Goals from Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka ensured derby day delight for us as we beat our arch-rivals to maintain top spot in the Premier League table.
Partey’s wonderful strike from distance set us on our way, and despite a Harry Kane penalty ensuring the sides went in level at the break, a poacher’s effort from Jesus restored our lead four minutes into the second half.
Emerson Royal was then red carded for the visitors and soon after Xhaka drove in a third to secure a third straight home victor in this fixture for the first time since 2013.
Thomas gets the Partey started
Emirates Stadium was bouncing ahead of kick-off as our Gooners created a cauldron of noise, and their efforts in the stands were matched on the field as we bossed the opening half an hour.
The game was just two minutes old when Gabriel Martinelli saw a volley smack off Hugo Lloris’ post, and then Granit Xhaka saw an imaginative flick towards goal spin narrowly wide after a wonderful cross from Bukayo Saka.
And on 20 minutes, we grabbed the lead with an absolute blockbuster. Saka was again involved, receiving possession on the right and found Ben White. He laid the ball off to Partey who curled it towards goal first-time from 25 yards, and saw it flash past Lloris and into the top corner to send the already-high decibel levels stratospheric.
Jesus to the rescue
But for all our early dominance, Spurs found a way back level just 10 minutes later when we failed to clear our lines from a counter-attack and Gabriel fouled Richarlison in the area. Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot, allowing Kane to convert from 12 yards for the seventh time in north London derbies.
Having levelled things up, Spurs’ tails were up and led to a shaky period for us with Kane heading straight at Ramsdale after another swift break, but we still nearly went into the break back in front when a mazy dribble in the box by Gabriel Jesus saw him beat two defenders but shoot straight at Lloris from close-range.
However, just four minutes after the restart, the Brazilian did get his goal to flip the game back in our favour. Saka did well to jink inside from the right and get a shot away, which Lloris did well to parry. Cristian Romero dallied with the rebound, and inadvertently sent the ball squirming under his goalkeeper, allowing Jesus to pounce and slam it home.
Xhaka seals it
Our no. 9 looked destined to grab a second soon after but misplaced his header from an Oleksandr Zinchenko and sent a golden chance wide, but on 62 minutes we received another huge boost to our chances of victory when Royal was dismissed for a foul tackle from behind on Martinelli.
Sensing an opportunity to seal the win, we quickly pressed for a third goal and after Saka bent a shot wide after coming inside, it arrived. Martinelli scampered down the left flank and got to the edge of the box, before laying it off to Xhaka who drilled a low shot under Lloris and grab his second of the campaign and send the stadium into delirium.
That killed the game off as a contest and we easily saw out the final minutes amongst a crescendo of noise as we matched last season's fine result, ended our opponents' unbeaten start, remained on top spot and sent all Gooners home happy.
Facts and stats
There were 21 passes in the build-up to Partey's opener, the joint-most leading to a goal in the Premier League this season after Fabio Vieira's strike against Brentford.
Partey scored from outside the box for us for the first time, with what was his 65th such attempt in all competitions.
We have won our last three Premier League home games against Tottenham, for the first time since a run between February 2012 and September 2013.
Tottenham have now failed to win any of their last 12 Premier League visits to Emirates Stadium (D4 L8), which is currently their longest ongoing run in the competition.
Partey scored his third Premier League goal for us, all coming at the Emirates and all opening the scoring. We went on to win all those games.
Arteta has won all three of his home games in charge against Tottenham - only two other managers have done that – George Morrell (1909-1911) and Terry Neill (1977-1979).
Only Erling Haaland (12) has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than Jesus (8) this season, while only Andrey Arshavin (9) had more involvements in his first eight appearances for us in the competition.
Kane has scored seven penalties against us in the Premier League, the joint-most one player has netted against an opponent in the competition (Shearer v Everton also 7).
Only twice in the Premier League have we had more points after our first eight games of a season than the 21 we currently have – 22 points both in 2004/05 and 2007/08, when we finished second and third respectively.
What’s next
We’re back at Emirates Stadium action on Thursday when Bodo/Glimt come to town, and then we host Liverpool on Sunday, October 9 in league action.
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