ARSENE WENGER called it "completely crazy" but Martin Jol reckons that that was putting it mildly!
And who would dare disagree with the big Dutchman after this astonishing North London derby.
Nine goals netted by nine different scorers and with the result in doubt until the final whistle.
This was extraordinary stuff. And extraordinary not just because of the scoreline. Extraordinary because, for 45 minutes, Jol's Tottenham were the guv'nors against the Gunners.
They were also a goal up, courtesy of a neat back-post finish from Moroccan Noureddine Naybet after Arsenal once again failed to deal with a set-piece. But unfortunately for Spurs the first half lasted 46 minutes and in the dying seconds of added time Thierry Henry undid all of their good work with the visitors' first shot on goal.
Lauren launched the ball forward from the right flank and Henry eased beyond Naybet. Three touches later, the ball was in the back of the net.
Tottenham never recovered. After the break they were never the same again — neither were Arsenal.
The champions, without a win since Manchester United ended their 49-match unbeaten run, stepped up a gear and, suddenly, it was Tottenham in reverse. The turnaround was extraordinary. The Gunners should have been ahead just two minutes into the second half.
Star man Freddie Ljungberg picked out the unmarked Jose Reyes in the middle and he should have buried it.
Instead, the Spaniard shot tamely at England keeper Paul Robinson.
But then the real fireworks erupted. With 54 minutes gone, Noe Paramot showed he had NOE idea about defending when he blatantly brought down Ljungberg in the area.
Henry handed over the spot-kick responsibility to defender Lauren — just as he did in Arsenal's 2002 win here — and Lauren again converted.
Now Arsenal were in the mood and the old swagger was returning — and returning fast.
Gloating
Five minutes later, they were 3-1 ahead as skipper Patrick Vieira powered through to stroke the ball beyond the exposed Robinson.
That's Why We're Champions, sang the Arsenal fans having watched their side turn this game around inside 15 fantastic minutes.
But the gloating refrain was strangled when England star Jermain Defoe went straight down the other end scored a stunner of his own. He powered beyond three Arsenal men before driving a devastating shot beyond Jens Lehmann and in off the underside of the angle.
Unbelievable! It was 3-2 with an hour gone and there was the feeling there were still more goals to come.
And we were not disappointed, even if this time eight minutes had passed without a goal.
Fittingly it came from livewire Ljungberg — who was a constant menace to Spurs on the right, on the left and through the middle.
He surged in the from the left in pursuit of a short pass forward from Cesc Fabregas and the Swede made light work of guiding the ball home for a 4-2 advantage. But Spurs refused to give up and, five minutes later, they had Arsenal on edge when Ledley King headed in Michael Carrick's free-kick.
For the second time in the game — and the umpteenth time this season — Arsenal had failed to deal with a set-piece.
And for the second time in a week Spurs were desperately trying to stage the unlikeliest fightback.
They did their best — but Arsenal then responded to the challenge and sub Robert Pires took advantage of more poor defending to steer boss Wenger's men two goals clear again. Credit to Tottenham, though, they still went for it. And three minutes from time sub Fredi Kanoute slid in to convert his first goal of the season.
New boss Jol then threw everyone forward in a desperate bid to salvage something. But it just didn't happen.
He promised attacking football and I suppose he has delivered already.
But, unfortunately, in the style of Ossie Ardiles. And we all know what happened to him. Wenger summed up the game perfectly. He said: "These games are either no chances for either side — or they are completely crazy. Today we got the crazy version."
Jol just shook his head at that, adding: "Crazy? That's putting it mildly! I have never been involved in a match like this before.
"But if we can score goals against one of the best teams in Europe we must be doing something right. There is definitely something to build on."
Hangover
Wenger was just happy to be finally over the the defeat against United. He admitted: "There has been a hangover from that game because we had gone such a long time unbeaten. It took us a while to digest this.
"So the first victory would be important to help get us back to our normal consistency level. Now in the next game we have to show we are back to our usual top form."
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