After a horrendous start to the season, Arsenal made a bold statement on Sunday with a clinical 3-1 victory in the North London derby over noisy neighbours Tottenham Hotspur. New boss Nuno Espirito Santo and his Spurs side were caught out by an early charge from the Gunners.

Goals from Emil Smith-Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka put Arsenal three goals ahead within the first 35 minutes of the game. The Emirates Stadium were sent buzzing as Mikel Arteta’s side outwitted their opponents in every department.

With the victory, Arsenal have gone undefeated in the month of September and have extended their early-season recovery. The Gunners have completed a third successive league win following the losses in the opening three games.

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In the first half, Spurs were completely outplayed in the centre of the park, with Martin Odegaard dropping just behind Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and creating space for the three Arsenal forwards. 

The opener came in the 12th minute after Odegaard spread the ball wide to Saka, whose low cross reached the unmarked Smith Rowe only for the winger to place it into the net.

However, the Gunners weren’t over. Arteta’s men pounced on the counterattack in the 27th minute, after Aubameyang set up Smith Rowe with an audacious flick and let the 21-year-old dart down the opposition half. Smith Rowe paced into the Spurs box and cut the ball back for Aubameyang, who added the second goal.

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Things would get even better for the Gunners as Saka got on the scoresheet after wriggling his way through a distraught Spurs defence.

Thomas Partey stole the ball off Harry Kane and Arsenal again broke behind the Spurs defence with three passes. Smith Rowe found Saka, who ran into the box and was challenged well by a backtracking Kane, only for the loose ball to roll back into the path of his England teammate. Saka then finished low past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

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However, Tottenham gave itself a chance to make an unexpected comeback as Son Heung-min turned in a cross from Sergio Reguilon in the 79th minute. But it was too little too late for Espirito Santo’s side.

Tottenham has now lost three in a row in the league after opening with a trio of successes.