22 minutes ago
2
Up in the north-east, Pep Guardiola was muttering angrily in the ear of Bruno Guimaraes on Saturday and getting in the face of a television cameraman as Manchester City fell to defeat against Newcastle United.
On Merseyside, Arne Slot, who must have felt as if he were untouchable last season, watched his Liverpool side humiliated by Nottingham Forest, heard fans calling for him to be sacked and pulled out of an appearance at an awards dinner on Sunday night.
At the North London derby, Mikel Arteta sailed on serenely. No angst here. No uncertainty. No missteps. No stumble. Just a fine hat-trick for Eberechi Eze, who Arsenal snatched from Spurs in the summer, and the sight of the Arsenal boss enveloped in a series of joyous hugs as each of his team’s four goals hit the back of the Tottenham net.
This was a big psychological hurdle that Arsenal cleared at The Emirates as their attempt to win their first league title for 22 years gathers pace. They took on their bitter rivals without Gabriel, Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres, the spine of their team, and they outclassed them.
If there was apprehension about how they might cope without Gabriel, in particular, the swashbuckling style of this victory, dispelled it. Even without three of their best players, they swatted Spurs aside. They are now six points clear of Chelsea at the top and seven points clear of City. Liverpool are so far back they are out of sight.
Eberechi Eze was the star as Arsenal romped to a dominant 4-1 win against rivals Spurs
The Englishman netted a stellar hat-trick on his North London Derby debut at the Emirates
Mikel Arteta, whose side are now six points clear at the top of the league, rejoiced after the final whistle
From start to finish, this was a humiliation for Tottenham. In fact, it started before kick-off. Arsenal’s fans raised a giant tifo behind one of the goals that accorded pride of place to Sol Campbell, the former Spurs captain who defected to Highbury, and became one of their famous Invincibles.
So it made it even sweeter for Arsenal fans that it was Eze who was the architect of the defeat, too, rifling in a trio of superb goals. It rubbed Spurs’ noses in it just that little bit more because they could have signed him from Crystal Palace if they had not dithered in the summer.
And Eze is one of their own. He was part of the Arsenal academy before the club released him when he was 13. He always harboured a dream of returning and this performance must have exceeded all those dreams. He seemed so happy he motioned putting his hand over his mouth to hide laughter. The level of his player has already stepped up a gear since his move.
Spurs were abject. The honeymoon period of their manager Thomas Frank is definitely over. They never looked close to being able to compete with their neighbours. They were, if anything, lucky to escape with a 4-1 defeat.
Their players had walked out on to the pitch for a pre-match stroll wearing dark suits and open-necked white shirts. There were uncomfortable shades of Liverpool at the 1996 FA Cup Final, which led to plenty of hilarity amid the Arsenal supporters.
The same lesson applied to Spurs as it did to that Liverpool team. If you are going to make a fashion statement before a big match, you better win it. Instead, they looked like men who had staggered straight out of the casino. They span the roulette wheel, they put it all on black but it landed on red.
Arsenal should have been ahead after two minutes. Saka drifted inside and played a short ball to Eberechi Eze who conjured a brilliant, audacious flick over the heads of the Arsenal defence and into the path of Declan Rice.
Rice met it sweetly on the volley but his shot was straight at Guglielmo Vicario, who saved well with his legs and the ball was scrambled out for a corner. On the touchline, Arteta stood with his head in his hands.
It was a humiliation ritual for Thomas Frank's Spurs from near enough the beginning of the game
Tottenham were abject. The honeymoon period of their manager Frank is definitely over
Richarlison offered some hope with a second-half stunner bit it was nowhere near enough
The pace was frantic and fierce. Van de Ven crunched through Eze right in front of the Arsenal bench. Richarlison upended Jurrien Timber soon afterwards. Arteta danced a jig of rage in his coaching area. Referee Michael Oliver urged calm.
The initial fury subsided into a series of blotchy skirmishes, leavened only by occasional moments of inspiration like Saka’s sublime nutmeg of Van de Ven that was rudely curtailed by Bentancur’s pull on Saka’s shirt. Saka bent the resulting free kick towards the top corner but Vicario was equal to it.
But then, nine minutes before half-time, Arsenal got the goal they deserved. Mikel Merino, who was in the side as a replacement goalscorer for the injured Viktor Gyokeres, turned provider instead and lifted a clever chip over the Spurs defence to meet the run of Trossard.
Trossard controlled the ball with his back to goal and then spun. Just as he got his shot away, Van de Ven made a desperate effort to block it. But he only succeeded in changing the shot’s direction and taking it past Vicario so that it trickled into the bottom corner.
Five minutes later, Arsenal were further ahead. Spurs failed to clear a cross from the right, Rice played a clever short pass to Eze and Eze sidestepped two challenges before forcing a venomous shot through Van de Ven’s legs and fizzing into the net.
The pace of the game was frantic and fierce from the off - as you'd expect from a derby
Leandro Trossard deservedly made it 1-0 with a deflected effort past Vicario in the first-half
It only took 36 seconds of the second half for Eze to make the game safe. He got the ball on the edge of the Spurs area, took a couple of steps to left and steered another technically assured finish past Vicario. This time, it was with his left foot. Spurs were reeling.
They clawed back a little hope with a sublime response 10 minutes later. Joao Palhinha dispossessed Martin Zubimendi with a clean tackle just inside the Arsenal half and Richarlison seized on it and, from 35 yards, floated a perfect chip over David Raya, who back-pedalled as fast as he could but was unable to regain his ground.
It was Spurs’ first shot on target and it spread caution in Arsenal’s ranks. Suddenly, where there had previously been anticipation of a rout, now there was concern that the visitors might mount an unlikely comeback. Arsenal’s expansive play dried up.
But it came back. Fourteen minutes from the end, Trossard wriggled free on the edge of the area and squared a ball to Eze. Eze let it ran and sat Destiny Udogie down on his backside. That game him time to measure his shot and he curled it beyond Vicario for his hat-trick.
