A win in the North London derby always makes for an enjoyable weekend, even more so when the opposition shoots off their wad before the event. Winning this tie has almost become routine, but the way they celebrated that draw last season they deserved a lesson in football and humility.

Derby goalscorers, enjoying the win as much as we did.

Speaking of humility, It has been reported that Almunia’s absence in the team was not down to a chest infection — of course we didn’t believe that story for one minute — but rather Wenger allowing him time to deal with the accidental death of his mother-in-law.

Although Almunia stuck to his training schedule Wenger thought it better not to put the Spaniard in goal. Sagna suffered a similar loss last year and admitted it affected his form for a while, it was prudent of Wenger not to use Almunia in a position where any mistake means a goal conceded. Good call by Wenger, and my condolences to Manuel Almunia and Family.

The difficulty for some in the media to acknowledge Arsenal as true title contenders is incomprehensible, most of the weekend reports put the reasons for the humiliation of the cockerels down to their inept defending. The view of Fabregas’ goal was a complete contrast to the masturbation we witnessed over Owen’s goalscoring exploits.

One person who has the humble pie in the oven is Alan Hansen. His piece in the telegraph acknowledges the defensive improvements in the team, and although not making us the leading title contender he has replaced his beloved Liverpool in the top 3 contenders with Arsenal.

Robin van Persie has been enjoying the weekend as much as us, remarking saying

It always feels good to beat Spurs. It even feels good when we don’t play them and they get beaten, so it’s especially good when we’ve played them.

He described Fabregas’ goal as brilliant, and had more to do with his ability than Spurs’ defensive frailties. The Dutchman would love to have an opportunity to avenge the loss at the Eastlands, but he won’t get his chance just yet. It seems that van Persie is enjoying is life right now, let’s just keep things that way with a win against AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday.

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