Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres each scored a double, making a great contribution to Arsenal's 4-1 victory in the North London derby. 3 full points help the "Gunners" re-establish a 5-point gap with Manchester City in the Premier League table, in the context that the season only has 10 rounds left.
Eze - who became the first Arsenal player to score a hat-trick against Spurs in the Premier League in the 4-1 victory at the Emirates in November last year - continued to bring sorrow to his city rivals with two more goals. Notably, he once refused Tottenham to join the childhood team from Crystal Palace in the summer transfer window last year.
Meanwhile, Gyokeres - a contract from Sporting CP - had the most impressive performance since joining Arsenal, with 2 goals in the second half. Although Randal Kolo Muani managed to equalize for Spurs after Eze's opening goal in the first half, rekindling hope for the home team, but that was all Tottenham could do.
New coach Igor Tudor suffered a heavy defeat right in his debut match, when his team was still deep in the bottom group and faced a tough relegation battle.
Arsenal responds to increasing pressure
A day earlier, Manchester City won 2-1 against Newcastle, thereby increasing pressure on Arsenal. However, Mikel Arteta's team responded with bravery. In the context of dropping 4 points against Brentford and Wolves in 10 days, this derby is considered a real test for the ambition and spirit of the "Gunners".
When Kolo Muani equalized in the 34th minute, taking advantage of Declan Rice's indecisive handling to finish from close range to defeat David Raya, many people worried Arsenal might continue to mismatch. However, the difference in class gradually became clear. Arsenal tightened the game, increased pressure and successively converted the advantage into decisive goals.
Tottenham entered the match with a seriously weakened squad, with only 13 players fit enough to play and only winning 2 home matches in the Premier League this season. However, victory is still important for Arsenal. It not only helps them maintain their advantage in the championship race, but also partly extinguishes doubts about their bravery as the season still has 3 fierce months ahead.
Eze and Gyokeres' excellent performance
Among the most regrettable missed deals in Tottenham's history, the inability to recruit Eze from Crystal Palace last summer is certainly a major concern. Spurs once reached a £60 million deal with Palace, but at the last minute, Eze decided to wear the Arsenal shirt.
And what has happened since then makes the North London team even more regretful. The 27-year-old midfielder has scored 7 goals for Arsenal this season, including 5 goals against Tottenham. Notably, the opening goal in the 32nd minute was his first shot on target in the Premier League since his hat-trick in November last year. This is a detail showing Eze's prolonged silence before exploding at the right time.
If Eze had a difficult period in the race for a starting spot, Gyokeres also suffered great pressure after moving from Sporting Lisbon with many expectations. The Swedish striker did not perform convincingly in the recent match, but the goal in the 47th minute can be considered his most important goal for The Gunners.
Many people may be surprised to know that Gyokeres has reached the milestone of 14 goals this season. However, many of them came against weaker opponents or at a time when the match was almost decided. Therefore, the goal to increase the score in a still tight match against Tottenham has a different meaning.
When Spurs were ranked 16th in the standings and the game was still balanced, Gyokeres received the ball on the edge of the penalty area before unleashing a powerful shot, re-establishing the advantage for Arsenal. That was a moment of showing bravery and continuing the recent revival of this striker.
In injury time, he completed a double with a familiar handling. Gyokeres accelerated strongly, entered the penalty area and then curled in from a narrow angle in a lightning counter-attack situation, reaching the milestone of 15 goals in all competitions and closing the impressive performance.
Arsenal still has personal mistakes
Immediately after Eze opened the score for Arsenal, Declan Rice immediately asked his teammates to keep their heads cool in the excited atmosphere. Before the derby, the English midfielder repeatedly emphasized the need to eliminate personal mistakes. This is the reason why the "Gunners" paid the price in the recent period.
However, a paradox occurred just 2 minutes after the goal. Rice lost the ball right in his own half under pressure from Randal Kolo Muani. The Tottenham striker turned neatly and then unleashed a dangerous shot, defeating David Raya, bringing the match back to the starting line.
That was the fourth personal mistake directly leading to Arsenal's goal conceded in 2026 alone. Before that was Gabriel Magalhaes' situation in the match against Bournemouth, Martin Zubimendi's failed handling against Manchester United and the lack of coordination between Gabriel and Raya in the Wolves match.
This time, Arsenal did not drop points. However, moments of distraction like this are still a warning bell. If they want to maintain the advantage in the championship race, Mikel Arteta's team clearly has a lot to do to end the habit of making things difficult for themselves.
