We went six points clear at the top of the Premier League table with Sunday's 4-1 win at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
Leandro Trossard's opener, followed by an Eberechi Eze hat-trick led to derby day delight at Emirates Stadiu, but what were the other factors that led us to yet another victory?
Adrian Clarke has rewatched the action and dipped into the stats to highlight some of the standout moments and displays:
TWIN FALSE NINES RAN AMOK
As a way of causing unexpected problems for Tottenham Hotspur’s three central defenders, we used Eberechi Eze and Mikel Merino as a pair of twin false nines.
In essence our shape was often 4-4-2-0 with those two central attackers regularly occupying pockets of space between the visitors’ rearguard and central midfield.
Merino was outstanding on and off the ball, making some tremendous angles to link play.
Hat trick hero Eze played higher and more central than he usually does, and this pass and shots chalkboard from our No.10 (below) shows this clearly.
It is the type of map you would often associate with a striker…
In general play we would see those two players deliberating staying between the lines, and this asked questions of Thomas Frank’s defenders, who were not sure whether to jump into midfield or retain their positions.
For the opening goal, Micky van de Ven was drawn into midfield (circled) by Declan Rice, and this left a 3v3 on the other side of the pitch that we exploited well.
Making sure they didn’t get too high, too early, Merino and Eze were hard to mark.
Merino received that square pass, and with Tottenham Hotspur’s back line a touch disjointed, he picked out a gorgeous ball for Leo Trossard’s supremely intelligent, angled run.
Our brilliant Belgian controlled and finished with trademark aplomb to seal a terrific 20-pass move.
Playing with two false nines caused a world of issues for our north London neighbours.
DRAWING SPURS LEFT
The most important part of our game plan was to draw numerous Spurs players towards our right wing before squaring the ball inside for star man Eze.
We slanted heavily in that direction deliberately, getting Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber onto the ball as often as possible.
Mikel Merino often pulled that way to help link attacks too.
Arsenal flank attacks
From those areas we saw Saka, Timber and Merino attract the attention of one or both central midfielders, and others, and this freed up lots of room for others on the inside.
A fine example was Eze’s delicious scoop pass for Declan Rice to volley early in the contest.
See below how many white shirts are drawn right, with Eze free in acres of space to produce his bit of magic.
Eze’s second strike just after half-time came from Timber cutting infield from a congested right side.
His touch infield opened up the pitch nicely, but to get Eze free from Cristian Romero, we still needed Rice to make a darting run down that channel. (see below)
Romero went with Rice, so when the ball ricocheted back to Timber, the right back saw Eze unmarked around the D, and from there he curled home a beauty.
Rice’s unselfish run created the chaos, which freed up his England teammate.
FULL OF RUNNING
Right from the word go, the Gunners were strong, forceful and incredibly athletic.
Facing a low block, they had to create their own energy and that came very naturally to a group of pumped-up players, who were determined to win the bragging rights.
All over the pitch our movement caused Spurs nightmares, and the forward nature of those runs added great penetration.
Overall, we ran 112.2km, which was a stunning 8.6km further than Tottenham Hotspur, who managed to cover only 103.5km.
It was the fifth largest difference seen in a top-flight match this term.
Our players made things happen with their desire to run exceptionally hard.
AN ACCOMPLISHED DEBUT
Piero Hincapie made his first Premier League start in the north London derby, and the Ecuadorian made it look remarkably easy.
Gabriel Maghalaes’ absence left Mikel Arteta with several selection options, but he was confident in Hincapie, and that faith was rewarded.
He was aggressive throughout, but always controlled, and the left footer provided us with a lovely balance in that position too.
Spurs recorded an XG of just 0.07, the lowest of the entire campaign, and Hincapie certainly played his part in ensuring our neighbours barely had a sight of goal.
The 23-year-old star made five ball recoveries, four clearances, and won a tackle and interception on a comfortable top-flight bow.
EZE’S FAIRYTALE DAY
Playing in his first ever north London derby, it was scarcely believable to see Eberechi Eze score his first career hat trick.
It was also the first treble in this fixture since 1978, and what a stylish collection of goals he produced!
Controlling a classy one-touch pass from Rice he danced between two Spurs midfielders before lashing home his first.
In the second period Eze then curled home two beauties, striking the ball cleanly off both feet, showing power and poise with his finishing.
Hitting six shots in total, the gifted Eze was unlucky not to grab a fourth when Vicario spectacularly pushed away a fierce left footer late on.
But nothing could spoil what was a very special afternoon for our summer signing, who has etched his name into Arsenal folklore forever.
Unplayable, silky and simply irresistible on the day, wearing the 10 shirt, Eze’s display was very much a 10/10.
