Tottenham 1-3 Arsenal: Eze torments Spurs again as Gyökores also bags brace | OneFootball

Eberechi Eze tormented Tottenham once more with a brace in Arsenal’s 4-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Eze opened the scoring, yet his side were quickly pegged back by Randal Kolo Muani who netted an instant equaliser for Spurs.

Victor Gyökeres netted a brace of his own with Eze in the second half to repeat the scoreline in the reverse fixture and move five points clear of Manchester City.

As It Happened

Igor Tudor made two changes for his first game in charge of Tottenham, with Joao Palhinha and Randal Kolo Muani coming into the side ahead of Wilson Odobert and Dominic Solanke. Meanwhile, Arsenal brought in Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard with Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke dropping to the bench for the league leaders following their dramatic 2-2 draw with Wolves on Wednesday night.

This was also Declan Rice’s 100th Premier League outing for The Gunners, whilst referee Peter Banks made his North London Derby debut. Today’s game has a bigger feel to it than your usual clash between these two clubs, given the current situation both sides find themselves in at opposing ends of the table.

The first chance of the day fell to Victor Gyökeres who saw his header blocked virtually on the line by Radu Dragusin. Just moments later the Romanian defender was called into action again to bail out Vicario after he came flying out of his penalty area to reach a long ball.

Gyökeres fired narrowly wide of the bottom corner with seven minutes on the clock after he cut on to his right foot inside the Spurs penalty area. A lengthy stoppage in play followed due to communication issues between Banks and his linesman.

Once the game was back underway, Spurs looked to break down the right flank but a good piece of sweeping from David Raya intercepted the pass. Arsenal won the first corner of the day off the back of a superb sliding tackle from Dragusin. Saka was the man to deliver but William Saliba couldn’t guide his header on target.

Just after the 20 minute mark, Arsenal skipper Bukayo Saka was brought down, allowing Declan Rice to deliver a free-kick into the Spurs penalty area only for the ball to be comfortably dealt with by The Lilywhites. Jurrien Timber picked up the first yellow card of the game for a foul on Pape Matar Sarr.

It was Eze who broke the deadlock after 31 minutes as he netted his fourth derby goal of his short Gunners career, this time sweeping home from close range following a low cross from Saka to open the scoring. The lead didn’t last long though as Spurs pulled level instantly through Kolo-Muani who finished past Raya with his right-foot after easing past Saliba after Rice made a rare but fatal error. Archie Gray picked up a yellow card following the goal for kicking the ball away.

Shortly before the break, Trossard came close to putting Arsenal back in front but his strike couldn’t find the far corner. Eight minutes of additional time were announced, due in large part to the earlier communication issues. Eze fired high and wide of the Spurs goal just before half-time, leaning back far too much for his long-range effort.

Arsenal continued to push for a second goal, but to no success, bringing the first period to a close with the scores level.

As the players returned to the field ahead of the second 45, another stoppage was implemented due to further technical issues between the officials. However, almost as soon as play got back underway, Gyökeres fired Arsenal back into the lead with a sensational strike that curled into the top corner, sending the Arsenal supporters into raptures.

Spurs appeared to grab themselves yet another equaliser through Kolo-Muani once more, however it was ruled out due to a foul on Gabriel. Arsenal made their first change just shy of the hour mark, with Timber withdrawn for Cristhian Mosquera in The Gunners backline.

Minutes later, Vicario was called into action after a lovely piece of play between Eze and Saka resulted in the latter getting a shot away. However, shortly after, Eze pounced on a loose ball to extend Arsenal’s advantage and double his tally for the afternoon as he tapped into a virtually empty net…his fifth North London Derby goal in just his second game!

The hosts responded with an attacking substitution as Connor Gallagher made way for Solanke. Kolo Muani gave away a foul with little more then 20 minutes remaining, his last act of the game before being replaced by Richarlison.

Trossard took on a shot from the edge of the box, but his curling effort sailed well wide of Vicario’s post and bobbled away towards the Arsenal fans. Moments later, Saka flashed a left footed strike into the side netting as Arsenal continued to hunt for a fourth goal.

The “olé’s” started to come from Gunners fans as their side continued to dominate possession as they began to see out this match. A double change came shortly after as Eze and Trossard’s afternoons came to an end, allowing Martin Ødegaard and Martinelli to be introduced. Spurs made their final change with less than 10 minutes to go as Mathys Tel replaced Palhinha.

The hosts came incredibly close to pulling one back through Richarlison in the 83rd minute, but the Brazilian was denied by Raya who managed to drag the ball off the line at full stretch to prevent a nervous final few minutes in the capital.

Yves Bissouma received a yellow card from the referee for dissent, his 2nd of the season. Saka gave away a foul on the edge of his own box with two minutes of regular time left to play, before seeking treatment from the medical team after clutching his shin. As seven minutes of additional time were announced, the England international was replaced by Madueke.

Raya was called into action again in injury time, this time for a much simpler save as he caught a looping header from Tel. Gyökeres found the net again in the final moments as he battled past Archie Gray and fired the ball past Vicario into the far top corner, confirming a player of the match performance from the Swede.

Arsenal have won both derbies 4-1 this season, with today being their biggest away win over Spurs since the 5-0 win at White Hart Lane almost 50 years ago. The Gunners have now won four derbies in a row at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as they push their bitter rivals closer to the relegation zone and keep their spot at top of the table.