Arsenal 3 Tottenham 1: Gunners humble ten-man Spurs in North London derby after goals from Partey, Jesus and Xhaka
IRRESISTIBLE Arsenal moved four points clear at the top of the table as bitter rivals Spurs were consigned to their first Premier League defeat in 14 games.
Goals from Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka were more than enough to see off a disappointing Spurs side whose only response was a Harry Kane penalty.
And Emerson Royal’s second-half red card which means he will be banned for three games only rubbed salt into Antonio Conte’s wounds.
For the first 20 minutes, the game was played almost exclusively in the Spurs half, with the visitors’ penalty area resembling rush hour at Charing Cross.
Xhaka twice fired narrowly wide, Ben White blazed over from the edge of the box and Gabriel Martinelli had Hugo Lloris scrambling to shovel a low shot around his near post.
So while it was no surprise when Arsenal took the lead in the 20th minute, the identity of their scorer certainly came as a shock.
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Partey had only managed two goals in two years for the Gunners so Spurs could have been forgiven for not rushing to close him down when he was teed up by White on the edge of the area.
But the Ghanaian international suddenly conjured up his inner Thierry Henry to curl a magnificent right footer into the top corner.
It was no more than Arsenal’s domination deserved and they almost repeated the trick four minutes later before Eric Dier raced out to thwart Partey just as he was about to pull the trigger.
But just when it was beginning to look as though they were in complete control, Arsenal suddenly took their foot off the gas and opened themselves up to Tottenham’s counter attacks.
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Ivan Perisic had the chance to level when he was played in by Son Heung-min but blasted his angled shot wastefully wide.
It was a warning which clearly had Arsenal rattled and within a minute they had surrendered their lead when Richarlison was upended by Gabriel’s clumsy challenge and Kane smashed the resulting penalty straight down the middle.
It was the England captain’s 14th North London derby goal, a landmark which sets him head and shoulders above any other player in the history of this famous old fixture.
But just as in their previous home victories against Fulham and Villa, Arsenal were able to take the setback in their stride before quickly restoring their authority.
This time the response came four minutes after half-time, when Lloris could only parry Bukayo Saka’s low shot and Jesus outmuscled Christian Romero to bundle the loose ball over the line.
Tottenham’s goose was well and truly cooked when Royal received a straight red card for planting his boot in Martinelli’s shin after 62 minutes.
And before Antonio Conte had the chance to reorganise his ten men, Arsenal were out of sight when Partey and Martinelli combined to play in Xhaka for a decisive shot into the bottom corner.
North London is well and truly red.