Mikel Arteta enjoyed a triumphant 300th match in charge of Arsenal after goals by Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka clinched a 2-0 home win over West Ham.
The Hammers had claimed all three points on their last two visits to Emirates Stadium to dent the Gunners' title bids, but their old captain Rice helped ensure it was a different story this time.
Rice broke the deadlock in the 38th-minute with a powerful finish before Saka's penalty after 67 minutes wrapped up a routine victory for the Gunners.
It was not a perfect afternoon for Arteta with captain Martin Odegaard forced off with an injury and Viktor Gyorekes unable to score to extend his goal drought to six matches going into the October international break.
New West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has far more problems, though, with the east London side firmly in the relegation zone after a fifth Premier League loss of the campaign.
Tottenham Hotspur beat Leeds United 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday thanks to a goal and assist from Mohammed Kudus that consigned the home side to a first league defeat at Elland Road in over a year.
Mathys Tel led the line for Spurs and he gave them the lead in the 23rd minute with a deflected strike before Noah Okafor quickly equalised when Guglielmo Vicario parried a shot into his path for a simple tap-in.
As the rain came pelting down in the second half, Kudus pounced on a defensive error to surge towards goal and another deflected shot beat Leeds keeper Karl Darlow to give Spurs a 2-1 lead and the Ghanaian his first goal for the club.
Leeds' unbeaten home run ended at 23 league games as Spurs moved provisionally up to second in the table on 14 points, a point behind Liverpool who visit Chelsea later on Saturday. Leeds are 12th with eight points.
