Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham: Gunners claim north London derby bragging rights as Mikel Arteta resurgence continues

Arsenal claimed north London bragging rights over Tottenham after an emphatic first-half performance saw them seal an impressive derby victory at the Emirates.

Emile Smith Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka were all on target as the Gunners recorded successive wins over their fierce rivals for the first time since 2013/14 and made it a hat-trick of consecutive victories as their resurgence continues under Mikel Arteta following a dreadful start to the season.

Heung-min Son netted a lifeline for Spurs late on and Lucas Moura hit the crossbar in stoppage time, but it was not enough to spark a comeback as Nuno Espirito Santo endured a miserable first north London derby experience and saw his side slump to a third staight top-flight loss. They have conceded three times in each of those defeats.

Arsenal are now level on points with their rivals having been bottom of the table heading into the September international break, rising above them into 10th on goal difference.

Arsenal needed just 12 minutes to break the deadlock after a promising start on Sunday, with Smith Rowe sweeping home Saka’s pull-back after positive work from Martin Odegaard.

Thomas Partey tested Hugo Lloris and Aubameyang fired over for the confident Gunners, but Spurs began to come back into the contest as Son forced a decent save from Aaron Ramsdale at his near post and the returning Japhet Tanganga headed over from the subsequent corner.

However, Tottenham were then completely undone by a sublime Arsenal counter-attack shortly before the half-hour mark, with the hosts again breaking with purpose after a risky pass from Ramsdale into Granit Xhaka, who fended off Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg amid claims for a foul.

Kieran Tierney then picked out Aubameyang, who freed Smith Rowe with an eye-catching flick.

Smith Rowe then charged into the box before teeing up his captain, who fired beyond Lloris and into the far corner for his 50th goal at the Emirates.

Tottenham were now all at sea and Saka piled on more misery five minutes later, also picking out the bottom corner after another fine counter that came after Kane had given the ball away and then done more harm than good in his attempts to win it back.

It was the first time Tottenham had conceded three or more goals in three successive Premier League games since 2003.

The visitors were shellshocked and Kane headed wide their best chance of the first half from a corner after being left unmarked.

Arsenal were keen to pick up where they left off after the interval, with Partey shooting wide and Gabriel denied a penalty after falling too easily under pressure from Davinson Sanchez.

Tottenham also had spot-kick appeals waved away after Ben White’s trip on Kane, who tested new Arsenal no1 Ramsdale with a low effort before clipping inches wide of the far post after collecting Eric Dier’s sweeping pass.

Arsenal pushed for a fourth goal as Aubameyang’s tame effort at the back post was held by Hugo Lloris, who also parried wide a low drive from Saka.

Reguilon’s squared pass into the box intended for Kane was driven home off the hand of Ramsdale by Son to give Tottenham a lifeline with 12 minutes to play, with Arsenal then losing Granit Xhaka to injury.

Ramsdale made a superb fingertip save to divert Lucas’ deflected strike onto the crossbar in injury time and prevent the last few minutes becoming very nervy affair for Arsenal, who were ultimately good value for a memorable derby triumph.

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