For those who have followed Eberechi Eze's career, the sight of him wheeling away to celebrate an important goal towards the end of the season will not come as a surprise.

Tottenham Hotspur fans, though, will be happy not to come up against the Arsenal forward again until next season.

Eze has scored 40 Premier League goals in his six league seasons, with 19 coming from the 30th game onwards.

Basically, the England international has a record of netting goals late in the campaign, when it matters most.

Eze, who scored the winning goal for Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final last season against Manchester City, has tormented Spurs since turning them down last summer to sign for the Gunners.

Having netted a hat-trick in the 4-1 north London derby win back in November, another two followed in Sunday's crucial encounter at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

"He had that belief and I'm really happy with him. He's really trying to mould and adapt into what we want from him," said boss Mikel Arteta.

Ironically, Eze's other league goal this season came against his former side Palace in a 1-0 win in October, which means all his league goals this term have come against those two teams.

And after his brace in Arsenal's latest thumping of their rivals, only Robert Pires (seven) and Emmanuel Adebayor (six) have more Premier League goals for the Gunners against Tottenham than Eze's five.

He is also the first Arsenal player to score five or more goals against an opponent in the same top-flight season since Adebayor against Derby in 2007-08 (six).

Supporters had already taken to the 27-year-old because of the way he signed for the club, turning down Spurs to join them instead in a £60m deal, but the goals he has scored are the icing on the cake.

A positive after tough moments

It's been a difficult period for Eze, who has found minutes in the league hard to come by and this was was only his second start in the league since December.

He has a tough route into the team with captain Martin Odegaard a key part of Arteta's first-choice midfield when he is fit and Leandro Trossard being in good form on the left wing, which is the other position Eze might feature.

The Arsenal boss did trial Eze on the left, but he switched off when Matty Cash scored Aston Villa's opener in their 2-1 defeat in December, and, despite starting the following game, he was left on the substitute's bench for the next four league matches.

Arteta opted to play England winger Bukayo Saka from the start in the disappointing 2-2 draw with Wolves in midweek as a number 10 - ahead of Eze, who started on the bench.

And the Spaniard admitted: "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 just have to understand how we're going to get the best out of him now."

Arteta was asked by BBC Sport whether Eze's record of scoring late in the season was one of the reasons they signed him.

"We looked at every stat, but that one, to be very honest, no," he added while laughing.

"He scored five goals in the last few games against them, which is extremely difficult to do. But I could see that he wanted to prove something."

England manager Thomas Tuchel was in attendance at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and Eze will have hoped to have caught his eye after a recent lack of game time to boost his World Cup hopes this summer.

"Today it's worked out, we thank God for it," Eze told Sky Sports. "We put in a good performance. We did what we needed to do, which was the main thing.

"I'm always trying to get in those positions to be ready and to find the space and to work hard to get those opportunities. It takes a lot to get there and it's worked out today."

Best performance of season for Gyokeres

It was also an important day for Eze's teammate Viktor Gyokeres.

The Swedish international has been criticised at times this season for his performances, but since the turn of the year, he has started to find some form.

And after a double himself at Spurs, no Premier League player has scored more goals in 2026 across all competitions than Gyokeres with eight of his 15 for his club coming in this calendar year.

The 27-year-old linked up with Eze and played a big part in Arsenal's third goal, while he seemed to visibly grow in confidence after scoring.

"For me, the best, the most complete, and especially when we need him most and that is when big players and big clubs have to stand up when you are needed," added Arteta when asked about his £64m summer signing from Sporting.

Arsenal are now five points clear of Manchester City, although they have played one more game and visit Pep Guardiola's men at Etihad Stadium in April - and Eze and Gyokeres look like they are starting to find the net at just the right time.