This is what it means to be a real supporter. That nervous energy, that giddy laughter, those moments when you’re sitting on the train to work and you break out into a giant grin as you recall the thumping sound of Sagna’s header… It was a crazy game, at the end of a crazy week, and in advance of an even crazier week ahead but this is what football is all about.

Arsenal started the game in what we have come to call “typical fashion.” Meaning that the Arsenal defense was carved open like a turducken, revealing our succulent stuffing, wrapped in duck fat, inside a chicken, wrapped in a turkey. Or, ummm, something.

I had barely had time to tweet my first joke after kickoff when Adebayor collected the ball deep, saw that he was covered by three Arsenal players and simply half-turns and plays the ball into Louis Saha who is free in the middle of the park. Saha drives at Vermaelen, who actually recovers well enough to get a block in, and in typical Arsenal fashion the flubbed shot loops over Szczesny for the goal. I looked around the room for a place to escape and finally just buried my head in my hands because it was yet another example of Arsenal’s penchant to marry terrible luck with schoolboy defending.

Four minutes into the match, one-nil down, London Derby, and Arsenal still didn’t look like they were quite in the game. Still, the team started to pick up the pace a little, started pressing the ball better, and while everyone slams Theo for his touch in the first half (it was terrible) the young Englishman should be applauded for helping to keep Bale quiet by pressing Assou-Ekotto any time the ball even came near him.

Harry must have seen Wenger’s tactic because he switched Bale to the right and it immediately paid dividends. Bale burst through between Gibbs and Koz, Modric slotted in the perfect ball and as Bale saw Szczesny coming to claim, it was clear he would only ever have one thing on his mind: going down. Dean, who had oddly jumped for joy when Tottenham scored their first did what he loves to do, and awarded the spot kick. There was a moment of consultation between himself and the linesman but apparently that was about technical difficulties and not over whether or not to award the penalty.

I’ve seen the penalty in three different ways: in real time, I thought it was a stone cold penalty; on first replay, I saw that Bale kicked Szczesny with his left foot and it looks like a stone cold dive; but on second replay, it’s pretty clear that Gibbs took Bale’s Right leg and the penalty call, plus the no card, is actually the correct call. I know that might sicken you to read, I know that I will get flack for it, and I really want to say that Dean got that call wrong, but I can’t.

And of course, Harry has Adebayor take the penalty. Which says all you need to know about Redknapp, Adebayor, Tottenham and their whole organization. Put in the liner notes about how you want the fans to respect Adebayor and then show up Arsenal by having him take the penalty.

Down 2-0, I sat there thinking that the game was going to become a rout. Arsenal’s supposed “mental strength” had been severely test the week before against both Sunderland and Milan and by my estimation, they had failed that test. But maybe we should thank Tottenham for letting Adebayor score  because after Adebayor took the penalty something extraordinary happened. Arsenal ignored the referee and started playing the way that I think many of us have been begging for them to play every match for the last 5 years: they pressed every Tottenham possession, they closed down every inch of space, they kicked, they moved without the ball, and the older players all banded together to push Arsenal to get back into the game.

Arsenal were passing wonderfully when Song saw a chance to set up Robin van Persie for a shot. The Arsenal captain rounded his marker on his right, but ensuing shot simply caromed off the post. Gibbs was up there to collect, passed to Arteta on the corner of the penalty box, Arteta quickly shared a look with Sagna and chipped the ball to the spot. Sagna then slipped inside of Bale and thumped home the header.

Despite having not scored a League goal in two years, Sagna immediately collected the ball out of the net, let out a little yell and fist pump, gave Theo one high five, and rushed back to the center circle.

From that point forward, the game was on.

The next moment of brilliance came from Robin himself. This time collecting a weak clearance, dancing around three Tottenham defenders and curling home a wonderful goal from the top of the D.

From two-nil down to two-two. Two goals for them of utter shit, two goals for us of utter brilliance. Half-time couldn’t come soon enough for Spurs.

Theo had struggled quite a bit in that first half and many were calling for him to be replaced but where Theo struggles is when teams close space on him. He’s not a natural dribbler and his close control and touch will sometimes betray him so teams that play him close and limit space behind can neutralize him as a threat. But as it turns out, the boss was right to keep Theo on for the second half because Tottenham opened the game up looking to take the win and that created space for Theo to run.

According to Robin, Wenger had made a good speech at half time and you could see right away to start the second half what both teams’ tactics were. Harry brought on Sandro to run around kicking people and van der Vaart to ugly up the pitch with his gormless horse-face while Arsenal doubled-down on pressing the woeful Tottenham midfield. Even with the Greatest English Midfielder of All Time in Scott Parker, Tottenham struggled both in terms of holding on to possession and in terms of winning the ball back. Arsenal’s midfield outclassed Tottenham from start to finish in that second half. A finish which ended in Scott Parker getting a red card for a frustrated tackle on Vermaelen’s foot.

Because I know someone will say something, and not because I’m truly magnanimous, I will say “good job Scott Parker for making a huge show of repeatedly trying to shake Vermaelen’s hand after you tried to break his foot, sorry but I still can’t stand you and your WWI British Captain’s haircut.”

It’s no coincidence that Theo’s two goals essentially came from the same move: play the ball in behind the defenders and let the thoroughbred run. In fact, all of Arsenal’s last three goals came from that type of move. Even Tomas Rosicky’s goal was set up from the right as he blazed through and latched on to a cross.

I don’t want to pick on any one midfielder because it’s the way that they played as a unit that was really impressive yesterday. They weren’t just closing space, they closed space as two or three players at a time and forced Tottenham into poor pass after poor pass. This was the “Barcelona” way of defending that folks on here have been calling for for years and that, unfortunately, we don’t see too often.

Arsenal finished the game with a flurry. Two quick-fire goals by Theo Walcott ended any hopes of even Mike Dean getting Tottenham back into the game and Arsenal rode the wave of exultation for the last 30 minutes as every Gooner in the building lifted their voices in praise of the greatest team the world has ever seen.

In the end, it’s difficult to be objective about a win like this and maybe I shouldn’t be. After the difficulties of the season it’s tempting to see the news that some players came up injured and get down. Or to wonder why the team doesn’t play the pressing game for 50 games a year instead of maybe 5.

But on Thursday night I take a 9 hour flight to London, spend Friday night at my friend’s house, get up Saturday morning and drive 6 hours to Liverpool on a party bus full Arsenal fanatics. There I will be surrounded by 5,000 people who I will feel like are my closest friends in the world and we will all watch, cheer, shout, and moan as Arsenal play Liverpool.

And Arsenal just beat Tottenham.

A Tottenham team that are the darlings of the press right now, despite the fact that they are wholly subsidized by Manchester City, and will certainly lose Modric and Adebayor in the Summer no matter where they finish on the table.

And Arsenal just took fourth place from Chelsea because they scored five goals and have a superior goals scored record than Chelsea.

A Chelsea team that buys luxury players like Fernando Torres for £50m and then sets him on the bench.

I honestly can’t think of a better send off to London than yesterday’s match. So while I’d love to be objective and talk about Theo’s first half or use the phrase “papering over the cacks” I just can’t. Maybe you’re the guy in all grey in this picture and you just can’t get too excited by what happened yesterday.  Me? I simply can’t hear you over the sound of how awesome my football team is right now.

Because this game? This 5-2 win over our old rivals?

This is what football is all about.

Qq