In the event that Arsenal do manage to steal the Premier League title this season, don’t expect to be reading any thoughts from my good self on the miraculous feat. Because the heart will have packed in by that time, as there are only so many matches like this a fan can take. Was it really as tense as this in 1998, 2002 and 2004? Surely not. Granted, Liverpool on 26th May 1989 was pretty similar in many respects, but by injury time, I think most had given up. It’s the mixture of hope and expectation that creates the kind of tension this viewer was feeling watching the Hull game. There was no expectation that night at Anfield.

Credit to Arsenal. They got the result they required and the three vital, vital points. If I’d been watching Chelsea or Man Utd get this result, I’d have thought – mark of a good team. Keep going, keep the pressure up, not play all that well, but get the result required and get out. Arsenal now have to be viewed in the same category. Surely, fans of our title rivals now watch Gunners’ games and think – they’ll nick one in injury time to get the points, I can’t relax until the final whistle.

The team did not have their finest of days. But titles are won by such days counting for as much as the most comfortable of home wins. Quality of performance is an irrelevance now. What the remainder of Arsenal’s season is about is belief and determination. Wenger’s infamous ‘mental strength’.

In this of all seasons, to say that had the team failed to win, their chances would have been finished might seem a bit harsh, but I really felt that way as the clock ticked down. We are talking about a Hull side in the bottom three here, as stoutly as they defended. The pitch may have made flowing football very difficult (and might explain some of the poor finishing) but these are the matches that title winners win on their way to lifting the trophy in May. If the win in adversity at Stoke was a turning point, then Hull served as confirmation that things have indeed turned 100% since the sequence of defeats to the title rivals about six weeks ago.

Alex Song was missed badly today. When Hull had their captain dismissed, I thought, well that evens things up, as Arsenal have been playing with ten men since the kick off, such was the paucity of Denilson’s contribution. The boy has no strength to speak off and is just shoved off the ball with zero resistance. Wenger has got away with playing him against Burnley and Hull, but if he is forced to field the Brazilian one more time this season, I fear he will not be so fortunate. He adds nothing and is a liability. He did not even have the excuse of fatigue as he played only 20 minutes in midweek against Porto. Of course, it had to be him that set up the winner, the only contribution of any positive note from the number 15 all evening.

And as for anyone who thought Arsenal had an easier run-in than the other two contenders, this evening’s experience nailed the myth of that one. There are no easy matches until they are won. The team can never take the field thinking they are not going to have to battle for the points. In fairness to Hull, they fought like… well, I hate to say it but, tigers – especially in the second half with ten men. Arsenal created enough opportunities to win the game, but simply failed to trouble the keeper.

Sure Hull’s goal was as a result of an offside that wasn’t given, but these decisions happen, and all a team can do is react in the right way. I think in fairness, Arsenal suffered from a poor pitch, fatigue from the Porto game and – once they were reduced to ten men – Hull’s priority of keeping the point that they had. That they were a man down should have made the visitors’ task easier, but football doesn’t always work that way.

What it came down to was persistence, keeping going, grinding down the opposition and waiting for the moment to come. Things were starting to look desperate as injury time ebbed away, but credit to Denilson for having a pop from outside the box, and Bendtner for following up before his marker could stop him. These are the matches that win titles. Arsenal have to keep winning them by hook or by crook.

And they are capable of winning them all, and it’s my belief that they’ll probably need to. But momentum is everything and five league wins on the trot is indisputably that. Because a number of the team are so young, the European involvement may pose a danger, as tired legs are more likely in less experienced players, who may not be wise enough to pace themselves over a whole season. In truth it’s probable that Arsene Wenger will have to rotate a little to try and keep things fresh, but are the back ups good enough? When Arsenal play their European quarter final legs either side of the Wolves match will a side with Vela, Eduardo, Denilson and Theo Walcott be able to gain three points under pressure? Where will the goals to defeat Mick McCarthy's side come from?

Arsenal played against Hull without Gallas, Song, Fabregas and Van Persie. It’s a credit to them that they did achieve the result with four such huge players absent. But boy could we do with them back. Song will return for West Ham, but my gut feeling is that the captain will be rested further until the Birmingham game and even then, might only be a substitute, with the manager wrongly prioritising what’s likely to be a glamour European tie. As for Gallas, I fear we’ve seen his last ever performance in an Arsenal shirt, which really doesn’t bode well. Remember how the team folded in his absence last season? Van Persie will not play again this season until he pulls on a Holland shirt in a pre-World Cup friendly.

It really is against all odds stuff, but Arsenal must simply focus on the next game and winning it. So it’s West Ham next weekend. Since the Stoke comeback, two down, eight to go. After going to Hull and back, the title is still very much on. Not good for the nerves, of course, but we’ll all be back for more suffering on Saturday, regardless. And paying for the privilege!