Mikel Arteta has revealed he ‘upset’ Eberechi Eze before Arsenal’s impressive north London derby win over Tottenham.
Eze scored a hat-trick in Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Spurs back in November and produced another superb performance in Sunday’s game, which finished the same scoreline.
The former Crystal Palace star scored Arsenal’s first-half opener but Spurs responded immediately and equalised through Randal Kolo Muani.
But Arsenal are going for the title while Tottenham battle relegation and that gulf was evident during a one-sided derby.
Viktor Gyokeres restored Arsenal’s lead shortly after the half-time break before Eze scored his second and the visitors’ third to all but put the game to bed.
With the three points secured, Gyokeres rounded off a joyous derby for Arsenal by firing home a fourth in injury-time.
Arteta was full of praise for Eze after the emphatic victory and hailed his response after a difficult couple of weeks.
Arsenal’s £67.5m summer signing was hooked at half-time during the 1-1 draw with Brentford last week before being benched for the 2-2 draw with Wolves.
‘He has scored five goals in the last two games against Tottenham, which is extremely difficult to do, but I could see that he wanted to prove something,’ Arteta said in his post-match press conference.
‘He was upset, even with me, because I didn’t play him in the other day from the beginning and some of the decisions that I made. And I start to understand how we’re going to get the best out of him now.
‘He had that belief and I’m really happy with him. He’s really trying to mould and adapt into what we want from him.
‘You just have to look at his face and the way he was in the dressing room and with that big smile and his eyes are just expressing everything that you need to.
‘He came here for a reason and we need those moments from these players. I think him and the front players today, I think they’ve done what we expect from them.’
Discussing Arsenal’s performance more generally, Arteta added: ‘Really happy, really proud about how we approached the game.
‘The initiative and the quality we showed to come here and win the game in the way that we did.
‘This is the Premier League, it will go all the way for sure. Ten games in the Premier League is a long way.’
While Arsenal move back five points clear of second-placed Manchester City, Tottenham remain just 16th in the table, four points above the relegation zone.
Spurs interim boss Igor Tudor said: ‘A difficult start against a team who is now in this moment. A different level of physical state of mind, so congratulations to them.
‘They were much better and they deserve this win. I got the spirit which we wanted to do things, but it was not enough. It is nice to understand where we are in this moment.
‘Now in this moment, the team is full of problems. The only key is to work on the training day by day and be humble. We need to be more aggressive – we need to be more compact. These are the keys.
‘You understand the gap with the mental sharpness of one team and other teams. This is a thing we need to change.
‘I saw players available to do this, but we need more time to do this. Thinking about relegation doesn’t bring you anything to anybody.’
Arsenal continue their Premier League title charge against Chelsea next weekend, while Spurs face another London rival in Fulham.
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