LONDON — Tottenham Hotspur beat Arsenal 2-1 at White Hart Lane on Saturday as Spurs jumped ahead of their north London rivals into the top four, after a pulsating win which saw Harry Kane, again, play the hero.

[ RELATED: Watch full match replays ]

Mesut Ozil gave Arsenal the lead in the first half with a cool finish but Tottenham were the better team throughout as they peppered the Gunners goal with 22 shots.

Tottenham got a deserved equalizer in the 56th minute as Kane tapped in at the back post to make it 1-1. Kane, Christian Eriksen and others went close for Spurs late on, as Arsenal also squandered good chances to win an entertaining derby. Kane then popped up in the 85th minute to make it 2-1 as he headed home his 22nd goal of the season to send White Hart Lane wild and make his first appearance in a north London derby a hugely memorable one.

With the win Spurs moved into fourth on 43 points, while Arsenal dropped to sixth on 42 points.

[ RELATED: Latest PL standings ]

Tottenham had the first real chance of the game as a rapid counter attack saw Moussa Dembele break free and set up Kane. The Spurs striker bent a shot towards the far corner which David Ospina saved well but hurt himself in the process.

Ospina remained on the pitch and Spurs remained in the ascendancy as they pinned the Gunners. Then, against the run of play, Arsenal were ahead as Danny Welbeck surged past Danny Rose and pulled the ball back to Olivier Giroud who directed an effort goalwards which Ozil crashed home. “1-0 to the Arsenal” came the famous chant from the away fans in the home of their fierce rivals.

Spurs almost equalized soon after as Rose had an effort across goal which Ospina did well to save down low. But the Gunners grew in confidence after going ahead and should have had a penalty after 15 minutes when a cross looked to be handled in the box by Ryan Mason. Referee Martin Atkinson waved played on as Rose flashed another effort from the left just wide.

[ VIDEO: Premier League highlights ]

Mason almost leveled things up in the 29th minute but his long-range effort was tipped wide by Ospina. The rest of the first half played out with Spurs pushing for an equalizer but the Gunners went in ahead at the break, as a coming together between Welbeck and Rose saw tempers flare.

After the break that battled continued as Rose and Welbeck got into it again, but Arsenal had the first chance of note as Santi Cazorla saw his composed effort tipped around the post by Hugo Lloris. Spurs finally equalized in the 56th minute as Dembele flicked on an Eriksen corner at the near post and Kane slid

Spurs were rampant after that as Eriksen and Kane both went close, before Arsenal finally woke up. Welbeck had a shot superbly saved by Lloris and then Koscielny headed straight at Spurs’ goalkeeper after getting a free header from the resulting corner. Tottenham continued to look lively going forward and a shot from Bentaleb was well saved by Opsina as the home side pushed hard to snatch a late win.

That winner arrived as Kane peeled away to the back post and nodded home Bentaleb’s perfect cross into the far corner. 2-1 to Spurs. What a way to win the north London derby, as the local lad came up good, once again.

LINEUPS

Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose; Bentaleb, Mason (Paulinho, 90+5′); Eriksen, Dembele (Chadli , 75′), Lamela (Stambouli, 90′); Kane

Goals: Kane (56′, 86′)

Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin (Akpom, 89′), Ramsey, Welbeck (Walcott, 78′), Cazorla (Rosicky, 67′), Ozil, Giroud.

Goal: Ozil (11′)

Follow @JPW_NBCSports