Arsenal's future will not always involve playing big games against opposition as complicit and haphazard as this. Tottenham were dreadful and this was a truly shameful north London derby performance by Nuno Espirito Santo’s team.
Nevertheless, Arsenal were wonderful. Here at long last was a glimpse of the fearless, expansive and effective football Mikel Arteta has been promising to deliver for so long.
It was ‘only’ 3-1 to Arsenal in the end and Tottenham even managed to hit the bar in added time. But the margin felt bigger. It certainly felt more significant in terms of the direction of travel of both these teams.