Mikel Arteta rules over brave new world at Arsenal, emphasised by thumping Tottenham in derby

It finished with cries of “Ole!”, their players knocking the ball around, their supporters singing about being top of the league. Often triumphalism comes a little bit too easy to the modern football club and modern football fan – but Arsenal and their public have every reason for an outpouring of joy.

They have a proper team, a set of true contenders to celebrate at last, and, as the Emirates emptied while the stadium DJ spun through a playlist of songs honouring players in their ranks, you pondered what is possible for Mikel Arteta’s burgeoning side. They are four points clear, they are young and improving. From them, it looks like there is so much more to come.

The Tottenham Hotspur version of events focuses on Emerson Royal’s soft red card when the score was 2-1, although this was no hard-luck story, more one of two teams each doing their very different things – the thing of one just being better. That was Arsenal, with their angles of passing, their relentless tempo, their faith in being bold and belief the route to victory lay in dominating territory and ball. Spurs’ sparser principles and more reactive game paled in comparison.

It was Arsenal who scored beautifully during a dominant early period and then withstood the jolt of a Spurs comeback through their excellent counterattacking, equalising through a Harry Kane penalty, and for a brief period piling on the pressure. A previous Arsenal may have buckled but Arteta’s team went back ahead, via Gabriel Jesus, after another burst of assertive play and then exploited Spurs’ disorganisation in the aftermath of Royal’s red card to go for the kill – demonstrating winners’ instincts that, again, “old Arsenal” lacked.

It was Granit Xhaka, calmly and technically, who stroked in their third goal. In the past, Xhaka would have been among the likeliest candidates for a big-game sending-off but the midfielder’s serenity – and football – this season is yet another improvement Arsenal have made.

“The red card killed the game,” Antonio Conte said, “but about the referee’s decision, I don’t want to comment. There are images and I invite everyone to look at the images and decide.”

His annoyance was not unreasonable because when Royal missed the ball and singed Gabriel Martinelli’s shinpad with his studs it was an inept tackle but not one that seemed to cross into the realms of endangering an opponent or “excessive force”. Nobody was appealing for Royal to walk when Anthony Taylor fished a red card from his pocket. From Taylor, normally one of the most sensible referees, it seemed something of a showy decision.

It did not decide the game, though, and Conte was most on the money when he suggested Spurs’ real fault had been not to press home the advantage during their brief ascendancy after Kane’s equaliser. Yet even that was to ignore that Arsenal could have been two or three goals up by the time Kane scored.

Arsenal’s start was intense, fast-paced and ambitious, and Spurs were pinned back by their passing exchanges, lines of movement and switches of play. Martinelli, with a fine volley, had Hugo Lloris plunging to save at his near post and Xhaka, who continues to revel in the more attacking brief Arteta has handed him, strode forward to whistle a good shot inches wide.

Thomas Partey’s opener was a beauty. On the right, Bukayo Saka held possession, toying with Ivan Perisic, before laying a pass diagonally back to Ben White, who, like Arsenal’s other full back, Oleksandr Zinchenko, kept coming infield to explore areas between Tottenham’s lines. White used the space and time he had foraged for himself to craft the perfect lay-off: his pass was rolled with just the right weight and angle for Partey to strike without breaking stride.

The strike, from 25 yards, was technically sublime and astutely judged in its shape. Starting outside the frame of the goal, it curled inwards to beat Lloris high at his near post.

With Saka, Xhaka and Martin Odegaard prominent, Arsenal kept passing and probing. But one of Conte’s gifts is producing teams who can withstand (or, to use his favourite word, “suffer") tough periods in games before inflicting damage themselves and Spurs demonstrated ability to steal possession deep and thread breakaway moves through seemingly congested lines.

If not for some imperious moments of defending from William Saliba and a couple of poor choices with their final ball, Spurs might have scored more than just the penalty. It came in the 31st minute, after Saka overdid the dribbling and Rodrigo Bentancur dispossessed him on the edge of Spurs’ box. He played forward to Son Heung-min, who nimbly worked the ball to Kane and the England captain returned it – despite pressure – with equal deftness.

Son drove to Arsenal’s box and spread the ball to Richarlison on his right. Richarlison was too wide to shoot, so faced up Gabriel and cut inside his Brazilian compatriot. Gabriel extended a careless leg, tripping Richarlison, and Kane fooled Aaron Ramsdale from the spot. Ramsdale expected one of Kane’s trademark hard-struck, whipped efforts but instead, as the goalkeeper dived, Kane dinked home down the middle.

Yet Arsenal proved as good at suffering and recovering as their foes. Shaking off a shaky ten minutes, they reasserted themselves just before half-time, with Jesus dribbling past Royal and Cristian Romero to poke a shot at Lloris.

After the interval, Saka cut inside to strike a deceptively wicked, low shot, which an unsighted Lloris could only parry. Romero was dozy when the ball came to him and hurriedly knocked it straight back at Lloris, who let it squirm under his body and, in predatory style, Jesus tapped in.

Spurs were stretched and pinned once more and, after Royal’s dismissal, as Conte waited to make substitutions, Arsenal had the game smarts to push hard. Saliba played forward, Partey perceptively found Martinelli and Romero tackled the Brazilian. The ball ran to Xhaka, who, from just inside the box, finished with class.

Title contenders? “I leave that to you guys,” Arteta told the press. “But we are a really hungry and humble team, believe me. We know where we are. It is nothing we’ve done yet.”

– The Sunday Times

Originally published as Mikel Arteta rules over brave new world at Arsenal, emphasised by thumping Tottenham in derby