Arsenal brush aside north London rivals Tottenham to extend lead at top of Premier League

Arsenal brushed aside north London rivals Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.

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In the first north London derby of the season, Thomas Partey’s superb strike gave the Gunners a first-half lead but Tottenham were level at half-time thanks to Harry Kane’s penalty.

Arsenal put the game to bed in 20 second-half minutes as Gabriel Jesus took advantage of a Hugo Lloris mistake to score his first north London derby goal and Granit Xhaka continued his revival with a third.

Before Arsenal’s last goal, Tottenham’s Emerson Royal was shown a straight red card for a late foul on Gabriel Martinelli.

The 3-1 win ensures Arsenal remain top of the Premier League – four points above Manchester City who play tomorrow – and means Mikel Arteta remains unbeaten in north London derbies, both as a player and manager.

For Tottenham, the Emirates defeat ends not only the club’s unbeaten record but also their hopes of equalling their longest unbeaten runs set under Mauricio Pochettino.

Arteta was able to recall the previously injured Martin Odegaard and Oleksandr Zinchenko, while Antonio Conte started both Son Heung-Min and Richarlison but was without Dejan Kulusevski after he pulled up during the international break.

Arsenal enjoyed their best start to a season in 15 years before the international break and were the better team for much of the first half.

The dangerous Martinelli hit the post from a tight angle inside three minutes, while Xhaka almost found the bottom corner with a long-range strike.

Aaron Ramsdale was called into action in-between Arsenal’s early chances when Richarlison diverted an inviting free-kick towards goal, but the effort would have been ruled