Tottenham 1 Arsenal 4 - Gyokeres and Eze spare Rice’s blushes to get title charge back on track

For Arsenal, it was the perfect way to breathe fresh life into their Premier League title charge. For Tottenham Hotspur, a damaging defeat against their north London rivals leaves them worryingly close to the drop zone.

Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze both scored twice at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to send Mikel Arteta’s side five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table, having played a game more than Pep Guardiola’s side.

Arsenal started the brighter side, but their momentum was punctured after communication problems with the match officials led to a six-minute delay.

Eze eventually put Arsenal in front in the 32nd minute, with a right-footed finish after the ball sat up nicely for him following good work by Bukayo Saka. Declan Rice immediately called an on-pitch team meeting to encourage his side to keep their heads, but the England midfielder’s error in possession led to Randal Kolo Muani equalising just two minutes after that opener. It was the Frenchman’s first Premier League goal since joining on loan from Paris Saint-Germain last summer.

But Spurs were second-best in Igor Tudor’s first game in charge since replacing Thomas Frank. Arsenal responded in style in the second half, with Gyokeres arrowing home a shot from the edge of the area in the 47th minute. Spurs were frustrated in the 53rd minute when Kolo Muani had the ball in the back of the net for a second time, but he was judged to have pushed Gabriel. Eze gave Arsenal further breathing space in the 61st minute as he made it eight goals in five games against Spurs, the side who tried to sign him last summer.

Gyokeres made sure of the win by running onto a ball and finishing past Guglielmo Vicario in the 94th minute.

Here, Jay Harris, Elias Burke, Art de Roche and Conor O’Neill analyse the key talking points.

How did Eze make his mark again?

For this season at least, the north London derby belongs to Eze. The 27-year-old scored five goals from these two matches.

There seemed to be an element of fate hanging over the match — Eze was named in a starting line-up for just the second league game this calendar year, and his first shot on target since November’s meeting between the sides opened the scoring.

This was a massive chance for Eze. He has not always looked his confident self, but that conviction grew during the game.

For the first time in months in the Premier League, he displayed the feints, nutmegs and quick passes around the corner that make him such a joy to watch.

That confidence seemed to be contagious, as those across the front line were equally impressive throughout.

Gyokeres’ powerful first strike was jaw-dropping, but his all-round performance was much improved even before the goal.

Early in the match, he attacked the left channel to unsettle Spurs’ back line and brought others into play nicely as his side gained control. In the second half, a quick one-two created the opening for Arsenal’s third goal. He returned to the same area to score his second of the game, rounding off his performance nicely.

This might be the blueprint for a true centre-forward display from Gyokeres (illustrated below in his player dashboard). Arteta will also be pleased that his front four functioned well as a whole, not just because of his two scorers.

Saka always performs well against Spurs, with direct goal involvements against them in each of the past five seasons, but he needed to be sharp from the off. Djed Spence was touch-tight within minutes of the kick-off, and Saka was fouled four times inside the opening half-hour, but Arsenal’s captain for the day kept going and was the reason Eze had a chance to open the scoring.

With Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz on their way back from injury, Arteta's options going forward will be a great source of encouragement.

The Arsenal manager got the make-up of his front four right this evening, and will hope the injury that forced Saka off late on will not prevent him from maximising those options in the final 10 league matches of the season.

Art de Roche

What was Rice's mistake for Spurs' equaliser?

Arteta said Arsenal only had themselves to blame after their 2-2 draw away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, and that was the case again with Spurs’ equaliser, which came just 24 seconds after the restart from Eze’s opener.

Rice could be seen imploring his team-mates to focus as they celebrated, but his involvement in Kolo Muani’s goal highlighted how actions speak louder than words.

The England midfielder did well to intercept the initial pass…

… but just outside his own penalty box with two Spurs players bearing down on him, the 27-year-old should have known it was no place to take on an opponent.

Kolo Muani robbed Rice of the ball and drove into the area before firing into the net.

Rice could be seen apologising to his team-mates afterwards.

That was Arsenal’s fifth error leading to a Premier League goal this season. Four of those have been in 2026 — joint-most with Aston Villa since the turn of the year.

Of those five errors, both against Spurs came from staying on the ball too long, two were from loose passes, and the other from a misjudged cross. Most of these seem to come from players not being aware of their surroundings, which brings their overall concentration into question.

Rice was not the only player guilty of making an error that provided Spurs with an opening.

Arsenal started the game well, having five shots to Spurs' zero in the opening 20 minutes. In the 10 minutes between then and Eze’s goal, however, each member of their back line gifted possession to Tottenham and helped them back into the game.

These issues have been holding Arsenal back for weeks. The longer those mistakes occur after they go ahead, the harder it will be for Arteta's side to maintain their lead in the title race against Manchester City.

Thankfully for Arsenal, it did not matter on Sunday. Arteta will be pleased by their reaction after the break. Before the game, he spoke of the need for his team to keep the ball for extended periods to help kill games off, and they did that well.

David Raya also showed that, even after his mistake in midweek, his contributions will be vital. Earlier in the season, Raya made many saves at vital moments to either keep Arsenal level or ahead. This time, it helped them extend their lead.

Art de Roche

What was Spurs' post-Frank atmosphere like?

