been a long time since they've had the flavor of a final, so that makes it much more satisfying."

So satisfying that the home fans were dancing and singing outside White Hart Lane stadium more than an hour after the match.

But Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insisted the size of defeat, the Gunners' largest to Tottenham since 1983, was unwarranted.

"The score is high and very brutal but does not reflect what we saw on the pitch," Wenger said. "They defend like mad and they catch us on the break."

Hampered by injuries, Arsenal made three changes from the first leg, drafting the experienced William Gallas, striker Bendtner and first-team fullback Bacary Sagna to boost a young team that could only draw its home leg 1-1 two weeks ago.

But Ramos has lifted Tottenham to mid-table in the Premier League and saw his team lead in the third minute through Jenas.

The midfielder picked up the ball from Dimitar Berbatov about 40 yards from goal and drove through the Arsenal defense to shoot from the edge of the area, across goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and in off the post.

Whenever Arsenal countered, usually down the left through Abou Diaby or Armand Traore, Lennon and Keane backtracked to slow the move.

Jenas and the defensive Teemu Tainio, who was Tottenham's only change from the first leg, harried an Arsenal midfield that contained Cesc Fabregas after the 18th minute.

Fabregas replaced the injured Denilson but was unable to replicate the form that has brought him 11 goals this season.

Bendtner had a shot over the bar and Arsenal forced a couple of corners, but Keane collected a pass down the line from Malbranque at the other end and wrestled past a defender before his shot from a narrow angle was blocked on the line.

Justin Hoyte dragged down Keane on the left side in the 27th, and Jenas curled a right-footed free kick toward Michael Dawson in the area, only for Bendtner to head into the top corner of his own goal.

Knowing that they wasted a two-goal lead against Arsenal before being eliminated at the same stage last season, Spurs pressed for more goals and Berbatov hit the post after breaking in alone.

Arsenal seemed set to make the most of its escape when Tottenham goalkeeper Radek Cerny had to tip a header over the bar and Diaby, jeered by the home fans for falling in the area after a tackle by Pascal Chimbonda, shot wide from edge of area and over the bar a minute later.

Jenas shot into the side netting in first-half injury time and, when Arsenal started the second period by creating a constant pressure, it seemed Tottenham would again regret its missed chances.

But from Spurs' first attack of the half, Lennon looped a pass forward to Keane, who hit a shot through Fabianski's hands for his 101st club goal.

Arsenal responded immediately with Bendtner hitting an overhead kick onto the bar and Fabregas forcing Cerny to save the rebound.

It was nearly 4-0 in the 50th when Fabianski let a shot by Malbranque slip through his hands but managed to recover to smother the midfielder's follow from the rebound.

But Tottenham managed another goal 10 minutes later from a counterattack spurred by Chimbonda passing wide to Lennon, who let the ball run to Keane.

The striker passed back to the speedy winger, and he shot under Fabianski to send the majority of the 35,979 fans wild.

With the game safe, Ramos was able to remove Berbatov and Keane in the 63rd to rest them for an FA Cup match at Manchester United on Sunday.

Wenger inserted strikers Adebayor and Eduardo da Silva at the same time as Ramos made his changes.

Adebayor lashed a 70th-minute shot into the top corner for a consolation, but was unable to create any more openings and even had to be separated from Bendtner after an altercation with his teammate.

Wenger slumped into his seat dejected, while Ramos continued to cajole his team from the touchline and, after consulting bilingual assistant Gus Poyet, the Spaniard responded to the Tottenham fans' chants for a wave.

The fans then were cheering again and celebrating their first final of any kind since 2002 when Malbranque scored from close range after a cross by Jenas.

"To beat a team like Arsenal you have to play well," Ramos said. "The team did not make any mistakes and was perfect in every area."