EZE HAT-TRICK AND EASY WIN

FROM BACK PAGE

- BY JOHN CROSS

EBERECHI EZE had already written his name into Arsenal folklore by turning down Spurs to move to the Emirates.

But this was the North London Derby day when he took his cult hero status to a whole new level with a hat-trick and a match-winning performance to stamp Arsenal's authority all over the title race.

Mind the gap? Arsenal did not just embarrass Tottenham but they also put themselves six points clear at the top, seven ahead of third-placed Manchester City and 11 above reigning champions Liverpool. Blimey, imagine if the Gunners had their best team out.

They were missing at least three key players - Gabriel, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Odegaard - and were still a class apart.

Tottenham - apart from a brief spell after Richarlison's wonder goal - were so poor that no wonder there are murmurings from even their most loyal fans about Thomas Frank.

Have they got the right man? Frank went for three centre-backs - which was so defensive it had both fullbacks tucking in - but abandoned that at halftime.

When they went 2-0 down, several Tottenham players turned to the bench with their body language almost saying, 'What now?' They looked as if they had given up.