Frank never connected with the Spurs fan base and boos became a regular sound at home and away games. Spurs only won two of their 13 home league games during the former Brentford coach's brief time in charge.

The atmosphere felt completely different on Sunday. Former Spurs winger David Ginola was a guest on television for foreign media and he was warmly applauded before kick-off, before stadium announcer Paul Coyte gave a rousing speech. A pre-match video on the big screens was greeted with a roar when Spurs were described as "north London originals", while there was an impressive tifo (banner) in the South Stand.

Spurs fans roared when Micky van de Ven clattered the ball into the stands in the opening minute and booed every time Eze, who they unsuccessfully tried to sign in the summer, touched the ball. They chanted Dele Alli’s name and gave their former midfielder a moving reception at half-time when he was interviewed on the pitch.

In the 23rd minute, Yves Bissouma charged down Eze and Leandro Trossard from an Arsenal free kick, which was cleared. He did something similar 60 seconds later, won a foul from Piero Hincapie and the crowd went wild. It felt like the fans had been liberated following Frank’s dismissal and were full of enthusiasm and energy again.

Crucially, they did not drop their heads after Eze opened the scoring, and the reaction to Kolo Muani’s equaliser was stirring.

The fans were slightly more subdued in the second half, especially as Arsenal went ahead so early, but the exodus only began when Gyokeres scored their rivals' fourth.

Jay Harris

Did Tudor change anything for Spurs?

With only 12 games to make his mark, Tudor has little time to implement sweeping tactical changes in an injury-depleted squad.

But he did instigate a change in shape here, with Tottenham lining up in the Croatian’s preferred 3-5-2 formation. As in the reverse fixture, however, the gap in quality meant they ceded almost total control and struggled to impose any on-ball identity. They had just 28 per cent possession in the first half, their lowest in any game this season.

The share was more balanced in the second half (illustrated by the game-end stats above) but Spurs remained narrow and compact, intent on limiting Arsenal through the middle. Despite Arsenal’s dominance, Spurs showed aggression without the ball. This was most evident in their attempts to lock down Saka, with Tottenham’s players sprinting out to swarm him whenever he received possession out wide.

A player of Saka’s quality can only be shackled for so long, though. His persistence down the right eventually paid off when he wriggled past Pape Matar Sarr and teed up Eze for the opener.

Tottenham’s tenacity was not just confined to their defenders, as shown when Kolo Muani picked Rice’s pocket for the equaliser.

There is no secret tactical formula capable of bridging the gulf between an injury-hit side fighting relegation and a title contender, and that showed in the emphatic scoreline. But Tudor will take some encouragement from Spurs' improved intensity. Their previous passivity ultimately cost Frank his job.

Tottenham fans will hope that, if that effort can be sustained for their remaining 11 games, it helps steer them clear of relegation trouble.

Conor O'Neill

What does this mean for the title race and relegation fight?

A trip to their north London rivals with a buoyant crowd and a new manager in charge was a potential banana skin for Arsenal.

But their quality shone through in what was their fifth successive win against Spurs. With another London derby coming up — they host Chelsea next Sunday — their performance at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium took them five points clear of Manchester City and provided a timely confidence booster.

At the opposite end of the table, the defeat leaves Tottenham just four points above West Ham United in 18th. Spurs are yet to win a league game in 2026 and have lost three on the bounce. Next Sunday, they are away to Fulham, who impressed with a 3-1 win over Sunderland today, a week before hosting Crystal Palace, the last team to lose against Spurs in the league.

Perhaps Tudor will take some encouragement from Kolo Muani finally opening his Premier League account for Spurs, but relegation remains a real prospect for a club that has not played second-tier football since the 1970s.

Elias Burke

What did Tudor say?

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the Spurs interim head coach admitted morale was low. “We need to come out from this moment,” Tudor said. “The only way is work, stay quiet, stay humble, stay where we are now and look at the future. Growing day by day, week by week.

“I'm sad because it was not good enough. Arsenal was much better. There is too much of a gap between the two teams. It's good to see this kind of team at the start — to show us where we need to be. It's about work, to work hard because we struggle in a lot of things.

“We need to run more, we need to play better, we need to defend better, we need to win duels, second duels, second balls.

“We prepared these four, five days but they were faster, even I can say that the players showed the passion, they wanted to run, but we pressed high. They (Arsenal) believe more, that is the key in the end. And that's it, so take the lessons.”

What did Arteta say?

In contrast, the Arsenal manager was unsurprisingly full of praise, claiming he always expected his players to respond positively to the 2-2 draw against Wolves. “I saw the reaction and what it means,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “When it’s a job, you don’t react like this — but when it’s your passion, and you love the game so much, that’s something else and it hurts you in a different way. I know what it means to them and how much they want it.

“You rewatch the game against Wolves (and think), ‘How the hell do you drop two points there?’. Nobody can explain it. But this is the beauty of it. It looks like it's the end of the world — but the attitude, the desire and dominance we showed today was really impressive. I’m really happy.

Arteta also thought it was Gyokeres' best performance since joining in the summer, adding that “his overall play was incredible”.

What next for Spurs?

Sunday, March 1: Fulham (Away), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET

What next for Arsenal?

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