Eberechi Eze scored twice as Arsenal restored their lead at the top of the Premier League to five points with a 3-1 win at Tottenham.
Needing a win to restore confidence and cancel out Man City’s win against Newcastle yesterday, Arsenal started on the front foot, as Viktor Gyokeres fired narrowly wide after a nice run.
Their momentum was halted when the refereeing team took several minutes to sort out a technical issue, and Tottenham and new manager Igor Tudor used the break to regain composure.
However, Arsenal broke the deadlock half hour. Eze, who nearly joined Tottenham in the summer instead, took control of a Bukayo Saka cross and volleyed past Gugliemo Vicario.
The Gunners got complacent all too quickly as Randal Kolo Muani dispossessed Declan Rice before firing past David Raya to equalise after 23 seconds.
Once again, Arsenal were quick out of the blocks after half-time, but this time made it count as Gyokeres arrowed in a tidy finish from the edge of the box to regain the lead.
Spurs thought they were level once more when Kolo Muani smashed home from close range, but his effort was ruled out due to a shove on Gabriel in the buildup.
Five minutes later, Arsenal put the game to bed. Saka broke in behind and, despite being tackled by Micky van de Ven, the ball fell straight to Eze, who tapped home into an empty net.
Shellshocked Spurs rarely looked like getting back into the game after that, but nearly set up a late grandstand finish when Richarlison’s shot was clawed off the line by Raya.
Gyokeres added the icing on the cake right at the death, curling home to inflict Tottenham’s largest defeat at home to Arsenal in the Premier League era.
Arsenal take back their cushion at the top of the Premier League, but City can cut the gap to two if they win their game in hand, and the two sides still have to meet at the Etihad in April.
Tottenham, meanwhile, continue their slide down the table and are just four points clear of the relegation zone.
