Bukayo Saka's cheeky jibe at Sergio Reguilón inside the opening minutes spelled Arsenal's fate as the Gunners went on to assert their dominance with a 3-1 triumph over Tottenham.
Emile Smith Rowe opened the scoring for Mikel Arteta's side following a gushing counter-attack that stemmed from Saka beating Reguilón with a flashing step over just moments after Arsenal's number seven deviously taunted the Spanish left-back.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled Arsenal's lead slotting the ball past Hugo Lloris, trickling beyond Tottenham's left-back who was left rooted to the spot.
Saka then etched his name on the score sheet following another counter-attack as saw Reguilón was exposed out of position losing sight of the England international who galloped forward before he nestled the ball into the net.
Saka's confrontation with Reguilón in the early minutes foreshadowed Arsenal's dominant display and symbolised the growing gulf in mentality between the two north London sides, as Arsenal went above and beyond to win a highly-contested derby.
The 20-year-old winger's guile went on to haunt the Spaniard's afternoon with all three of the Gunners' goals seemingly stemming from Reguilón's inability to overlook the youngster's cunning plan to rile him up the wrong mindset.
Inside the opening four minutes, Saka collided with Reguilón in a typical derby aerial contest which saw the Spain international crumble into a heap on the floor.
A foul was awarded to Spurs and Saka then unexpectedly flicked the ball towards the former Real Madrid defender while he was still clambering to his feet before giving Saka the devils, unimpressed by his opposition's gamesmanship.
Rattled by the encounter, Reguilón was desperate to one-up Saka and proceeded to take matters in his own hands with an ill-thought-out ploy that saw the Spaniard flail to the floor in a bid to win a free-kick.
Reguilon's pledge to combat his earlier meeting with Saka was waved away by referee Craig Pawson with the Hale End graduate having the last laugh.
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