10-man Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 5-2 by Arsenal in this lunchtime's North London derby
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It was Tottenham that broke the deadlock after 10 minutes through Emmanuel Adebayor.
However, the ex-Arsenal striker brought down Santi Cazorla just seven minutes later with a high and studs-up tackle.
Howard Webb, who was taking charge of the North London derby for the first time, showed Adebayor a straight red for the challenge.
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Per Mertesacker scored his first goal as a Gunner six minutes later to level the scores.
A series of saves from Hugo Lloris kept Spurs in the game until Lukas Podolski put Arsenal ahead in the 41st minute, with Olivier Giroud adding to the score just before half-time.
Andre Villas-Boas's side came out attacking after the break with the introduction of Clint Dempsey and Michael Dawson, despite being a man and two goals down.
Arsenal made the most of their extra man in the 59th minute, Cazorla slotting their fourth into an empty net.
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The jubilant home supporters were silenced 10 minutes later, when sloppy defence from Arsenal allowed Gareth Bale to bring Spurs back into the match.
The visitors could have added a third four minutes later, but Jermaine Defoe was unable to get on the end of Bale's cross.
Arsenal spent much of the last 10 minutes keeping possession and passing the ball amongst the back four.
Theo Walcott capped off Arsenal's performance with a fifth goal in stoppage time to give the Gunners an impressive win over their neighbours.
Sian Cowper
