Eberechi Eze delivered a telling blow to his former team by scoring his first Premier League goal for Arsenal in a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday to extend the North London club's lead at the top of the standings.
Eze, who spent five seasons at Selhurst Park before Arsenal signed him in August, struck in the 39th minute when Gabriel Magalhaes headed Declan Rice's free kick into his path. The midfielder leapt to steer a first-time finish out of the air past Dean Henderson.
The 27-year-old, who was a key part of Palace's victorious FA Cup run last season, did not celebrate the goal.
The victory extended Arsenal's unbeaten run to six league matches and 10 games in all competitions, and opened up a four-point cushion over second-placed Bournemouth with 22 points after nine games.
Mikel Arteta's team also opened up a six-point lead over rivals Manchester City, who are fourth after their 1-0 loss on Sunday at Aston Villa.
"It's hard to put a finger on (why we are doing particularly well this season) but every season we learn more and more," Leandro Trossard told Sky Sports. "We just want to win, we want to win every game."
The first half had few attempts for either team, with Trossard's shot saved by Henderson.
The second half at the Emirates Stadium had a far different feel as Arsenal pressed for a second goal, with a flurry of chances including a chance at an easy tap-in for Bukayo Saka that Palace defender Marc Guehi scrambled to boot clear.
A frenzied series of Arsenal shots had Gabriel's header cannon off the bar and Rice and Saka both go close.
"We're really pleased with the win and another clean sheet. We need to keep going," Trossard said.
"Lately it has been like that, we have to keep patience throughout the game because we know we can score anytime. It would have been nice if we had put the game to bed."
David Raya earned an impressive ninth clean sheet in 12 Premier League and Champions League games this season, while Arsenal have scored a league-high 11 goals from dead-ball situations.
"I think everybody knows how Arsenal are defensively and we needed to take our chances," Palace defender Chris Richards told Sky. "Set-pieces are probably their forte right now. But we went toe-to-toe with the best team in the league."
Palace, whose last league win was a 2-1 victory over Liverpool on September 27, dropped to 10th in the table.
Arsenal had some luck on their side as well, with reigning champions Liverpool and City, who won six out of seven league titles before finishing third last season, both losing this weekend.
"You see the other results in the Premier League," Arteta said. "You have to be so good to win."
Van de Ven double lifts Tottenham to victory at Everton
Two headed goals by Tottenham Hotspur's Micky van de Ven helped his side to a 3-0 Premier League win over Everton on Sunday as the visitors became the first team to win in the Merseyside club's new stadium.
Tottenham made a sluggish start but took the lead in the 19th minute when Dutch defender Van de Ven nodded in from virtually on the goal line following a corner.
Jake O'Brien thought he had equalised soon after but his powerful header was disallowed for an infringement on Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Van de Ven doubled Tottenham's lead with another close-range header from another corner in first-half stoppage time to leave Everton with a mountain to climb.
Vicario made some superb saves in the second half as Tottenham protected their advantage and substitute Pape Matar Sarr headed a late third to secure the victory that lifted Tottenham to third in the table with 17 points from nine games.
Everton are 14th with 11 points.
Before kickoff at the gleaming Hill Dickinson Stadium on the banks of the River Mersey, Everton were the only team in the Premier League not to have conceded a goal from a set piece.
By halftime that boast was redundant as the hosts were twice left red-faced by corner routines.
Set pieces have become a theme of the season so far with corners and long throws being utilised across the top flight with increasing success.
Tottenham showed they are keeping up with the fashion as both their goals smacked of simple training ground ploys.
First Mohammed Kudus swung in a deep corner beyond the back post when Rodrigo Bentancur improvised with his shoulder to send the ball back into the area where Van de Ven pounced.
Tottenham's second goal was also simple but deadly. This time Pedro Porro whipped in a corner and Van de Ven out-muscled Everton's England keeper Jordan Pickford to skim a header into the net and leave the hosts scratching their heads.
"I've never scored two goal in one game," Van de Ven, who now has five goals in all competitions this season, told Sky Sports.
"We saw some great mentality again today. When we play away in the Premier League, we know it is going to be tough, and we showed great character."
It was the perfect way for Tottenham to bounce back from last weekend's home defeat by Aston Villa and they have now picked up 13 out of 15 points on the road this season.
Everton will point to a rather harshly disallowed goal, ruled out because an offside player was adjudged to be hampering Vicario from a corner.
But they did not show enough invention despite plenty of possession and even when they did get a sight of goal, Vicario proved an unbreakable barrier with one reflex save from Beto's close-range overhead kick simply top class.
