Arsenal achieved a North London derby feat that they had never achieved in the Premier League before as Mikel Arteta's men edged Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 on Sunday.
The Gunners travelled to the home of their bitter adversaries with a severely depleted squad owing to injuries and suspensions, meaning that five teenagers were included on the Arsenal bench.
Arteta's men fronted up to a near full-strength Tottenham side, who had star striker Dominic Solanke and key defender Micky van de Ven back in their ranks following injury, and Ange Postecoglou's men were banging on the door for most of the first half.
However, just as it did against Leicester City and Newcastle United, Tottenham's toothlessness in attack cost them dear, while a spate of bookings - seven in the first half alone - also disrupted their momentum.
After Tottenham failed to make their first-half dominance pay, the hosts' set-piece weaknesses were exposed by dead-ball specialists Arsenal, as Gabriel Magalhaes headed in a Bukayo Saka corner from inside the six-yard box.
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William Saliba, Ben White match Tony Adams feat as Arsenal beat Spurs
The Brazilian then earned his keep with other members of Arsenal's steadfast backline to keep Tottenham at bay, as the Gunners won their third straight North London derby away from home.
Sunday's victory marked the first time in the Premier League era that Arsenal have triumphed in three successive away games against Tottenham, having previously not strung together such a streak since September 1988.
After a 3-0 humbling at the end of the 2021-22 season, Arteta masterminded a 2-0 win on the road in January 2023 before April's engrossing 3-2 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where two of their three goals came from set-pieces.
As well as Arsenal's collective club first, defensive duo Ben White and William Saliba became the first Gunners players to win their first three away North London derbies since legendary captain Tony Adams back in the late 1980s.
Both Arsenal and Spurs failed to make the most of dead-ball situations before the half-time whistle blew on Sunday, but after Arteta's men finally got one right, Tottenham were continuously found wanting in attack.
Arteta hails "top drawer" defending in Tottenham victory
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The Lilywhites dominated possession against an Arsenal team without all of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu and had 15 shots in total, but only a third of them found the target, and they were restricted to some hopeful shots from range towards the end.
Arteta revealed that Tottenham's forced Arsenal to change their game plan, but he labelled the Gunners' defending "top drawer" as they rose up to second in the Premier League standings.
"They are a great side and create an unbelievable atmosphere, we knew it would be tough. We believed we could hurt them, we weren't the best with the ball today," Arteta told Sky Sports News.
"The way we defended was top drawer. We want to play a different game but they put a structure that is extremely difficult to match up so we decided not to do that.
"We just work on heading the ball, having the right delivery and winning the ball. It is about the right timing. Over the season the team has to go over hurdles so I am delighted."
Arsenal now turn their attention to Thursday's Champions League opener away to Atalanta BC before heading to Manchester City for next Sunday's mouthwatering top-of-the-table battle.
Ben Knapton
