Arsenal storm to north London derby win

Shkodran Mustafi opened the scoring with a sublime header on 35 minutes for the Gunners, and they doubled their lead just before the half-time whistle thanks to Alexis Sanchez.

The two strikes proved to be enough for Arsene Wenger’s men as they put form aside to beat fierce city rivals Tottenham.

Alexandre Lacazette looked lively in the opening minutes and charged down Eric Dier, deflecting his clearance into the path of Sanchez. The Chilean then played his strike partner in behind the Spurs defence, but he blasted over from the edge of the box.

Wenger’s men continued to put the pressure on and almost found the opener on 20 minutes. Aaron Ramsey slipped a perfect pass in behind the Tottenham back line for Hector Bellerin, who fizzed a dangerous low ball across the face of goal. Lacazette looked odds on to tap in, but Dier and Davinson Sanchez got in his way to clear the danger.

The visitors had their first real opening of the game when Christian Eriksen skipped past Granit Xhaka on the edge of the Arsenal box. The Denmark international let fly but his effort clipped the outside of the post.

Arsenal did find the breakthrough on 36 minutes after Sanchez controversially won a free-kick on the left flank. The winger expertly controlled a long ball forward before his namesake Davinson Sanchez brought him down with what looked to be a well-timed tackle. Ozil stood over it and delivered a delightful cross into the box, which Mustafi, who was under a huge amount of pressure, managed to head into the far corner.

The Gunners doubled their lead five minutes later when Bellerin played in Lacazette down the right. The Frenchman cut back for Sanchez, who took a touch before rocketing past Hugo Lloris from close range.

The match continued at a similar, frantic pace following the restart, with Tottenham coming closest to nicking one back before the hour mark. Ramsey slipped on the edge of the box allowing Eriksen to pick up the ball in a dangerous position. He played in Harry Kane, but Mustafi threw himself in front of the England striker’s shot to save the Gunners.

Eriksen then saw a long-range strike fly over before Arsenal started to turn on the style. Ozil's perfectly-weighted pass found Sanchez on the edge of the area, but his tame effort was easily saved by Lloris.

With 15 minutes to play, Sanchez then danced his way into the Spurs area and only had Lloris to beat, but the goalkeeper raced off his line to smother his shot.

Petr Cech produced a huge save late on to deny Dier. The Arsenal stopper spectacularly dived to his right to turn away a header from the defender.

Spurs had one final chance to put the pressure on when substitute Fernando Llorente flicked a header into the path of Son Heung-min. He had plenty of time and space but the South Korean wastefully fired over the bar.

Arsenal proceeded to close out the game with ease and claim a very satisfying win over their north London rivals. The Gunners move up to fifth in the Premier League table, level on points with Chelsea and one behind Spurs, who remain in third with 23 points.