Mikel Arteta reveals he ‘upset’ Arsenal star before Tottenham victory | Football

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 one other superb performance in Sunday’s game, which finished the identical scoreline.

The previous 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 sport 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 filled with 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 throughout the 1-1 draw with Brentford last week before being benched for the 2-2 draw with Wolves.

‘He has scored five goals within the last two games against Tottenham, which is amazingly difficult to do, but I could see that he desired 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 opposite day from the start and a few of the decisions that I made. And I start to know how we’re going to get the very best out of him now.

‘He had that belief and I’m really comfortable with him. He’s really attempting to mould and adapt into what we wish from him.

‘You only have to have a look at his face and the way in which he was within the dressing room and with that big smile and his eyes are only expressing the whole lot that it’s essential to.

‘He got here here for a reason and we’d like those moments from these players. I believe him and the front players today, I believe they’ve done what we expect from them.’

Discussing Arsenal’s performance more generally, Arteta added: ‘Really comfortable, really proud about how we approached the sport.

‘The initiative and the standard we showed to come back here and win the sport in the way in which that we did.

‘That is the Premier League, it’ll go all the way in which needless to say. Ten games within the Premier League is a good distance.’

While Arsenal move back five points clear of second-placed Manchester City, Tottenham remain just sixteenth within the table, 4 points above the relegation zone.

Spurs interim boss Igor Tudor said: ‘A difficult start against a team who’s now on this moment. A special level of physical way of thinking, so congratulations to them.

‘They were significantly better they usually deserve this win. I got the spirit which we desired to do things, however it was not enough. It is sweet to know where we’re on this moment.

‘Now on this moment, the team is filled with problems. The one key’s to work on the training daily and be humble. We must be more aggressive – we must be more compact. These are the keys.

‘You understand the gap with the mental sharpness of 1 team and other teams. It is a thing we’d like to vary.

‘I saw players available to do that, but we’d like more time to do that. Excited about relegation doesn’t bring you anything to anybody.’

Arsenal proceed their Premier League title charge against Chelsea next weekend, while Spurs face one other London rival in Fulham.

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