Arsenal of years gone by would have cracked, but Mikel Arteta's side served notice to Man City that they will fight them all the way and won't lose their nerve after 3-2 Spurs win, writes OLIVER HOLT

A infinitesimal aliases truthful aft nan last whistle, aft Mikel Arteta had leapt into nan aerial connected nan touchline and being enveloped successful nan clasp of his assistants, Arsenal's players raced complete to nan area of nan steepling Tottenham Hotspur Stadium wherever they had stood passim nan crippled successful nan midst of nan enemy.

The Arsenal supporters were delirious. They were mislaid successful their joy. Declan Rice handed his garment to a fan, Bukayo Saka saluted nan supporters. 

The Arsenal fans turned and taunted their Spurs counterparts successful nan conception beside them. Their exultations were unconfined.

They shall deliberation themselves accursed, those Arsenal fans who were not present connected this St Totteringham's Day. Because, let's look it, St Totteringham's Day was nan very slightest of it connected Sunday afternoon. 

This consequence was astir truthful overmuch much than ensuring they vanished supra their northbound London rivals this season.

On 1 level, it was astir avoiding nan humiliation of blowing a 3-0 half-time lead, which Arsenal almost contrived to do. Imagine that. 

They would never, ever person lived that down if they had allowed Spurs to snatch a constituent and ruin their title hopes each astatine nan aforesaid time.

But this 3-2 triumph was astir acold much than that. It was astir taking a elephantine measurement forwards toward winning their first Premier League title for 20 years by winning connected nan Tottenham High Road and going 4 points clear, temporarily astatine least, of Manchester City astatine nan apical of nan table.

City stay nan favourites, of course, because they thin not to suffer astatine this shape of nan play and if they triumph their adjacent 5 games, they will triumph nan league. 

But Arsenal served announcement present that they will make them conflict each nan measurement for that title and that they will not suffer their nervus successful nan process.

This triumph was different riposte to those who were claiming a fewer weeks agone that Arsenal were choking. 

They responded to those claims by beating Chelsea 5-0 connected Tuesday nighttime and past accelerating into a 3-0 lead earlier nan interval astatine Tottenham, wherever galore expected Spurs mightiness upset them.

Instead, Arteta's broadside outclassed their section rivals for overmuch of nan game. They exposed Spurs' protect limitations and played immoderate magnificent counter-attacking shot of their own. Kai Havertz, erstwhile again, was superb.

And moreover erstwhile David Raya handed Spurs a lifeline pinch an absurdly eager effort to play retired from nan back, Arsenal clung on. 

In different years, specified arsenic 2022, perhaps, erstwhile Spurs swept them speech here, Arsenal would person cracked nether nan pressure. This time, they clung on. The title title looks arsenic if it is going down to nan wire.

'This is wherever we person to guidelines up and make it happen,' Arteta had said earlier nan crippled and that is what his squad did. 

Arsenal had not won back-to-back distant convention games against Spurs successful 36 years and now they chose nan correct infinitesimal to put that righ

Arsenal took nan lead aft a 4th of an hour. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who had been preferred to Yves Bissouma successful midfield, sewage conscionable nan incorrect broadside of Takehiro Tomiyasu astatine a area and erstwhile nan Spurs midfielder stretched to scope nan shot coiled successful by Saka, he inadvertently nodded it precocious past Guglielmo Vicario into nan net.

Saka cupped his receptor to nan Spurs fans down nan goal, which was met pinch precisely nan benignant of reception 1 mightiness expect but Arsenal's players past went into an earnest huddle earlier nan crippled restarted. The connection seemed to beryllium that now was nan clip to ore and not fto nan lead slip.

It didn't work. Spurs threw themselves astatine Arsenal. Romero glanced a header narrowly wide. Then he collapsed different header from a James Maddison free footwear against nan extracurricular of nan post. Then Micky van de Ven swept nan shot past Raya, only for nan effort to beryllium ruled retired by VAR for offside.

Spurs committed truthful overmuch forward, it was their undoing. They appealed for 2 penalties wrong a matter of seconds erstwhile Dejan Kulusevski stumbled successful nan container and Maddison was tackled by Declan Rice but Michael Oliver correctly waved them some away.

As Spurs mislaid their attraction and continued their protests, nan shot was cleared to Havertz, conscionable wrong nan Arsenal half. He took his clip to power it and past lifted a superb cross-field walk to Saka connected nan right.

Saka ran astatine nan retreating Ben Davies, trim wrong connected to his near ft arsenic everyone, including Davies, surely knew he would and past coiled his changeable past Vicario. It was a supremely composed finish, a decorativeness that provided much confirmation Saka is backmost to his best.

Eight minutes earlier half time, Arsenal were 3 up. Leandro Trossard swung a area complete from nan Arsenal near and Havertz roseate precocious and unmarked betwixt Van de Ven and Romero and nodded nan shot past Vicario from a mates of yards out. It was atrocious defending by Spurs.

The last confirmation that it was not going to beryllium Spurs' time came a infinitesimal earlier nan interval erstwhile Pedro Porro floated a superb shot complete nan apical of nan Arsenal defence for Heung-Min Son to tally done connected goal.

If location is anyone successful nan Spurs broadside you would spot your religion successful to resistance them backmost into nan game, it is Son. 

But this time, arsenic he confronted Raya 12 yards out, Son leaned backmost and lifted his changeable high, precocious complete nan bar. The Arsenal fans down that extremity roared pinch alleviation and derision.

Arsenal astir made it 4 7 minutes aft nan interval erstwhile Trossard fed Havertz connected nan overlap and Havertz lifted a delicate spot to nan backmost station for Saka. 

Saka connected pinch it sweetly and his left-foot volley hurtled towards extremity until Vicario, falling backwards connected nan line, deflected nan shot complete nan barroom pinch his correct foot.

Arsenal had begun to seashore towards triumph but 20 minutes into nan half, they presented Spurs pinch a measurement backmost into nan game. 

Spurs punted an aimless shot guardant that deed Gabriel connected nan backmost of nan limb arsenic he was backtracking and he played it backmost to Raya, who had plentifulness of clip to see his options.

Perhaps he had excessively overmuch time. As Romero began to adjacent him down, Raya attempted a bizarre chipped walk into midfield pinch his near foot. It would person been an absurd bet if your champion outfield subordinate had tried it.

Instead of clearing Romero, nan Spurs centre half leapt into nan aerial and controlled it comfortably connected his chest. Raya retreated but Romero fto nan shot bounce and past calmly rolled it past nan Arsenal keeper and into nan net.

Now, suddenly, it was nary longer a stroll for Arteta's side. Now it was a trial of character. 

Arsenal withstood it comfortably until 5 minutes earlier nan extremity of normal clip erstwhile Rice swung his footwear to effort to clear a shot that was dropping retired of nan aerial and connected pinch Davies's limb instead.

The referee waved play connected initially but a VAR cheque showed it was a penalty. Son took it pinch a stuttering run-up and dispatched it emphatically precocious to Raya's right. The stadium roared. The Arsenal area went quiet.

Spurs pressed for nan equaliser but Arsenal did not springiness them immoderate much gifts. They hung on. They stayed successful nan race. This time, they are successful it to triumph it.