How I celebrated beating Spurs 

I tried my best to find distractions when I woke up on that Sunday morning. But some exercise, a non-Arsenal related podcast and a trip to the pub for a roast dinner did nothing to quash my ever-increasing nerves.

The team news came out and there was even more panic -  I was simply too stressed to watch any build up on TV. The nerves continued well into the first half, even though we were completely on top – and two goals up.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the team to play their way, even away from home at our biggest rival, but it was simply that I couldn’t allow myself to hope.

Winning at their ground for the first time in nine years and going eight points clear at the top of the table? It just didn’t feel like a reality to me at all. I come from the generation that barely remembers the glory of the Invincibles, my trips to Highbury feel hazy because I was a toddler when I experienced them. My greatest memories of Arsenal are FA Cup wins and the worst are of failed Europa League finals. 

Hopes of winning a title, even going far in the Champions League, haven’t been felt for a while. But this season has provided a window into the future and the feeling is intoxicating. I loved what every one of those players did during that 90 minutes and how much Arteta has done to transform their mentality as a team.

Looking back, I shouldn’t have been as worried as I was (it’s Tottenham) but every point means so much and they would have loved taking some momentum away at a time when we had to capitalise on our rivals falling away. We’ve proved everyone wrong and completed our first double over a ‘big six’ team this season, hopefully with a few more to come.

One of the negatives of being in a title charge is that you always have to look over your shoulder, meaning sometimes football can lose its enjoyment factor when so much is at stake.

But I’ve promised myself that I’m going to try and enjoy the next couple of months as much as I can, because they could be incredibly special. It will be hard to top the feeling of winning that derby, but if anyone can go one better than that, it’s this team.  

This article first appeared in issue 299 of the Gooner Fanzine