Arsenal dominated the Champions in their own back yard for the first 45 minutes, which was impressive considering the ridiculous amount of money on show in Manchester. According to Opta, the cost it took to assemble Manchester City’s first eleven could save world hunger. Something to think about.

Many (well, those from Sky Sports) billed this match as “the acid test” to see if Arsenal were in fact title contenders. The 1-1 draw proved nothing, as we’ll know a good 20 games into the season before we know if we’re genuine contenders.

But at the moment, we can only be optimistic about Arsenal.

The obvious conclusion is that Steve Bould’s influence has turned Arsenal into a more formidable defensive unit. And it’s hard to argue with the statistics – we’ve only conceded twice in the league this season, and for all their “talent”, it took a set-piece for them to score.

The game itself, I thought, was pretty lacklustre, due to the teams involvement in the Champions League and due to Manchester City’s extremely negative tactics.

Arsenal controlled the first half, passing the ball well but unable to get through City’s wall of players sitting deep and trying to catch us on the break. You would feel that the current Champions, with a team that has that level of quality throughout the squad, would be slightly more ambitious at home.

The home side sucked the life out of the game and we couldn’t get any meaningful chances on goal, which was their whole game plan. We couldn’t find much space behind the City defence and for all of our posession City were pretty comfortable.

Our togetherness and play was impressive though, and some of the interplay was sublime.

But City’s tactic of winning set-pieces paid off and Lego Head scored from a corner.

We never gave up though and although the game followed the same tempo and we struggled to make any clear chances we finally got the breakthrough when Koscielny with a superbly taken goal.

And if Gervinho wasn’t hyperactive we could have even nicked a winner.

The game was cagey and this was exactly what City wanted. But the character shown by this current Arsenal side is fantastic and the unity between the current crop of players is encouraging.

And we are still unbeaten which can only add to the confidence of the side.

Arsenal (2) – (1) Newcastle United
Van Persie (15′), Vermaelen (90’+4)
The Emirates Stadium, London

Arsenal have done it again.

We have set a new Premier League record – winning 4 games in a row after trailing in all 4 games. First against Sunderland, then Tottenham and then against Liverpool.

Tonight, Newcastle took the lead against the run of play when the talented Ben Arfa cut inside and lashed in a shot at the near post. Kieran Gibbs was poor on that occasion and Ben Arfa took full advantage.

From then on, Arsenal dominated.

There was only one team that was interested in taking all 3 points and it wasn’t the visiting team in the black and white shirts. For the entire second half, Tim Krul was intent on taking as much time as possible over every single goal kick and freekick to waste as much time as he could.

We have had teams try to frustrate Arsenal at The Emirates but the negativity from Newcastle in the second half was frustrating. Szczesny was hardly tested apart from the goal from Ben Arfa.

Arsenal struggled at times during the second half to break down a resilient Newcastle team but we were also guilty of missing some really guilt-edged chances. Gervinho, missed an absolute sitter and the in-form Tomas Rosicky got his bearings wrong and lashed an effort wide when he should have done better.

Mental strength is something that Arsene used to talk about and at the moment, this Arsenal team have that in abundance. To react like that have to going a goal (or two) down and still come out with the win is outstanding and all the players deserve all the praise they get. Against Sunderland, Liverpool and now Newcastle, Arsenal have unbelievably scored injury time winners.

Remarkable, outstanding, you can use any superlative you like.

And the end result after a fantastic run like that is we have managed to claw back a 10 point deficit on Tottenham Hotspur to a single point. That is amazing and a team tipped to not even be in the Top Four is in with a real shout to be in the Top Three.

19 points from losing positions this season tells you about the character and fight this Arsenal team has. We’ve been found wanting at times but at the moment this Arsenal team are fighting for the fans, fighting for the manager and more importantly fighting for themselves.

The winning goal tonight was special. With the last attack of the game, Arsenal managed to win the ball after Newcastle were trying to waste time in the corner, and once that happened 8 Arsenal players bust a gut to get into the penalty area and when Theo Walcott was played in he needed to make sure that he produce a decent cross. His delivery was good and Newcastle’s inability to clear meant the ball fell to Vermaelen, and there was only going to be one result. The outstanding Belgian ran his heart out in the last minute and thoroughly deserved his winning goal.

