Arsenal latest: Mikel Arteta admits he upset Eberechi Eze as Wayne Rooney calls out star

The 4-1 north London derby win over Tottenham has shifted the mood at Arsenal but not everyone is getting carried away

Arsenal will still be riding high after their 4-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta's men overcame a frustrating run of form with a dominant display away from home in the north London derby.

Despite a costly mistake from Declan Rice which allowed Spurs to equalise immediately after Eberechi Eze's opener, Eze's second strike and a Viktor Gyokeres double secured a memorable victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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The result re-established Arsenal's five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table, although Manchester City still have a game in hand to play away at Leeds.

The Gunners will now enjoy a rare period of respite to recover, with their next Premier League fixture being another London derby against Chelsea this Sunday. Here, football.london rounds up the latest news surrounding the table-toppers.

Rooney's Eze verdict

Wayne Rooney has taken issue with the praise being heaped on Eze's mentality this season. The attacking midfielder completed a dream £67.5million transfer to his boyhood club in the summer from Crystal Palace, rejecting Spurs in the process.

However, five of his six Premier League goals this campaign have come in the two north London derby clashes with Tottenham, with the England international enduring long streaks without a goal or assist. His latest performance drew admiration from Kelly Somers, host of The Wayne Rooney Show podcast, who spoke glowingly about Eze's 'mentality' and 'character'.

But Rooney remained unconvinced by that verdict, saying: "I disagree a bit because I don’t think he’s been good enough this season. The two Tottenham games have shined a big light on him but in other games I’ve watched him and not thought he’s been good enough.

"I think a lot of that is probably through not playing consistently, I get that, but when you talk about mentality and character, if I was him I would be trying to make it very difficult for the manager to leave me out, both with your performances and in training. Clearly he’s not doing enough to warrant a place in the team consistently.

"I get that Martin Odegaard is the captain but you’ve got to make it almost impossible for Mikel Arteta to leave you out. After the first Tottenham game I don’t think he did enough to stay in the team so you just hope now for him he plays better consistently to stay in the game. I think he needs to perform a little bit better than he has so far this season."

Rooney went on to add: "I think Eze is better in the penalty box but Odegaard is better when he’s a bit deeper. He’s very clever and picks up some great positions, his movement is very good, you just want to see a bit more from him in the final third. If you could combine the two of them you’d have a great player!"

Arteta 'upset' Eze

Arteta has spoken openly about Eze’s tough start to life at Arsenal. After scoring a historic hat-trick against Tottenham in November, the former Palace star found it difficult to establish himself as a starter and struggled to maintain his momentum.

The 27-year-old was handed a rare start in the frustrating 1-1 draw with Brentford earlier this month, only to be substituted at half-time. He was then omitted from the starting line-up for the following fixture against Wolves, with Arteta acknowledging the player's disappointment, though he says he has figured out how to maximise Eze’s strengths going forward.

The Spaniard said: "He scored five goals in the last two games against them, which is extremely difficult to do. But I could see that he wanted to prove something.

"He was upset, even with me, because I didn't play him the other day from the beginning and some of the decisions that I made. And I start to understand how we're going to get the best out of him now.

"You just have to look at his face and the way he was in the dressing room with a big smile, and his eyes are just expressing everything that you need to. He came here for a reason and we need those moments from these players. I think he and the front players today, they've done what we expect from them."

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