My Conclusion From Arsenal's Perfect Performance Against City

"We go into a period now where the confidence is important," Arsene Wenger said in midweek. "We have big games until the end ...

"We go into a period now where the confidence is important," Arsene Wenger said in midweek. "We have big games until the end of the season and this can be a decisive game on that front. Is it a self belief?

Maybe. We did not perform last year in the top games away from home."

 "I believe now that we are much more stable and we can do it. For many years it was our strength but in the last two years, it is true that it has been a weakness. I think we can rectify it.

This is a chance to show that we are ready, that we are better than in recent years." I'll start with a confession.

 I sourced that Wenger quote a full two hours before the match. Like many (including a large number of Arsenal supporters) I thought it would come back to bite Arsenal's manager on the arse.

Now it's me that looks stupid. Wenger would be forgiven for the smuggest of smiles, and a trip to Stoke train station to flick some V's.

 This felt like Arsenal's big chance at redemption. A Manchester City side missing Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure, and with Sergio Aguero still regaining full fitness, was weakened.

Whether Arsenal were likely take that chance was another question entirely. But they did. They actually bloody did.

They really sodding did. City looked anaemic, unable to show the creativity and potency they have displayed so often recently, but the most obvious conclusion is that they were not allowed to be at their best.

Arsenal thwarted them at every opportunity with the complete away performance. Watching excellence is thoroughly enjoyable, but there is nothing quite like seeing redemption in action. It was joyous to behold.

There has been a great deal spoken of Arsenal's mental strength in the recent past, mostly by their own players and manager. It appeared like a desperate attempt to create a self-fulfilling prophecy; there can be miracles, if you just believe. Let's be clear.

Mental strength is not confirmed by winning home games against teams below you in the table. It is a tag earned by digging in against the biggest and best, particularly away from home. It is earned by grinding out results against opponents with arguably greater quality, by achieving through adversity.

 It is too long since that was true of Arsenal. Arsenal's recent league record against the Premier League's top four from the previous season has been appalling: Played 12, Won 0, Drawn 6, Lost 6.

Their last seven away games in Manchester tell a similar story, losing six, drawing one and conceding 21 goals. Last season the 6-3 defeat at the Etihad set the tone for their performances in their other away trips, losing 5-1 at Anfield and 6-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Whatever their repeated claims to the contrary, it is this pathetically soft underbelly that Arsenal have become renowned for, not their positive reaction to such defeats.

This, finally, was a demonstration of armour, a display of hardened shield for that soft, squidgy midriff. This was a landmark result.