Arsenal legend Paul Merson has slammed his former club for nearly throwing away a 3-0 lead against Tottenham Hotspur and insisted you would not see Manchester City do similar.

The Gunners were fully in control of proceedings at the break thanks to a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg own goal, Bukayo Saka's neat finish on the counter and Kai Havertz's powerful header. Spurs looked dead and buried but were handed a lifeline 25 minutes before full-time as David Raya was caught in two minds with his clearance providing Cristian Romero with a straightforward opportunity to pull them back.

And suddenly it became very nervy with four minutes to go as a rash Declan Rice challenge was spotted by VAR leading to a penalty converted by Son Heung-min. Ange Postecoglou's side piled the pressure on late to grab the all-important equaliser but Arsenal just about held firm for the victory.

Reflecting on the result on Sky Sports, Merson fumed about the eventual manner of the victory. "They shouldn’t have had to [dig in], they shouldn’t have had to," he explained.

"Simple as that. It is [their takeaway] - do the simple things well, and the simple thing was for that goalkeeper to put the ball 60-70 yards up the pitch.

"Even though you’re 3-0 up, it doesn’t mean you can start taking liberties with the other team. Football changes that quickly - that’s what you’ve got to learn.

"They were absolutely cruising and they’re hanging on for dear life at the end - I mean hanging on. That’s inexperience.

"They might have [drawn that match last season]. I think if Tottenham got up ahead of steam they might not have had another chance to score after 3-2, but they were so, so comfortable.

"You wouldn’t see Man City doing that. Brilliant, fair play to them, you’ve got to win games and they’ve come here and won. The main thing is for the fans - this is a huge game for Arsenal fans and they won the game."

City went on to win 2-0 against Nottingham Forest in the later kick-off on Sunday meaning the Gunners sit a point above their title rivals having played a match more than Pep Guardiola's men.

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