Arsenal came from behind to register a 2-1 win over rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium, which was their first North London Derby win since 2018.
The victory was Gunners boss Mikel Arteta's first-ever Premier League win over Jose Mourinho as a coach or as a player, and it was a well-deserved one given his side's superb performance. This was despite the absence of skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was relegated to the bench after a breach of the club's conduct.
After losing Heung-Min Son to an injury in the first half, Mourinho sent Erik Lamela on to replace him and the Argentine repaid the manager's faith in him just 15 minutes later. Lamela scored a showstopping goal as he found the bottom-right corner of Bernd Leno's goal with a stunning Rabona in the 33rd minute to fire Tottenham into the lead.
Arsenal would not stay quiet for too long, however, as their wave after wave of attacks paid off eleven minutes later. Fresh off scoring his debut goal for the club in midweek, Martin Odegaard leveled the scoreline after his deflected effort left Hugo Lloris no chance of maintaining his clean sheet.
The Gunners managed to stamp their authority on the game but their attempts to double their tally on the evening were constantly thwarted by their local rivals. This was until a spell midway through the second half that changed the course of the game entirely.
Alexandre Lacazette found himself through on goal and was illegally brought down by Davinson Sanchez in the box, leading to a penalty which was then nonchalantly rolled in by the French striker past his compatriot Lloris.
Over the next 13 minutes, Lamela — after scoring one of the most remarkable goals in the lore of the North London Derby — went from being a hero to a villain as he picked up two yellow cards and left Tottenham a man short. Spurs upped the ante of both their intensity and the shot tally and came close to scoring via a superb Harry Kane free-kick which rattled the woodwork.
Their attempts were futile as in the end, Arsenal walked away with three points as well as the bragging rights for North London. The win takes Arsenal to 41 points from their 28 games while Spurs remain in seventh place with 45 points
Here are some of the best tweets from the game!