Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze, Saka, Trossard, Gyokeres
Subs: Kepa, Mosquera, Odegaard, Jesus, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly
Arsenal extended their league at the top of the Premier League to five points after beating Spurs 4-1 (again) at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, thanks to braces from Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres.
Mikel Arteta made two changes from the side that drew against Wolves last time out, with Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard coming in for Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke.
Martin Odegaard was also deemed fit enough for the bench after picking up an injury against Brentford, although Ben White and Kai Havertz both missed out.
FIRST HALF
Arsenal started brightly in a hostile stadium and had two early sights of goal when Viktor Gyokeres saw a header blocked in front of goal by Dragusin, before he flashed another effort wide after cutting inside Dragusin – missing the post by inches with Vicario beaten.
There was a long and frustrating pause in the game while the officials sorted out their comms, which did a good job of killing some of that early momentum and quietened the stadium with Arsenal clearly on top.
Despite the five-minute delay, Arteta’s men continued where they left off and William Saliba had another chance but headed wide after Gyokeres did well to cut Bukayo Saka’s corner back across goal, before Trossard blazed over after Simons gave the ball away dangerously in his own third.
Spurs did edge their way back into the game though and were close to capitalising on some sloppy Arsenal errors, most notably from Timber who gave the ball away and was then booked after pulling back Sarr.
But the pressure eventually told and Arsenal broke the deadlock when Saka did well to escape Sarr down the right and cut the ball back through a sea of bodies, where Eberechi Eze controlled and volleyed brilliantly past Vicario. 0-1.
That was his fourth goal against Spurs this season and his first shot on target (in the Premier League) since scoring that hat-trick against them back in November.
Having worked so hard to go in front – and with Spurs right where they want them – the Gunners conceded just 24 seconds after the restart when Declan Rice lost the ball to Kolo Muani trying some fancy footwork, before the Frenchman cut inside the box and drilled a low effort past Raya. 1-1.
That was the eighth time since Christmas that Arteta’s men have conceded within 12 minutes of scoring – proving that they are clearly incapable of shaking these bad habits.
Arsenal did start to push again after that shock equaliser and Vicario was needed at his best to stop Saka who was played through beautifully by Piero Hincapie, before Trossard bobbled one inches wide after showing good feet in the box.
There was another golden chance for Rice to play Gyokeres through after he found himself totally free in the middle of the pitch, but he got his pass wrong and it hit the big striker before Spurs were able to clean up.
This half almost felt like a microcosm of Arsenal’s season in that they dominate play, create chances, eventually take one of those chances and gift the opposition a way back into the game. You can almost copy and paste the same match report every week.
SECOND HALF
After another comms delay before the second half, we were underway and Raya was sharp to deny Simons from distance before Gyokeres restored the Gunners’ lead with a booming strike from the edge of the area, which flashed past Vicario and into the far corner. 1-2.
It was a thunderous effort from Gyokeres who was almost transported back to his Sporting days with that goal, but we all know how powerful his shooting can be when given the opportunity.
Moments later, there was another chance for Eze who did brilliantly to skip past Palhinha on the left hand side before driving into the area, but his effort was blocked by Dragusin with a sea of white shirts between him and the goal.
Spurs thought they’d equalised again through Kolo Muani who controlled and finished well past Raya but there was a clear push on Gabriel in the build-up and the goal was ruled out.
With 55 minutes on the clock and the game becoming increasingly stretched, Arteta reacted by bringing Cristhian Mosquera on for a visibly knackered Timber for more support at right back.
But Arsenal continued to press and after Vicario saved from Saka after a lovely one-two with Eze, it was that man again – Eze – who added a third just after the hour mark.
After he did well to pounce on a loose pass in midfield, the midfielder played a quick one-two with Gyokeres before finding Saka in behind who was stopped well by Van de Ven, but the ball fell back to Eze for an easy finish into an empty net. 1-3.
There were more chances for Arsenal with Trossard shooting wide from the edge of the area, before Saka found the side-netting from a tight angle after trying to give Vicario the eyes.
Spurs did make changes with Solanke and Tel coming on, although Arteta responded by introducing Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli who replaced Eze and Trossard for more energy and control in the final third.
The game looked like it was fizzling out with Arsenal managing the closing stages well, but they needed Raya at his cat-like best to scramble back and claw a Richarlison flick off the line after Spence did well to fire in a cross.
But their race was run and as the stadium emptied, Gyokeres made it four after Odegaard played him through, the Swede brushed off Gray and smashed a finish into the far corner beyond Vicario for the second time. 1-4.
This was a brilliant response from the Gunners after their disaster of a performance at Wolves, and even despite the first half set back they were by far the better team and took care of Spurs with ruthless efficiency.
Arteta will be delighted with the collective response and that’s now five North London derby wins in a row for this team, who can hopefully use this as a shot in the arm moving forward. Mind the gap.