Eberechi Eze is a world-class player…when there’s a strong narrative. He scored his fourth and fifth goals against Tottenham for Arsenal in an emphatic 4-1 away win for the league leaders.
It wasn’t plain sailing for the Gunners, as it rarely has been of late.
Arsenal are far too eager to prove they are their own worst enemies. They might want to believe it’s Manchester City, Howard Webb or the Football Association, but they have an uncanny habit of shooting themselves in the foot.
Declan Rice was the shock self-saboteur when he tried to dribble past Randal Kolo Muani on the edge of his own box seconds after Eze gave the visitors the lead. His pocket was picked and Kolo Muani ran into the box to smash the ball under David Raya.
It was Tottenham’s only touch in the Arsenal box in the first half, and Kolo Muani’s first Premier League goal. It was also his first league goal since scoring for Juventus in May 2025, under new Spurs boss Igor Tudor, who got five goals out of the Frenchman last season.
It was the fifth Premier League goal Arsenal have conceded this season that came from an Opta-defined error, and it summed up what they have been like recently. Four of their goals conceded in 2026 have been from defensive mistakes, and three of the other four were long-range beauties, including Hugo Bueno’s peach at Molineux on Wednesday.
Arsenal being their own worst enemy has cost them in two of their previous three fights for the title. 2022/23 might have come too soon for a young squad and manager, but they still ‘bottled’ it. The following year, the Gunners were near-perfect in the run-in, but Mikel Arteta overthinking in one game against Aston Villa was the difference.
Their recent form has been classic Arsenal: shooting themselves in the foot, losing their bottle, being their own worst enemy. Spurs away was the perfect opportunity to bounce back and a daunting task all the same.
Eze’s opener should have settled the nerves, but Rice’s error ensured that wasn’t the case.
Not in the away end anyway. The players weren’t rocked. They came out in the second half and did the job against the most beatable Spurs team since last season.
The referee’s technology delayed the second half from kicking off, just as it halted the first half for seven minutes with Arsenal in the ascendancy. It was pathetic, but Gary Neville’s complaints kept us entertained. He sounded like someone ringing up Virgin Media. The PGMOL would somehow have worse customer service than them as well.
It took less than two minutes for Arsenal to retake the lead, scoring through Viktor Gyokeres, who definitely had his best night for the Gunners. He is not beating the flat-track bully allegations, is he? The guy can only score against relegation fodder!
But the story of the day was cemented when Eze scored his second and did a cool spinny thing on the ground.
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Gyokeres played his part in Eze’s second, but there was plenty of luck involved when the ball fell perfectly to the Arsenal man off Joao Palhinha’s heel. The big man upstairs really likes it when Eze scores against the team he rejected last summer. It was like divine intervention.
Six Premier League goals is a poor return for someone of Eze’s calibre, but the bigger story is when and how those goals arrived. Not only is North London Derby Ebere Eze a Ballon d’Or-calibre player, but Narrative Ebere Eze seems to be the best player in the world.
Five of those six came against Spurs, who tried to sign him from Crystal Palace in the summer before watching Arsenal steal him from under their noses, and the other came against Palace themselves. It’s amazing.
Eze has been largely underwhelming this season, but he clearly shows up when the narrative is strong. There was the winner against Palace back in October, a hilarious hat-trick in his derby debut, and now a match-winning brace at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
If only there were some story behind every opposition. He’d win Arsenal the Quadruple – which remains on, by the way. But so it does for Manchester City, which fewer people are talking about.
Sunday’s derby was an important test of Arsenal’s title credentials amid their wobble. A win should raise confidence levels and perhaps produce the second wind they have clearly been needing.
A few players still look a bit off the pace. Rice’s mistake was a surprise, Leandro Trossard was sloppy throughout, Bukayo Saka continues to underwhelm, and Jurrien Timber looked destined for a second yellow before being hooked in the 57th minute. But at least Gyokeres looked sharper than ever and scored a brilliant brace.
Gabriel also might have cost Arsenal had Peter Bankes not bought his fall after Kolo Muani’s push. It was a foul, but it was his trademark collapse from minimal contact, something we have witnessed before, including twice at Newcastle United.
Arsenal did just fine, though. It was a convincing 4-1 victory. A statement. A crucial test passed with flying colours.
Spurs, meanwhile, continue to look utter tosh. Xavi Simons was awful and Radu Dragusin couldn’t deal with Gyokeres, which has not been said about many Premier League defenders this season.
It was a disappointing first match for Igor Tudor. His players showed some fight and a bit more urgency, but it was the same old story, really: a lack of quality, an inability to get the supporters engaged, and a home defeat.
They remain 16th, four above the drop zone and two behind Leeds United. It’s bleak. There is no dressing it up. They are in a relegation battle. There is no Leicester, Southampton and Ipswich to bail you out this year, fellas.
Having been beaten by the league leaders, the bigger story will be about the title race and what Arsenal can achieve this season.
If Narrative Eze doesn’t go into hiding again, they can achieve literally anything.
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