The Cityzens had overcome a dogged Newcastle side on Saturday night, and with the Gunners having been labelled 'bottlers' after dropping points at Wolves in midweek, they had to step up if they wanted to retain a five-point gap at the top of the Premier League table.
Tudor inspired confidence in lead up to NLD
To give a little more perspective to the argument that Arsenal had withered again under the pressure, they had conceded two or more goals in four of their last nine league games when both William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes had started.
In the previous 22 league games to that, when both were in situ, they hadn't done so once.
Interim Spurs boss Igor Tudor - the fourth Croatian manager to take charge of a Premier League game after Velimir Zajec, Slaven Bilic and Ivan Juric - had certainly made all of the right noises during pre-match interviews and his press conference, but he would've been well aware that the Lilywhites hadn't beaten their fiercest rivals in the league since May 2022.
100 up for Rice
Both managers made two changes from the previous starting XIs, with Declan Rice making his 100th Premier League appearance for the Gunners.
Tudor had gone with a back three, which is a system that hadn't really suited the hosts previously. Indeed, Spurs had won only one of their last nine league games with such a formation (D3, L5), a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace back in May 2023.
Viktor Gyokeres, who had been amongst the goals recently but hadn't contributed an awful lot more - as just 12 touches in the Wolves game would attest - had two shots at goal within the first seven minutes of this match.
As might've been expected too, Arsenal dominated the early possession, collectively having 73% in the opening quarter hour.
Eze scores against Spurs... again
Pape Matar Sarr's 21st-minute effort was all that Tottenham could offer by way of a response, and it was therefore no surprise at all when Eberechi Eze put the visitors ahead just after the half hour.
The former Crystal Palace man has arguably been something of a disappointment this season, and that could be seen by the fact that his goal, the fifth he'd scored in the Premier League this season, was his first since November 23, against Tottenham.
Spurs had failed to win any of their last 28 games when conceding first, dating back to a November 2024 fixture against Aston Villa, and that could've played into their mentality.
However, a mistake from Rice shortly after the restart saw Randal Kolo Muani equalise within 122 seconds. In so doing, he became the first Spurs player to score his first-ever Premier League goal in a North London derby since Danny Rose in April 2010.
That only appeared to galvanise Arsenal, and by half-time, they'd had 12 shots - their most in the first half of a derby on record (from 2003/04).
The much-lauded Micky van de Ven made just three passes before the break, and by the end of the match had only touched the ball 34 times, one of the worst showings on the day.
Gyokeres answers his critics
Given that most Spurs players were well off with their passing - only two starters had over 80% success - their assignment was always going to be a difficult one against a team renowned for such dynamic and effective interplay.
Within two minutes of the second-half beginning, Gyokeres answered his critics with a venomous drive that gave Guglielmo Vicario no chance of saving.
His ninth league goal of the season was also his seventh overall in 2026 - no Premier League player has more in the calendar year - and those seven accounted for exactly half of the goals he'd scored in all competitions for Arsenal to that point.
Once Eze had added another on the hour - his eighth in nine appearances vs Tottenham - it was effectively game over for the hosts, and that could also be sensed by the way that their heads dropped.
Sarr fighting a losing battle
Only Sarr was offering anything like the expected response. His two shots, winning seven out of 12 one-on-ones and three interceptions is hardly elite, but in the grand scheme of things, worthy of note given the lack of character being shown by many of his teammates.
In the space of two North London derbies, Eze had effectively put his name up in lights, as only Robert Pires with seven and Emmanuel Adebayor with six have more Premier League goals for the Gunners against the Lilywhites.
Try as they might, Spurs were offering little in attack until substitute Richarlison managed a shot on target with six minutes to play. It brought wry cheers from a group of supporters that had seen it all before and appeared resigned to the defeat well before the end of the game.
The Brazilian would at least get another shot on target in stoppage time, though two minutes later, Gyokeres' strength and purpose saw him underscore one of his better performances in an Arsenal shirt with a fourth goal that had the majority heading for the exits.
Defeat leaves Spurs perilously close to bottom three
A 15th goal of the season for the Swedish international saw to it that he has the most by a player in their debut season for Arsenal in all competitions since Alexandre Lacazette's 17 in the 2017/18 campaign.
Teammate, Piero Hincapie, can also hold his head high with seven tackles in the match, being more than any other player attempted, and also more than double his more celebrated defensive colleague, Gabriel.
The defeat leaves Tottenham just four points above the bottom three, with their next two matches - also London derbies - against Fulham and Crystal Palace now taking on added significance.
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