Robin van Persie scored twice as Arsenal exploited lax Tottenham defending to ease to a 3-0 victory on Saturday and remain unbeaten against their Premier League rivals over the last decade.

The first half turned in the 42nd minute when Tottenham paid for their defensive lapses with Van Persie putting Arsenal in front and Cesc Fabregas making it 2-0 just 11 seconds after play restarted. Van Persie brushed off Ledley King’s weak challenge and goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes’ tame touch couldn’t keep out the opener.

“It was quite tight and tough in the first half hour because we both went for it,” Van Persie said. “From the moment we scored our first goal, they died basically.”

From the restart, Wilson Palacios gave the ball away and Fabregas burst through before slotting into the net. Arsenal sank Tottenham’s faint hopes of a comeback in the 60th minute when Van Persie seized on the failure of King and Gomes to clear by grabbing the third.

“They were sloppy goals that we conceded,” Spurs manager Harry Redknapp said. “I was angry with the goals, but not the performance.”

“The goals we gave away turned the whole game upside down,” he added. “I thought they were edgy, they were giving the ball away, the crowd was moaning at every mistake. I thought we were going to come in at half time in great shape.”

But with Spurs shorn of their three most attacking talents — Luka Modric, Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe through injury and suspension — recovering a two-goal deficit as they did in last year's 4-4 draw looked unlikely.The victory boosted Arsenal’s hopes of a first league title since 2004 by earning Arsene Wenger his 1,000th league point since taking charge at 13 years ago. In that time, Tottenham have gone through 13 managers.

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