Arsenal tormented Tottenham in the North London derby, winning 4-1. Ebelesi Eze and Victor Gokeres both made double appearances.
The victory gives the Gunners a five-point lead over Manchester City, who have a game in hand, following a 2-2 draw with Wolves in midweek, with a performance full of purpose and aggression.
Gary Neville said: “This result is exactly what Mikel Arteta was trying to do to calm down the noise following the results of the last few games.
Arsenal won 4-1 in their first meeting of the season, with Eze scoring three of his four goals, and he once again made one of Spurs’ best saves, opening the scoring with a hook from close range. It was his first goal since the famous treble in November.
Arsenal were in full control, but 24 seconds after the restart Declan Rice held the ball and Randall Kolo Muani nipped in to score emphatically, putting Spurs back almost instantly.
Gokeres restored Arsenal’s lead, capping off a perfect performance from the striker before Eze popped out again and smashed in the rebound to make it 3-1.
Spurs thought they had leveled the game at 2-2 by the time Kolo Muani fired home and Eze converted his second goal, but referee Peter Banks ruled it out for a choke for pushing Gabriel, a decision that was not overturned by VAR.
With Arsenal closing in on three points, Gokeres scored his second goal in stoppage time, making the victory even brighter.
With their rivals just four points clear of the relegation zone, away fans taunted Spurs fans with chants of “back down, back down” and “we’ll never play them again”.
“Arsenal are in a different league to Spurs, but that could be the case next season too!”
Jamie Redknapp of Sky Sports:
“They were great today, I felt the Arsenal side were in control.
“It was a complete mismatch. They were in different leagues, but Arsenal were so classy. They were so much better than Tottenham, it was like two different leagues.
“If Tottenham aren’t careful they could end up in a different league. They can’t keep performing like this.
“Gokeres led the line and Eze was great. It was a great performance. Arsenal were great and they were too good for Tottenham.”
