Mikel Arteta explained the significance of success for **Arsenal**against **Tottenham**this weekend.
Winning the **North London**derby 4-1, the Gunners are six points clear at the top of the Premier League, and shook off the frustrations from their 2-2 draw against **Sunderland**with conviction.
To top it off, the absence of Gabriel Magalhaes was not a sore miss thanks to the work of his replacement, and at the other end of the pitch, the hosts welcomed back one of their attackers.
“Well, it was a great day. I enjoyed every minute of it, from the preparation, since the moment that the players came back from international duty. I sensed a feeling that they wanted to be together again, that they were ready for a fight, they were ready for a big week, and the preparation was top.
“Then you have to deliver it, obviously, with the energy that our people brought to the stadium. It made a huge difference. I think individually the players were exceptional from minute one.
“They were super dominant in almost every phase of the play. So, yeah, a day to remember. You don't win a derby 4-1 every time, and hopefully we made a lot of Arsenal supporters very proud and happy.
“Especially after the Sunderland game, at the end we lost two points in the last kick of the game, basically. And we went to the international break with that bitter feeling.
“We didn't concede any goals and we had 10 straight wins, and we wanted to get back to earning that momentum again and the London derby and today's performance. It was a good start.
“We are doing really well, we've been really consistent, and that's it. I mean, when you look at the results, whether they win or lose, the difference in the scoreline and actually what happens in games is really small. We know that. We need players back immediately today.
“We've got Noni Madueke back on the pitch, which is great, but we're still missing a lot, a lot of important players, and we're going to need all of them. The good news is we lost big Gabi, which is a massive blow, and Piero Hincapie comes in, and I think he was fantastic from the beginning.”