Arteta refuses to be drawn on whether Arsenal are now contenders for the title after beating Spurs

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta believes the 3-1 win over Tottenham should give his players the confidence they can challenge at the top this season.

Totally valuable to their derby win, The Gunners retaliated for Tottenham’s win in north London in May, effectively condemning their opponents to the Europa League.

They opened the score with Partey’s fine 25-yard strike and, after Kane scored his 14th goal in 18 North London derbies from the spot, Mikel Arteta’s side stepped down after the break.

Gabriel Jesus fell home after a moderate error by Hugo Lloris and moments after Emerson Royal’s red card, Granit Xhaka killed the match.

“For me, the message to the players and everyone here at the club is that we can play against these kinds of opponents at this level,” the Spaniard said. “That should give them confidence and faith.

‘It is awesome. It’s great to look at the table and see the club in this position. It certainly gives you a great feeling. But we are focused.

Thomas Partey opened the scoring for Arsenal in spectacular fashion from outside the box

“It’s a very hungry and humble team, believe me. It’s nothing we’ve done so far and there’s still a lot to improve on. That is the direction we are going.

“We have just started and we are very happy with where we are. The table says what it says and we don’t look at it.

‘Great performance, a great day. It was an incredible atmosphere to play in, so I’m so grateful to the people who are connected to the team in such a special way.

“I’m really happy because it’s an opportunity to make a lot of people happy and proud and I think we’ve all done that.”

Hugo Loris fiddled the ball right into the path of Jesus rolling the ball into the net

Granit Xhaka scored Arsenal’s third goal with a low finish after Emerson Royal’s red card