Arsenal demolish Tottenham 4-1 in the North London Derby, with Viktor Gyökeres and Eberechi Eze both scoring twice to keep Mikel Arteta’s side top of the Premier League and extend their dominant recent record over Spurs.
Arsenal produced a ruthless North London Derby performance to beat Tottenham 4-1 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Viktor Gyökeres and Eberechi Eze each scoring twice as Mikel Arteta’s side stayed top of the Premier League.
The game was jolted by two early stoppages as technical problems with the officials’ communication equipment forced play to be halted, drawing frustration inside the ground and criticism from broadcasters. Once the football took over, Arsenal imposed themselves and rarely let Spurs off the hook.
The opening goal arrived in 32 minutes. Bukayo Saka worked space down the right and pulled the ball back for Eze, whose first touch looped up awkwardly but allowed him to smash in from close range for his fourth North London Derby goal of the season.
Tottenham’s response was immediate. Just 24 seconds after the restart, Declan Rice was dispossessed on the edge of his own area and Randal Kolo Muani drove at goal before drilling low past David Raya to level at 1-1, punishing a rare lapse from one of Arsenal’s most reliable performers.
Half-time arrived with the scores level, but the game's pattern changed decisively straight after the break. Within two minutes of the restart, Jurrien Timber stepped in from right-back and fizzed a pass into Gyökeres on the edge of the box. The striker’s first touch set the ball and his second sent a fierce shot beyond Guglielmo Vicario to restore Arsenal’s lead at 2-1 with his most important league goal since arriving in the summer.
Another brief delay followed due to further issues with the officials’ communications, but when play resumed, Arsenal only tightened their grip. On 61 minutes, their pressure told again. Eze pressed Radu Drăgușin high, Gyökeres cleverly back-heeled Saka into space and, after a scramble involving Micky van de Ven and Vicario, the loose ball broke for Eze to thump into an empty net for 3-1 and his fifth goal of the season against Spurs alone.
To top off the performance, a flowing Arsenal move down the left ended with Gyökeres receiving the ball inside the area and lashing high into the net for his second of the afternoon and Arsenal’s fourth, confirmed officially as the 90+4-minute goal that sealed a derby thrashing.
The result leaves Arsenal five points clear at the top of the Premier League, albeit having played a game more than Manchester City, and extends a run of just one defeat in their last ten league North London derbies. Spurs, by contrast, remain 16th and only a few points above the relegation zone, with Tudor facing an immediate battle to find both a clear structure and some momentum from an injury-hit squad.