Arsenal started by far the brighter of the two sides.
They took the lead before Spurs had posed any threat. The frustration began to show and more was to follow for the visitors as referee Graham Poll made an error in awarding Arsenal a penalty kick.
Arsenal maintained a high level of possession but the number of chances they carved out were few and far between.
However, they were far sharper and Spurs could not find any way back after the home side stretched its lead.
Martin Jol: "We were all disappointed and all very quiet because we wanted to do something here.
"If we'd created five or six chances we could have said that the penalties cost us, but we gave them too much of the ball.
"They didn't create a lot of chances - but we still gave them too much of the ball."
"I think the big difference was their defending, they were aggressive and we started off a bit too casually.
"We didn't stick to our philosophy of getting the ball back quickly when we don't have it and then making sure we keep it."
"We knew it was a very important game for the supporters – it's all about pride, the Club, the Cockerel and we let ourselves down and let the fans down.
"However, we were unfortunate with key decisions. The first goal was a mistake while the other two goals came from penalties and neither were penalties. But at the same time we played poorly so we couldn't blame that on anything else."
Ledley King: "We were all disappointed, especially for the fans. We knew this was the big game for them.
"We were all up for it before the game but we didn't put in the performance we wanted to, simple as that.
"To lose the first goal as we did after 20 minutes put us on the back foot and it became a difficult game for us from that point.
"Everyone was gutted that we just weren't good enough on the day. We got caught up in the game and the emotions of the game and didn't always do the right things. We didn't do the things we were supposed to do and we got punished."
Source: TottenhamHotspur.com