The north London derby was a ‘test of attitude’ for Arsenal

Sometimes, a victory hits the spot with extra power because of the jeopardy that any other result would have brought.

Imagine if the wind had blown in another direction for Arsenal in last night’s north London derby. Imagine the ferocity of criticism for a sequence of defeats at home in three separate competitions against Newcastle United, Manchester United (on penalties) and Tottenham Hotspur. Imagine the overload of pressure on manager Mikel Arteta. Imagine the strain on his physically and emotionally exhausted players.

Trailing 1-0 with that familiar feeling of being punished (or punishing themselves) in both penalty areas, Arsenal knew what was at stake. They could feel the jeopardy closing in, but they had to fight against it. They knew they had an obligation to push against the tide until it turned.

Arteta called it a “test of attitude”, and his team passed. And then, the most refreshing thing happened: Arsenal began to show signs of enjoying themselves.

It had been a while.

They visibly threw off some of the tension they had been carrying.

Gabriel exhibited one of his special moves by putting his body in between an opponent and the ball to usher it behind for a goal kick and he exploded with joy when he succeeded. David Raya came to claim a high ball with a cocky one-handed catch, and when Richarlison nudged him he responded with a playground flick as if to show he hadn’t a care in the world. Myles Lewis-Skelly, the local hero, all boyhood Arsenal spirit wrapped into a mature and composed performance, whooped buoyantly at the crowd when he was barged towards the nearest exit.

These things matter. They replenish confidence.

For all that the result itself signified, lifting them above Nottingham Forest into second and cutting the gap on Liverpool to four points, the extra layer of significance came in Arsenal reconnecting with what makes them feel good about playing football. This north London derby was the perfect occasion — it roused them, it nourished them. It brought colour back to their cheeks and energy to their bones.

Arteta was impressed by how his team managed the circumstances to turn things in their favour.

“After two big performances and not getting rewarded in two different competitions, you have to play the biggest game of the season for our people in those conditions,” he explained. “You know what we are made of, the courage we have, how much we really care only about a result or the performance. We played from minute one to hurt them, with or without the ball.

“It’s how you respond to a situation. These boys want more. They want to be tested. They want to be asked questions and then they want to talk on the pitch. We have some big, big, big examples, because 72 hours after playing 120 minutes (against United in the FA Cup), in a game that probably is the most intense one of the season, that deserves a lot of credit.”

The physical toll was immense.

At the end, Martin Odegaard took one last swing at the ball and then collapsed. His legs gave way. There is no disguising how much of the creative burden he is carrying in Bukayo Saka’s absence through injury, and he has struggled to play through illness and a dip in form, but this performance was closer to his old self. He should have scored. He wasn’t the only one who might have added goals, even if Declan Rice was a little giddy to suggest it might have been double figures.

Rice has been running on empty lately, but the buzz of this game provided his fuel to impose himself box-to-box. “You don’t need a message when you play Spurs,” he told TNT Sports, the game’s live UK broadcaster. “You know what it means. You need to have that fire in his belly.”

He led on that front by example.

Lewis-Skelly was not far behind, which is remarkable for a youngster who is only making inroads into the first team this season. A week ago, the 18-year-old returned to his old stomping ground of the club’s Hale End academy and picked up an award for being a role model for what Per Mertesacker, the head of Arsenal’s youth programme, calls a “strong young Gunner”. He was exactly that last night and earned the praise of Arteta, who noted how he produced a calibre of performance that he felt was rare in one so young.

Arsenal are still not exactly firing in attack. It was not entirely surprising that the goal which gave them a way back into the game came from their set-piece bulldozer Gabriel.

They got a fortunate call with a corner when the ball took a nick off Leandro Trossard’s leg on the way out. But once it was given, the effervescent Rice focused on another tantalising delivery. Gabriel’s force in his running makes him like a monster truck, and his eyes were lasered on the arc of the incoming ball. His header skimmed off Spurs’ Dominic Solanke on the way in.

If that was a euphoric relief, the next goal came with a different type of satisfaction.

What a difference it makes when Arsenal remember that they can attack in more of a freestyle fashion. This was about high intensity, high speed, thought and movement. Thomas Partey forced a turnover and with one touch stole the ball and diverted it for Odegaard, who needed only a split second to steer the ball on for Trossard in space.

Two players, both playing one touch, and the danger cranked up instantly. The Belgian drilled his finish into the far corner.

The challenge for Arteta is to harness the positives from this pick-me-up and somehow entice similar energy levels from a very small pool of trusted players who must be close to the red zone.

It spoke volumes that when Trossard felt heavy legs, the next best option was left-back Kieran Tierney finishing the game on the wing. On the other side, Raheem Sterling did not offer evidence he is capable of doing significant damage. But with Aston Villa visiting on Saturday evening, there is not much scope for changing the line-up.