This north London derby came with all the subtlety of a hammer blow, and Arsenal swung it with enthusiasm.
Eberechi Eze, the man Spurs flirted with before watching him walk into the arms of their bitter rivals, tore through Tottenham with a hat trick in a 4 to 1 win that felt harsh only if you squinted very hard.
Arsenal were clinical, confident and annoyingly composed. Spurs were none of those things.
Leandro Trossard started the scoring in the 36th minute after Mikel Merino was granted the freedom of the Emirates to slip a straight pass through a static back line.
Trossard checked inside and tucked his finish into the far corner as if he had all night. That alone rattled Tottenham. Eze then stepped forward and turned the afternoon into his personal highlight reel. He drifted into space on the edge of the box, brushed off half hearted challenges and fired low past Guglielmo Vicario for Arsenal’s second.
Tottenham’s first half return was a blank sheet of paper. Not a single shot. Not even a messy scribble to show they were present. Frank’s switch to a back four at the break offered hope for roughly half a minute. Then Jurriën Timber bulldozed his way through midfield, fed Eze and watched him plant another precise finish into the corner.
Richarlison finally produced a moment worthy of the derby when he lobbed David Raya from distance after a loose touch from MartÃn Zubimendi. It was a reminder that Spurs can still conjure brilliance even when the rest looks bleak.
Eze completed his hat trick in the 76th minute with another strike from the edge of the area, sealing a result that pushed Arsenal six points clear at the top. Spurs arrived unbeaten away from home but left looking very human. Arsenal looked like a team that expects to stay exactly where they are.
