Arsenal put Tottenham Hotspur back in their place with a 4-2 win on Sunday afternoon, coming from behind in the second half to secure the victory.

After a good performance against Liverpool last month, Unai Emery’s side really needed to take it one step further by beating big six opposition. There was no better time to do it than in the North London derby, and thankfully, the players were up to the task.

Arsenal had to battle back after a couple of very controversial goals gave Tottenham a first-half lead, but there was nothing controversial about the way they turned their local rivals over after the break.

Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the match:

Goalkeeper and Centre-Backs

Bernd Leno 7

There’s no getting around the fact that Leno was partly at fault for Tottenham’s first goal. The free-kick was given for Son going down too easily, and Eric Dier was arguably offside, but nonetheless, the keeper could have saved it. Other than that, the German did very well, making a number of saves and distributing the ball effectively too.

Shkodran Mustafi 8

Mustafi wasn’t without a couple of shaky moments, and he did end up going off with an apparent injury, but it was still a very good performance overall. As usual, he led the backline in aerials and tackles won, his passing was generally very good and he had a couple of decent efforts on goal as well.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos 8.5

It’s been a while since Arsenal have had a centre-back who is quite as physical as Sokratis. He turns every challenge into a bit of a wrestling match and it’s hard not to love him for it. Tasked with marshalling Harry Kane, the Greek defender did very well. He did give away the free-kick that led to the Tottenham goal, but it was a soft decision.

Rob Holding 8

Holding had a similarly solid performance, and he can count himself extremely unfortunate to have given away a penalty for the most minimal of contact. At most, he brushed the top of Son’s foot, but nonetheless, he did take a risk diving in. Other than that he did very well once again.

Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Wing-Backs, Forwards and Substitutes

Midfield and Wing-Backs

Sead Kolasinac 8.5

Kolasinac was a massive threat on the left-hand side, particularly in the first half. He created five chances in the 90 minutes, more than anyone else on the pitch. This after he created both goals against Bournemouth last weekend. Certainly a fantastic turnaround for a player who was being written off after his performance against Wolves.

Granit Xhaka 8

As always, Xhaka spent a massive percentage of the game with the ball, with only Rob Holding seeing more of it. The Arsenal captain on the day played some very nice passes, including one cross-field free-kick to which led to a great chance in the first half.

He also did his defensive job very well. If we’re being ultra-critical, Xhaka possibly could’ve done more to stop Eric Dier getting his goal. Other than that he led the team excellently.

Lucas Torreira 9.5

It’s getting hard to put into words just how much Torreira is doing for this Arsenal team. As always, he didn’t give Tottenham a moment’s peace in midfield, and he was excellent in possession as well. A couple of clever turns to lose opponents brought back memories of Santi Cazorla in an Arsenal shirt.

What topped it all off was the Uruguayan’s well-taken goal and his passionate celebration in front of the Arsenal fans. He picked up the man-of-the-match award for the third time in four games and I can’t really argue with that decision.

Hector Bellerin 8

Bellerin put in a good performance, though he wasn’t quite as effective offensively as Kolasinac on the other side. Nonetheless, he did provide a threat, and he got back well when necessary too. His generally positive showing was tainted a little by a bizarre pass straight to Tottenham’s Son.

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Forwards

Alex Iwobi 7

Iwobi had good moments and bad ones in the first half, picking up some great positions but failing to make as much of them as he could have. One particularly good chance should’ve resulted in a goal but instead, he put it straight at Hugo Lloris. The winger did link up very well with Kolasinac though, up until his half-time substitution.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan 7

Mkhitaryan was certainly much improved on some of his recent performances, creating a couple of good chances and showing a lot of energy. However, it was still no real surprise to see him come off at half-time, as he just didn’t quite have the cutting edge that someone like Ramsey or Lacazette could bring.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 9.5

After a few big games without a goal, Aubameyang fully grasped this chance to shut the doubters up. He slotted away his penalty confidently, and followed that up with a fantastic equaliser in the second half, before setting up Lucas Torreira for the game-ending goal for 4-2.

What’s more, he also made five tackles, more than anyone else on the pitch. It was an all-action performance, and just what the Arsenal fans were hoping for from him.

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Substitutes

Aaron Ramsey 9

The introduction of Ramsey and Lacazette at half-time changed the game for Arsenal, and it was the Welshman who set up both the equalising goal and Lacazette’s finish to give the team the lead. Neither assist was particularly impressive, but they were still crucial moments in the match.

Ramsey also threw himself into a couple of important tackles, and he rubbished any talk that he might not give his all in his contract situation.

Alexandre Lacazette 8.5

Lacazette provided the extra goalscoring threat that Arsenal needed to turn the game back in their favour, and he ended up scoring the winning goal for the Gunners. The actual finish was a little fortunate, deflecting in off Eric Dier, but the Frenchman has certainly earned his luck recently.

Matteo Guendouzi 8

There’s no doubting that Guendouzi understood the importance of this match. He was getting involved in the action before he even came onto the pitch, running over to confront the Spurs players during the fight following their rather premature celebrations.

When he did come on, he did a solid job breaking up play and finding his teammates, without doing anything particularly spectacular.