Arsenal vs Tottenham: Mesut Ozil opens up on performance after captivating north London derby

Mesut Ozil has thanked his teammates after a brilliant performance where Arsenal came out on top over Tottenham Hotspur in a captivating north London derby. The Gunners were overwhelming underdogs going into the game but produced 90 minutes of resilience to end talk of a reported power shift in north London.

The German has been on the end of some massive stick from fans and pundits alike for a series of unconvincing performances but on the day he came out on top with a match-winning performance, providing the assist for Shkodran Mustafi's opener from a set piece. Ozil hustled and harried the opposition throughout the game and was bade goodbye with a standing ovation from the Arsenal faithful.

However, speculation is rife over the future of Ozil, whose contract expires after the end of the season. Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is said to be closely monitoring the situation, while earlier this week reports in Spain claimed that Barcelona are also considering him as a potential alternative to Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho.

The win takes Arsenal within a point of Tottenham but fails to rise above sixth after results around them came to break. Alexis Sanchez scored the second and put the game to bed from a cross by Alexandre Lacazette to complete what was the Gunners' first derby win in over three years.

"Yes, of course. We are happy, the fans are happy and we are happy to have Musti back. He showed his quality today and you see our defence is more stable and more compact. Really on the pitch, I just think about the team, myself and everything on the pitch. Today our aims were to do everything, believes in ourselves and at the end of the day we won the game and are very happy," Ozil remarked on the game, as quoted by Arsenal's official website.

"I really enjoy it, I talked to you guys in the past and we have good quality and Lacazette and Alexis are always dangerous, they can always score and today especially Alexis showed his quality. I am really happy for him to score against Tottenham and I'm really thankful to win this game," he added on Alexis.