Gary Neville was full of praise for Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres as the Gunners got their Premier League title charge back on track with a north London win over Tottenham.

The league leaders dominated their arch-rivals in the opening 45 minutes and took the lead through Eberechi Eze, who was close to joining Spurs last summer.

Eze, who scored a hat-trick in the corresponding fixture at the Emirates Stadium, had agreed a move to Tottenham before Arsenal hijacked the deal and poached him from Crystal Palace.

Arsenal were well worth their 32nd-minute opener but the hosts responded immediately and equalised less than two minutes later through Randal Kolo Muani.

Kolo Muani dispossessed an unusually casual Declan Rice and managed to get a shot away that beat Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.

Rice was seen urging his teammates to switch on after Eze’s goal but was soon apologising for his part in Tottenham’s leveller.

Fortunately for Rice and Arsenal the blunder did not prove costly as the Gunners reasserted their dominance after the break and retook the lead through Gyokeres’ emphatic strike.

Arsenal were pegged back by Brentford and Wolves in their last two league games but there was to be no repeat here, with Eze scoring his second of the afternoon to all but put the game to bed.

Gyokeres scored again in injury-time to cap off an impressive performance from both the striker and Arsenal, who maintain their dominance over north London rivals Tottenham.

Gyokeres endured an underwhelming start to his Arsenal career but the £64m summer signing now has seven goals since the turn of the New Year.

Neville was hugely impressed by Gyokeres’ performance against Spurs and said it was his ‘best’ display in an Arsenal shirt for a while.

‘He looks really lively and smart, Gyokeres,’ Neville said after the Sweden international restored Arsenal’s lead at Tottenham.

‘It’s the best I’ve seen him for a while. It’s a great moment for him. He’s still got a lot to do when it comes to him – and he hasn’t always been smooth – but it’s a wonderful finish.

‘Gyokeres has had one of his best games for Arsenal, he’s been a real nuisance. It’s the best I’ve seen him in a big game.

‘He’s never going to be the prettiest striker but he deserves that award. He’s looked sharper today as well, it’s the most involved he’s been in a Premier League game.’

Former Manchester United and England defender Neville was less impressed by Rice’s ‘stupid’ mistake for Tottenham’s equaliser.

‘You cannot believe that,’ he said on Sky Sports. ‘Declan Rice has just joined his backline in making an error, this time it’s a really poor one.

‘Rice tries to dribble past Kolo Muani, who still has a lot to do. Saliba has got to be more aggressive than that, hasn’t he? It’s a nothing challenge and his mate, Gabriel, can’t get across.

‘We’ve seen a few of those stupid little errors from Arsenal’s senior players. Tottenham have had nothing in this game, Arsenal were so comfortable but there’s been a few lapses of concentration and its contagious and it has to stop otherwise they’ll be in trouble.

‘Rice was telling everyone to concentrate after Arsenal’s goal but then it’s so loose from him. I think Saliba could do better but Rice holds his hands up because he knows it was his mistake.’

Arsenal’s north London derby win means Mikel Arteta’s side restore their five-point lead over second-placed Manchester City with 11 games remaining.

Tottenham, meanwhile, stay 16th but are now just four points above the relegation zone.

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