The club's victory over their North London rivals having gone 2-0 down in the first 34 minutes is likely to be considered the pinnacle of their season and will have done much to bring supporters back onside following criticism of manager Arsene Wenger and his players.
Under fire from all quarters in the wake of some heavy defeats and abject performances, Wenger summoned the spirit of Mark Twain's "this report of my death was an exaggeration" when facing a media who had been savaging him in recent weeks.
"Arsenal are alive more than anybody thought before the game," Wenger said. "We had a great spirit."
"The crowd was starting to get on his back and you wonder if [it would not] do him a favour by leaving him on. But I felt that he has the qualities that, considering the rest of the team, are highly needed," said Wenger.
"He is a very direct player, he can sometimes miss a first touch but considering the balance of the team, I thought it was important to keep him in the side."
It was a far cry from Wenger's glory years when he won seven trophies in his first nine years, including the league and cup double in 1998 and 2002.
Criticism of the side also came from closer to home, with ex-players Lee Dixon, Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit wading in and the Arsenal supporters' trust asking questions about the club's transfer policy, or lack of one.
"I feel they [the players] lost their motivation. I even fear that some have lost faith in Arsene," former midfielder Petit, part of the vintage 1997/98 double-winning side, told France Football magazine last week.
"Ninety five percent of the players can do better."
Angry shareholders from the Arsenal Supporters' Trust want to know if money is available for Wenger to strengthen the squad or whether the club is holding back money as a contingency for failing to qualify f
