Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham: Why derby victory must be title catalyst for Arteta and co

The Gunners needed a response when they were in trouble after the Son strike, and the biggest response came from 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly, who put in a magnificent performance, fully deserving of the standing ovation he received when he was taken out three minutes from time.

Lewis-Skelly belied his youth to emerge as a key driver and inspiration, completing 30 out of 32 passes, taking charge when Arsenal needed him most, with his manager describing his performance as “fantastic”.

Arteta said: “He was phenomenal. He’s a real personality. He has so much confidence in himself. He’s got that attitude about him. He had to play against Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski while managing the apartment. It’s not easy, but he was at the top.”

And Rice added: “That young kid was unbelievable. To play like he is at only 18 is just ridiculous. No fear. Four or five times in the second half he used his body to get away from somebody.”

If Arteta has been looking for signs that he has reserves of talent to ensure Arsenal can go deep this season in pursuit of trophies, then Lewis-Skelly, one of his new young stars, provided them.

Arteta told BBC Sport: “The attitude we played with, not feeling sorry for ourselves, was phenomenal. We played 120 minutes three days ago.

“We had some big chances and big situations. In the end we suffered more than we wanted. When you have the opportunities you have to take them. We are on a really consistent run in the Premier League.

“It’s now about recovery, then Aston Villa on Saturday, to go and go.”

And he added: “We know how important this match was and is. It’s a gift that we can make our supporters happy with.”

Now he must deliver an even greater gift in the form of a clinical finisher who can ensure this victory is not a false dawn in Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge.