Former Etihad ace Gabriel Jesus marked his first north- London derby debut with a goal as Arsenal continued on its fine run to beat 10-man Tottenham 3-1 on Saturday to further endorse their intentions in the Premier League.
Jesus capitalized on a defensive blunder for the 2-1 advantage for the Gunners early in the second half when Tottenham’s chances of a comeback were squandered by Emerson Royal earning a straight red card for a reckless studs-up challenge on Gabriel Martinelli in the 62nd minute.
Granit Xhaka was quick to capitalize on the rivals’ man deficit disadvantage five minutes later by notching the third goal. Arsenal have now built a four-point gap to Spurs and Manchester City atop the table. A win would have seen Tottenham climb above Arsenal into first place with a win, but instead saw its 13-game unbeaten run in the league stretching back to last season come to an end.
For Jesus it was his first goal in the Manchester derby despite having scored 95 goals in six seasons at Man City.
“To be honest it’s the second time I scored in a derby. The first was for Brazil against Argentina,” Jesus told BT Sport. “We deserved to win, I don’t know how many chances we created.”
Arsenal had surged into the lead at the Emirates Stadium courtesy of a scintillating strike from midfielder Thomas Partey, whose long-distance shot brilliantly curled past Hugo Lloris in the 20th after the hosts started strongly.
The Gunners were dominant in possession for most of the first half while a laid-back Tottenham was content to wait for counter-attacking opportunities, a strategy that eventually paid off on the half-hour mark when the visitors launched a quick counter that ended with Arsenal giving away a penalty when defender Gabriel lunged in to trip Richarlison in the area.
Harry Kane perfunctorily sent the spot kick straight down the middle for the equalizer.
Not long after the restart Arsenal found their way back in front when Saka fired a low shot that Lloris could only parry straight out in front of him. Defender Cristian Romero quickly played the ball back to his goalkeeper but Lloris failed to collect the ball, which slid underneath his body, enabling Jesus to tap it into an empty net.
Arsenal now has seven wins in the first eight matches to strengthen its status as a proper title challenger, having finished fifth last season.