Arsenal information: Eberechi Eze questioned as Mikel Arteta admits upsetting Gunners derby hero

Arsenal defeated Tottenham 4-1 in the north London derby with Eberechi Eze scoring twice, but the attacker’s performances this season have been questioned

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Arsenal are in buoyant mood following their 4-1 demolition of bitter rivals Tottenham on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s team ended a spell of underwhelming results with a commanding display on enemy territory in the north London derby including two goals from Eberechi Eze. The result re-established Arsenal’s five-point cushion at the Premier League summit, although Manchester City retain a fixture in hand away at Leeds.

The Gunners will now savour a welcome break to recharge, with their subsequent Premier League encounter being another capital clash against Chelsea this Sunday as they look to strengthen their position in the title race. Here’s all the latest news from the Emirates.

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Rooney’s scathing Eze verdict

Wayne Rooney has questioned acclaim surrounding Eze’s attitude this campaign, reports the Mirror.

The attacking midfielder completed a dream £67.5million switch to his childhood club in the summer from Crystal Palace, rejecting Spurs in the process.

Yet, five of his six Premier League strikes this campaign have arrived in the two matches against Tottenham, with the England star enduring lengthy periods without finding the net or providing an assist. His latest showing drew acclaim from Kelly Somers, presenter of The Wayne Rooney Show podcast, who spoke glowingly about Eze’s “mentality” and “character”.

However, Rooney remained unconvinced by that evaluation. The Manchester United and England legend said: “I disagree a bit because I don’t think he’s been good enough this season.

“The two Tottenham games have shined a big light on him but in other games I’ve watched him and not thought he’s been good enough.

“I think a lot of that is probably through not playing consistently, I get that, but when you talk about mentality and character, if I was him I would be trying to make it very difficult for the manager to leave me out, both with your performances and in training.

“Clearly he’s not doing enough to warrant a place in the team consistently. I get that Martin Odegaard is the captain but you’ve got to make it almost impossible for Mikel Arteta to leave you out.

“After the first Tottenham game I don’t think he did enough to stay in the team so you just hope now for him he plays better consistently to stay in the game. I think he needs to perform a little bit better than he has so far this season.”

Rooney added: “I think Eze is better in the penalty box but Odegaard is better when he’s a bit deeper. He’s very clever and picks up some great positions, his movement is very good, you just want to see a bit more from him in the final third. If you could combine the two of them you’d have a great player!”

Arteta ‘upset’ Eze

Arteta has revealed his thoughts on Eze’s mixed time at Arsenal so far.

Following his stellar hat-trick against Spurs in November, the ex-Crystal Palace star found it difficult to persuade his manager that he warranted being one of the first names on the team sheet.

Eze was given a rare opportunity to start in the disappointing 1-1 stalemate with Brentford earlier this month before being substituted at half time. The 27-year-old was then omitted from the starting line-up by Arteta against Wolves, who conceded the player was upset at the decision, though he now understands how to exploit Eze’s strengths moving forward.

The Spaniard stated: “He scored five goals in the last two games against them [Tottenham], which is extremely difficult to do. But I could see that he wanted to prove something.

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“He was upset, even with me, because I didn’t play him the other day from the beginning and some of the decisions that I made. And I start to understand how we’re going to get the best out of him now.

“You just have to look at his face and the way he was in the dressing room with a big smile, and his eyes are just expressing everything that you need to.

“He came here for a reason and we need those moments from these players. I think he and the front players today, they’ve done what we expect from them.”