Eberechi Eze might well have been preparing for the north London derby in the away dressing room had Tottenham Hotspur got their way in the summer. But a split-second decision from Mikel Arteta to sanction a €69.3million transfer in a board meeting changed the very course of their summer, with Eze choosing to sign for Arsenal over Spurs. Now, he faced them for the first time in a red shirt and the England international made it abundantly clear what they had missed out on with a sublime hat-trick in a 4-1 thumping Premier League victory on Sunday afternoon.
The warning signs were there when Eze, in the third minute, scooped a delightful chip over the Spurs backline to find Declan Rice but his England team-mate's effort was saved well by Guglielmo Vicario. Arsenal produced a few more waves of attack with Bukayo Saka's whipped free-kick stinging the hands of the Italian, with the Gunners dominating possession as they were practically camped in the Tottenham half. So it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 34th minute. Mikel Merino's clever dink sailed in between the Spurs back three and Leandro Trossard ghosted in behind them, springing the offside trap. On the swivel, the Belgian brilliantly found the corner with his back to goal, giving the hosts a deserved lead.
Despite fielding a front three with a combined market value of €100m, Spurs went into half-time without registering a single shot and Thomas Frank wore a frustrated look on the touchline. Yet the Dane's defensive 3-4-2-1 setup certainly contributed to his team being pinned back. The fact that the nine players on his bench totalled €340m in market value, compared to the €397m starting XI, told the whole story. Why were Randal Kolo Muani, Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Pedro Porro left on the bench?
Arsenal continued to press for another and got their reward when Rice supplied Eze this time, and the playmaker danced past one, two and three challenges before pulling the trigger from 15 yards, with Vicario unable to keep it out this time. If those 43 minutes proved anything, it demonstrated Eze certainly made the right call in snubbing the white side of north London for the red. Spurs looked jaded and incohesive in this shape, struggling to string passes together. How they could've done with a player of Eze's profile to take the ball up the field with his close dribbling and impressive speed. The player signed to take his reserved spot, Xavi Simons, was only named as a substitute following a disappointing start to life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Dutchman was introduced at the interval for Kevin Danso as Spurs switched to a more attacking shape.
Within 60 seconds of that change, Jurriën Timber was able to have two bites of the cherry to find Eze waiting on the edge of the box and the playmaker placed his effort into the bottom corner. His second of the day, Arsenal's third, and the damage was done for Spurs. Frank's men were suddenly having to protect themselves from a hammering, such was the freedom Arsenal were getting in their half. They still hadn't attempted a single shot on David Raya's goal and, given their lack of threat in the defeat against Chelsea too, it is becoming an issue for Frank. Richarlison put an end to that with a spectacular effort from the best part of 45 yards out to catch out Raya and give Spurs the smallest glimmer of hope.
But Arteta's men, as they so often do, killed the game as a contest with Eze's third of the day to go six points clear of Chelsea ahead of their clash next week. Perhaps more importantly, they've secured a 20th home win against their bitter rivals since 1993 to secure the bragging rights again - and to Arsenal fans, nothing tastes sweeter than that.