The momentum is with Arsenal and we need to keep fighting and making sure we keep winning games. You can accuse Arsenal of many things this season but being boring is not one of them.

Some people will say that the spat between Van Persie and Tim Krul is something you don’t want to see but I like to see passion, desire and fight in our players. It shows they care and want to win for the club. You might think it’s not how a captain should act but I say screw that, Van Persie is the man and it shows you don’t f*ck with us!

On a side note, I don’t think our recent good form and the absence of Per Mertesacker is a coincidence. Vermaelen and Koscielny have been outstanding together recently and that has to be our first choice defensive partnership. Sagna is solid and energetic as ever, Gibbs is improving all the time and our midfield now has real options with Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky, Arteta, Song and Ramsey all in good form.

Our only problematic areas are in attack – losing Van Persie is something we can’t even thing about and Theo Walcott’s form is too inconsistent. And both Gervinho and Chamakh are just so off form it’s unreal. Hopefully Podolski does come in the summer and adds some bite and firepower to our wide positions because we are over-reliant on Van Persie for goals.

But that’s another discussion for another day. Let’s just enjoy another important victory and look forward to our next game – a tough away fixture at Everton.

Arsenal (3) – (0) AC Milan
Arsenal lose 3-4 on aggregate
The Emirates Stadium, London

Arsenal never fail to put you through the emotions. At the end of the game, you felt proud, frustrated, disappointed – this game had it all.

First of all, I have to mention the referee. Tonight he was a complete disgrace. In a game where so much was at stake, he pulled up for so many unnecessary fouls and was blatantly supporting the away side. Some of the decisions were diabolical and all he succeeded in doing was slowing the game down and playing into AC Milan’s hands.

But onto the performance tonight. In the match preview all I asked was that Arsenal give it everything and tonight they did just that. Despite the frustrating second half, Arsenal were sensational for the first hour. Unfortunately, we tired and the first half heroics took their toll.

Arsenal had the perfect start, scoring from a brilliant Oxlade-Chamberlain corner converted by Koscielny. It clipped his shoulder on the way in but as I said earlier today, I didn’t care how the goals came. That early goal was vital and set the tone for the rest of the first half.

That first goal planted the seed of doubt in AC Milan minds and a mistake from Thiago Silva was punished by Tomas Rosicky, who was excellent in midfield tonight. He deserved his goal and made some gut-busting runs into the attacking third.

At 2-0, Arsenal still pushed AC Milan back and a beautiful run from Oxlade-Chamberlain resulted in a blatantly penalty. The referee had second thoughts but finally had the sense to award the penalty kick. Antics from Mark Van Bommel and the referee proved futile as Van Persie smashed home the penalty and gave Arsenal a barely believable 3-0 lead going into half time.

The second half started in the same vain, but unfortunately – and frustratingly – we only mustered one clear chance in the second period. Gervinho was played in by Rosicky, and his deflected shot was saved by Abbiati. The ball rebounded to Robin Van Persie, and instead of putting his foot through it he tried to chip the keeper who looked relieved to have the ball fall into his hands.

And that was our only real chance.

The second half was frustrating but having a little time to put things into perspective, you can only be proud of the performance tonight. Sure, Van Persie really should have buried that second half chance but in all honesty it’s impossible to be upset by a man who has pretty much single-handedly put Arsenal into 4th place in the league. It was written in the stars for Van Persie to be the hero and score that all important 4th goal but it wasn’t to be.

The fact was the boys were dead in the second half and we can’t ask for any more than that. We can’t dwell on this game, we need to put it behind us and now just have to focus on getting 4th place. We’ve had fantastic victories against Tottenham and Liverpool, and even though we have gone out tonight we beat AC Milan 3-0, and that’s the bottom line.

And defensively we were excellent. There were a few shaky moments but Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny and Gibbs were top draw. AC Milan were found offside on several occasions – whether that was down to good defending or sloppy Milan play – but they kept a clean sheet and that is a massive positive.

