English FA Premiership: Tottenham Hotspur 4 Arsenal 5 It is as well that there were enough goals to make Spurs fans woozy. Those people left the ground gratefully unable to focus on the fact that Arsenal had just won there for the first time since May 1999. Since this was a match like hardly any other, it even felt pedantic to count it as a fifth consecutive Premiership defeat.

The defenders wallowed in their fallibility and the aberrations were so outlandish that they were virtually a comfort to the new head coach Martin Jol, who could not bring himself to envisage that life will go on like this.

The more fatalistic supporters may take that as a sign he is too new to the job to realise how deep the self-destructiveness runs at White Hart Lane. Despite an outstanding first-half display, Spurs eventually heartened Arsenal and set them on their way again in a Premiership where they had not won in three matches.

"That was what we needed and now I think it will turn our season around again," said Arsenal's left-back Ashley Cole. "I've never played in a game like it - at least, not since I was a kid."

Intoxicating as the fixture was, some abstained from taking a sip. "That is not a proper football score; it is an ice hockey result," said the disapproving Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. He is in the puritan party of his profession, but his views cannot be dismissed even by the victors. Arsenal conceded two goals from set-pieces, just as they had in the draw with Southampton.

Arsene Wenger is reduced to fielding questions on the likely date of Sol Campbell's return from injury. At best, the powerful centre-half will be back in a fortnight, but Arsenal should be too exalted to depend so drastically on a single defender. Chelsea will be encouraged that the squad strength at Highbury is unevenly distributed.

For 45 minutes on Saturday it was Spurs who gave a concerted display, with the back four sound, Michael Brown hustling Patrick Vieira in midfield and the side brimming with eagerness. They were ahead in the 37th minute, when neither Vieira or Kolo Toure could cut out Michael Carrick's free-kick and Noureddine Naybet shot home first time.

The Moroccan, though, was to suffer, letting himself be caught in possession for two of Arsenal's goals. Jol guessed that Naybet had wanted to set an example by being "cool and taking his time" and still regards him as "a world-class player". Perhaps so, but at 34 he is a slowing legend.

Thierry Henry, till then subdued, deserted his favourite channel on the left to switch towards the right and break behind Naybet in first-half stoppage-time. Ledley King came over to cover but was transfixed as Henry plucked Lauren's pass out of the air and slipped an equaliser into the net.

While 1-0 ahead, Spurs had almost extended their lead immediately when Jens Lehmann had to stretch to tip the ball over the bar after a cross had broken off the head of his own defender Pascal Cygan. Cole saw that as a turning point and Henry's leveller steered the match in Arsenal's direction.

Even so, the game did try their nerves enough to make Wenger's team resort to superstition. Henry left Lauren to convert a penalty in the 55th minute because the full back had previously tucked one away against Spurs in the double-winning season of 2002.

The need for lucky charms was questionable when Jol's side so often jinxed themselves. In the build-up to the penalty, Paul Robinson bumped into King while releasing his throw-out and Freddie Ljungberg was then brought down needlessly by Noe Pamarot after Toure had found him.

Once in front, Arsenal never again allowed Spurs to pull level despite all the exchanges of goals. Vieira, robbing Naybet, had strode through to score before Jermain Defoe responded with a wonderful, dipping finish into the top corner.

After a further Naybet miscalculation, Cesc Fabregas sent Ljungberg in for Arsenal's fourth. The Swede has had a patchy couple of years but his predatoriness complements the rest of the midfield nicely when he is in the sort of form to take advantage of a committed opponent whose lack of match fitness on his comeback took its toll.

"[ Freddie] was very influential in the second half and started to win the one-on-ones with [ Erik] Edman," said Wenger.

Arsenal, if far from secure, had all the answers. Although King headed in another Carrick free-kick, the substitute Robert Pires hit the net improbably by beating Robinson from a tight angle on the left. Arsenal could afford the blunder by Henry that let Reto Ziegler set up Frederic Kanoute for a goal.

Jol has now served up a gripping failure for the White Hart Lane crowd, but they would also be partial to a few forgettable wins.

Guardian Service