*As Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur to go six points clear at the top

Eberechi Eze scored a sensational hat-trick as Arsenal moved six points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-1 thrashing of north London rivals Spurs at the Emirates Stadium.

Eze, who came close to joining Spurs before his move to Arsenal in August, showed them what they missed out on as he produced three outstanding finishes after Leandro Trossard’s opener in a masterful performance in his first north London derby.

Eze has become the first Arsenal player since 1978 to score a hat-trick against Spurs.

Spurs briefly threatened an unlikely comeback when Richarlison beat David Raya with an audacious lob from 35 yards out, but Arsenal were already three up at that point and Eze’s hat-trick goal, curled brilliantly beyond Guglielmo Vicario, killed the game.

Richarlison’s goal was one of only three shots by Spurs, who switched to a back five but could not resist Arsenal’s dominance, with Eze guiding his first goal into the bottom corner following smart footwork after Mikel Merino had picked out Trossard for the opener.

Thomas Frank reverted to a back four at half-time, throwing on Xavi Simons for Kevin Danso, but Eze struck his second just 35 seconds after the restart, again picking out the corner in sublime style.

His hat-trick goal, following Richarlison’s extraordinary strike for Spurs, was the pick of the three, making him only the fourth Arsenal player in history to score a treble against Spurs and making it four consecutive wins in the fixture for the Gunners.

With Manchester City and Liverpool having suffered defeats to Newcastle and Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Mikel Arteta’s side open up a six-point gap on second-placed Chelsea, who they face at Stamford Bridge next Sunday.

The result emphatically ends Spurs’ unbeaten start in Premier League away games under Frank, leaving them ninth as the head coach faces more questions about their lack of attacking threat.