Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur- Reaction as first-half Arsenal blitz stuns Spurs.

Arsenal defeated their arch rivals Spurs 3-1 on Sunday, as three first half goals from Emile Smith Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka stunned a toothless Spurs. The away side pulled one back late on through Heung-Min Son but it was nowhere near enough in a rather dismal afternoon for Spurs.

Arsenal came into today's fixture three points adrift from their London nemesis and ignoring the magnitude of getting a result in a derby, this was a must-win for Mikel Arteta and his side. Spurs look to be heading in a backwards direction since their two wins at the start of the season, with back to back losses against Crystal Palace and Chelsea adding to their own respective demands. Arsenal have now won their last three fixtures whereas Spurs have lost their last three. The urgency was clear to see in the opening ten minutes, and only from Arsenal, who bolstered out of the blocks, pressing Spurs deep inside their own half and controlling the possession on every occasion, Spurs were chasing the game very early on a looked abject in their play. Arsenal's constant adventure into the Spurs half was awarded in the 12th minute when Bukayo Saka breezed down the right and cut the ball back for Emile Smith Rowe to sweep home the opening goal. The goal was brilliant crafted, but also Spurs were so static and made no last ditch intervention to prevent the danger. The pattern of the game was consistent, Arsenal dominating the ball and Spurs struggling to even muster a series of passes together. Arsenal's urgency seemed more feasible, they wanted to take the initiative more than Spurs and were flooding forward at every opportunity, with both Aubameyang and Saka going close to a second. Spurs weren't at all growing in the game but Arsenal were opting to step off and gather some shape in their defensive structure. They asked the question to Spurs and other than a half-chance from Son, nothing materialized. Arsenal then destroyed Spurs on the counter with Aubameyang again involved as his beautiful flick-on set Smith-Rowe away down the left. He ran Japhet Tanganga to the edge of the box before pulling the ball back to Aubameyang, who clinically stroked the ball into far post and past a hapless Hugo Lloris. At this point, Spurs were in disarray and were completely out of the game. They failed to react to the opening goal and the same pattern was occurring. Talisman Harry Kane looked shell-shocked in his expression but in truth was the only Spurs player creating any meaningful threat. His header from a corner half an hour in should have been buried, given his high standards. His audacious shot a few moments later from range added to the growing frustrations of the England skipper. However, Spurs as a team were scattered, and let Arsenal hit them on the counter again just seven minutes after the second goal. Kane dallied on the ball outside the Arsenal box and was dispossessed by Thomas Partey, who picked out Smith-Rowe, when the latter sent Saka away down the right again. A combination of a back-peddling Eric Dier and a determined Kane was not enough as Saka fought his way through the pair of them and beautifully sliding the ball past Lloris for a deserved Arsenal third. The fact that Harry Kane, a man chasing Alan Shearer's goals record, was in his box attempting to defend Arsenal's third goal due to his error summed it all up for him and his side. The midfield for Spurs were, according to Graeme Souness "non-existent", and their defense was passive during every Arsenal attack. Certainly a half to remember and forget for each respective manager.

Spurs could not play any worse then they did in the first, where their overall performance was arguably one of the worst in Spurs' recent downfall. Their XG in the first half was a mere 0.24 compared to Arsenal's 1.14. Spurs also surrendered 64% possession to the home side, whilst offering no threat on the counter, in their build-up or from set-pieces, bar Kane's header. Nuno tried to force a reaction by bringing on Oliver Skipp and Emerson Royal for Alli and Tanganga, both of which struggled in the first half, like the rest of their teammates in fairness. Arsenal started the half better than the second, and asserted their dominance over the game once more. Spurs were still left in a state of limbo where their actions on the pitch suggested their refusal to react to the situation before them. Arteta's constant movement and barking on the touchline was reminiscent of Arsenal's performance where has Nuno Espírito Santos looked tense and concerned. Kane tried his best once more, and maybe should have had a penalty when he was clipped by Ben White on the edge of the box. It was not reviewed by VAR, presumably because it was 50/50 on whether it was inside or outside the box. Kane once again provided the only opportunity back into the game for the away side when on the hour mark he turned on the edge of the box and fired a shot towards the far corner that forced a solid save from Aaron Ramsdale. Kane nearly scored Spurs' opener again when a long ball over the top was expertly controlled by the England international. His only option was to chip the on rushing Ramsdale with White also in pursuit, but the execution was marginally off and it rolled wide of the post. Spurs looked run out of ideas and their fans looked out of patience, as after that Kane miss they start evacuating the hostile Emirates, and who could blame them. Arsenal were martialing the attempts from Spurs and looked comfortable on their defense and possession states. Saka looked absolutely phenomenal all game, and wanted a second for himself when he breezed past Reguilon and forced a good fingertip save from Lloris. Arsenal were still full of energy, maybe die to their absence from Europe this year but nonetheless their intensity was matched right up until the 90th minute. They might have lost focus in their hurriedness, and gave Spurs a lifeline ten minutes from time when substitute Bryan Gill linked up with Reguilon down the left before the latter crossed into the box where a lonesome Son tapped home in front of a barren Spurs away end. Things got slightly worse for Arsenal when Granit Xhaka, who had a commanding game, went down under a challenge from Lucas Moura just before the goal. Completely unintentional, but it looked a concern and he was brought off for Lokonga. Spurs nearly set up a dramatic last few minutes when Moura's curling shot was deflected towards the top corner only to be superbly tipped onto the bar by Ramsdale, a personal merit for the new Arsenal number one. Spurs' late rally was far too late and the final whistle was met by a rapture of roars from the Emirates faithful, who looked so joyous for the first time in many months.

For Arsenal, this will be a huge boost to the remainder of their season, with their poor start to the campaign becoming somewhat repaired by their recent run of results. They looked like a new-look Arsenal and the promises Arteta made regarding his team's quality when all the players are fit were fully merited. They looked incredible and the next task now for Arteta will be to instill some consistency off the back of this performance. There are also points where the manager can improve, as always. Arsenal should have undoubtedly scored more in the game and will also be frustrated to concede late on. As for Spurs, the concern amongst the camp will be growing based off their three defeats in three. Star man Harry Kane also looks a shadow of himself despite his threat throughout the game. A normal Kane would no doubt bury at least one of the chances he created but it is clear that some off-field issues are hampering his undeniable quality. However, his overall involvement in the game will be the main concern for Nuno, as at the end of the first half Kane's statistics were very worrying. Just 14 touches, six passes, one aerial dual out of six won and one touch inside the Arsenal box, which was the header. Nuno will want to change that, but overall, Kane was not the maker of Spurs' demise as the midfield and defense had serious problems in nullifying the constant threat from Arsenal. Next up for the Gunners is a tricky away trip to the resurgent Brighton whereas Spurs have an awkward game of their own, a home game against an Aston Villa side who have just beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.