We need to take this win and carry on the momentum. Perversely, winning 3-0 tonight might have been the perfect result. Yes, the fans and players will be disappointed about just missing out from the next round but with Barcelona and Real Madrid in such fantastic form you can’t really see anyone else winning the Champions League this season. We don’t have the distraction of Europe now and can solely concentrate on the league which is the most important thing.

Massive credit must go to Arsene Wenger, the players and also the fans that supported the team for the entire 90 minutes. There’s no point dwelling on the disastrous first leg, that’s in the past now, and all we can do is put everything into the rest of the domestic campaign.

The media might try and stick the knife in but that shouldn’t detract from a superb Arsenal performance which was almost enough to make history in the Champions League.

Tonight I’m proud of the team and every Arsenal fan should be too.

Arsenal Player Ratings

Wojciech Szczesny: 8/10
Made some good saves but also made a couple of mistakes with his distribution, which were thankfully unpunished. Did well to keep a clean sheet and was commanding as usual.

Bacary Sagna: 8/10
Up and down the right hand side all night and helped Arsenal stretch Milan when Walcott was found wanting. Defended well against Ibrahimovic who drifted out wide at times and was solid all night.

Thomas Vermaelen: 9/10
Was brilliant alongside Koscielny and kept Ibrahimovic and Robinho quiet all night. Made some great interceptions and tried to push the team forward whenever he could.

Laurent Koscielny: 9/10
Fantastic tonight and really showing how good a defender he is. Gave Arsenal that all important early first goal and defended excellently tonight.

Kieran Gibbs: 8/10
Did well in at the back, and opted to clear the ball instead of trying to pass the ball from the back which relieved the pressure. Push on well but was let down by the lack of support by Gervinho down the left.

Alex Song: 8/10
Was clearly exhausted at the end of the game and gave everything. Did well with Rosicky and Oxlade-Chamberlain and made some excellent tackles. Was a victim of some terrible refereeing though.

Tomas Rosicky: 8/10
Was excellent, particularly in the first half. Made some midfield splitting runs and made things happen. Took his goal well and was all over the pitch.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 9/10
This kid was fantastic in the middle. Wasn’t fazed at all and bust a gut to join the attack and help out at the back. Taken off on 75 minutes which was hardly surprising as he had given absolutely everything. His passing and decision-making was spot on and shown he is useful out wide and in the middle.

Theo Walcott: 6/10
Theo was disappointing tonight. He couldn’t really contribute like he did against Tottenham and even being against a poor left back in Mesbah he struggled to make the impact we really needed. Lost the ball too many times.

Gervinho: 6/10
Had another poor game. Clearly has pace but didn’t stretch the AC Milan back-line enough, opting to come inside instead of going wide and in behind which would have been more successful. His wastefulness didn’t help tonight and he needs to be more decisive.

Robin van Persie: 7/10
The man on from got his customary goal and – rightly or wrongly – will be remembered for missing that guilt-edged chance in the second half. Was let down badly by the lack of service from Gervinho and Walcott, and only had 3 real chances tonight which is not good enough. Needed more chances to score which would have made the difference in the end.

Both Arsenal and Liverpool went into yesterday’s game on a high – Arsenal after they battered Spurs in dramatic fashion and Liverpool, who had just managed to beat the 6th place team in the Championship on penalties.

I jest, because we didn’t exactly light up last years Carling Cup final.

But onto the match yesterday. Overall, Liverpool dominated possession but the bottom line was that they can’t score goals. Alan Hansen commented on last nights Match of the Day that Liverpool are the 6th worst team in the entire league when it comes to scoring goals. And my friend who is massive Liverpool fan, is less than convinced about the genius of “King Kenny”.

Liverpool “deservedly” took the lead, but that came from an own goal from Koscielny.

I put “deservedly” in inverted commas because it doesn’t matter how much possession you have (and Arsenal fans should know this better than anyone) if you don’t stick the ball in the net then you won’t get results. And that man Van Persie knows exactly how to do that.

Liverpool are toothless in front of goal. They had a penalty, and not just that, they had two bites at the cherry. But what happened? They didn’t score.

