Arsenal humiliate Spurs
However bad things have seemed for Arsenal over the last decade, beating Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium can usually be relied on.
Just not usually as emphatically as Sunday's north London derby triumph, a 3-1 victory helping to clear the early-season gloom for Mikel Arteta's side.
Never before in the Premier League has Arsenal scored three goals as quickly in a derby.
The goals inside the opening 34 minutes from Emile Smith Rowe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka rattled Tottenham and gave Arsenal fans an afternoon of gloating in the late September sun.
"It's quite easy when you have boys like this, they always listen, always ready to learn," Aubameyang said. “They feel free when they play. That's why they're doing amazing.”
It was a month ago as August was drawing to a close that Arsenal had opened the season with three losses, including at defending champion Manchester City, without scoring while Tottenham was top with a perfect start. The captain wanted to put things right. “After the game after City, we needed to have a chat between players,” Aubameyang said. “We're doing really well right now.”
The only thing consistent this month for Tottenham has been losing all three games and conceding three in each. Arsenal, meanwhile,
has won all three games since the international break.
Arteta will be feeling relieved.
“He just tells us to keep calm," Smith Rowe said, and he encourages us”.
A couple of months into the job, Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo was unable to have any impact in preventing this humiliation.
“I am very honest,” he said. “If the game plan didn't work out the way you wanted, it's because you didn't decide it well”.
Not even Harry Kane, stopped from joining Manchester City, could come to the rescue.
In fact, the striker managed to give away the ball inside Tottenham's half to Thomas Partey that led to Arsenal scoring again on the break.