Arsenal of years gone by would have cracked, Arteta's side served notice to City

A minute or so after the final whistle, after Mikel Arteta had leapt into the air on the touchline and being enveloped in the embrace of his assistants, Arsenal's players raced over to the corner of the steepling Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where they had stood throughout the game in the midst of the enemy.

The Arsenal supporters were delirious. They were lost in their joy. Declan Rice handed his shirt to a fan, Bukayo Saka saluted the supporters.

The Arsenal fans turned and taunted their Spurs counterparts in the section beside them. Their exultations were unconfined.

They shall think themselves accursed, those Arsenal fans who were not here on this St Totteringham's Day. Because, let's face it, St Totteringham's Day was the very least of it on Sunday afternoon.

This result was about so much more than ensuring they finished above their north London rivals this season.

On one level, it was about avoiding the humiliation of blowing a 3-0 half-time lead, which Arsenal almost contrived to do. Imagine that.

They would never, ever have lived that down if they had allowed Spurs to snatch a point and ruin their title hopes all at the same time.

But this 3-2 win was about far more than that. It was about taking a giant step forwards toward winning their first Premier League title for 20 years by winning on the Tottenham High Road and going four points clear, temporarily at least, of Manchester City at the top of the table.

City remain the favourites, of course, because they tend not to lose at this stage of the season and if they win their next five games, they will win the league.

But Arsenal served notice here that they will make them fight all the way for that title and that they will not lose their nerve in the process.

This win was