Andy Carroll is a joke, Suarez is a cheat and a disgrace to the game, Kuyt runs around a lot and they are full of players that were vastly over-priced, such as Henderson and Downing.

People criticise Arsene Wenger for not splashing the cash in the transfer windows – but surely Liverpool are an example that money can easily be pissed away on complete rubbish.

Liverpool fans can feel aggrieved all they like, it’s not our fault they can’t score goals is it?

There’s no doubt that Szczesny was outstanding, and on the balance of play should have won the Man of the Match award. Van Persie was just special yet again. When it mattered, he delivered. That’s 31 goals already now this season, and with his form he should be considered for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award. But it will go to Messi or Ronaldo as usual.

When you think about the players who can turn it on on a cold, wet day at Stoke, Van Persie is the man that can!

There’s no shame in being second best in a football match, and it’s a positive sign that when you haven’t played particularly well that you still take home all 3 points. We’ve had a lot of bad luck in games this season, so to ride our luck (and produce a moment of genius) is the least we deserve.

With the win at Anfield, Chelsea’s slip at West Brom and Tottenham’s game with Manchester United coming up, it could just be the perfect weekend for Arsenal.

“He scores when he wants, he scores when he waaaaaaants, Robin Van Persie, he scores when he wants!”

Arsenal (5) – (2) Tottenham Hotspur
Sagna (40′), Van Persie (43′), Rosicky (51′), Walcott (65′, 68′)
The Emirates Stadium, London

Last week I got slated for suggesting Arsenal weren’t in crisis and some perspective was needed.

And today’s match started badly. Louis Saha opened the scoring after 4 minutes with a fortuitous goal which deflected off Vermaelen and looped over Szczesny. Then 25 minutes later, Spurs doubled their advantage after another lucky goal – after Gareth Bale’s blatant dive won Tottenham a penalty, which Adebayor duly converted.

After the previous games against AC Milan and Sunderland, the nature of Tottenham’s 2 goal lead would have added to the frustrations.

But what followed wasn’t an Arsenal team in crisis. If anything, the performance reminded us why we love this Arsenal team so much.

Yes, we are capable of collapsing at the worst times, and yes, we are sometimes defensively fragile. But it must also be noted that Arsene Wenger’s philosophy and style of play is capable of producing stunning comebacks like we saw today. If we were managed by Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink or Fabio Capello, we wouldn’t have scored 5 goals in 27 stunning minutes.

And the performance reminded us that overturning a 4 goal deficit against Milan is not impossible. Incredibly difficult, but not impossible – especially if we get it right and click on the night.

The biggest difference, and something I had been waiting for for a while, was the starting eleven. Yossi Benayoun has been in the shadow of Arshavin, Oxlade Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey for playing time and finally he was given his chance. Benayoun is one of the few players at the club that have ingenuity and intelligence on the ball. He is capable of playing smart reverse passes, and penetrating balls. Benayoun needs to play more than he does, which is a trend amongst supporters when he was on Liverpool’s books. Liverpool fans thought Yossi should have played a lot more than he did.

Tomas Rosicky also had his best game for a long time. His passing was top draw and he was all over the pitch. Van Persie was sensational as usual, Arteta was solid and Song was defensively strong. Theo Walcott was on the periphery for most of the first half but came to life in the second, which is something he seems to do a lot – burst into life and has spurts of quality.

Apart from the two lucky goals, Szczesny had nothing to do. From the 30th minute onwards it was all Arsenal and that is something all supporters can take comfort from. In a game billed as the biggest North London derby in Arsene Wenger’s career, we came out on top – and how. The scenes of the travelling Tottenham fans in pure ecstasy only to be put back in their place 15 (playing) minutes later was really something special.

We were sensational today. Arsene made the point that this was the first time for 3 games that we played on a top quality pitch. While that is valid to an extent, the bottom line was we were badly due a performance and it came today. This is something which we need to build on and if we can produce this kind of performance against Milan we have a fighting chance of progressing.

The lesson here is never write Arsenal off.

So bring on AC Milan and let’s show them what we’re made of.