There will be those who read the scoreline above and believe it is a misprint. After all, Tottenham Hotspur do not defeat Arsenal at all these days, let alone by a four-goal margin.

This is no error at the printers, however. Nothing has been lost in translation, there will be no corrections, amplifications, clarifications or hasty adjustments in the stop press. Tottenham scored five goals and Arsenal one: fact.

Tottenham were in a different class: irrefutably. The best team won, without a doubt. Go on, pinch yourself. This is no dream, we promise.

True, it may only have been half an Arsenal team who lost at White Hart Lane, but it was also half an Arsenal team who contested the final of this tournament last season and came damn close to beating Chelsea at full strength. Whatever gambles Arsène Wenger took last night, he did not expect to lose in such humiliating fashion. No team is comfortable going down by such a mighty margin to its bitterest rival. After such a long period of domination for the red sector of North London, bragging rights accrued from this match will be brutally exercised and Arsenal fans will feel let down.

The way the home fans at White Hart Lane partied at the end suggested that this win would still be celebrated long after the season has been put to bed, and even if next month brings disappointment at Wembley.

It was November 1999 when Tottenham last beat their rivals, a period in which the club has searched with growing desperation for the manager that might ignite their club as Wenger’s spark lit up Arsenal. In Juande Ramos they may at last have the man with the plan. This was his third match against Arsenal and on each occasion he has deserved to win.

That the first two games ended in a loss and a draw demonstrates how familiar Tottenham have become with playing second fiddle, but yesterday they strode to the centre of the stage and brought the house to its feet. A goal up after two minutes, Tottenham never looked back. They were two clear before half-time, three from the first attack of the second half, safe when the fourth went in with 31 minutes remaining and quite delirious by the time Steed Malbranque tapped in the fifth.

By the end, Arsenal, a team who mainline on team spirit with all that showy pre and post-match hugging, were fighting among themselves, Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner needing the attention of Howard Webb, the referee, as they squared up. In the most predictable event of an otherwise remarkable night, Wenger did not see it.

Injury dictated that Arsenal had more first-team players in attendance than was usual for this competition, yet that brought the added problem of unfamiliarity. Whereas Tottenham’s team have played together for much of the season, and demonstrated great understanding, Arsenal looked from early on like players who were not used to being grouped together and it showed when Tottenham scored from the first attack of the game. It was a simple goal, well executed, but it highlighted Arsenal’s deficiencies as Jermaine Jenas was allowed to proceed directly down the centre of the pitch before striking a low shot that struck the inside of Lukasz Fabianski’s far post before crossing the line.

With a front pairing of Theo Walcott and Bendtner looking particularly ineffective, there was always the danger that a second would leave Arsenal with too much to do, and so it proved.Shortly after Bendtner had missed Arsenal’s best chance of the first half, hitting a shot from 15 yards over the bar, the striker showed a similar lack of composure at the opposite end to gift Tottenham the goal that persuaded the home crowd their luck was changing at last.

It was man-of-the-match Jenas again: a low, flat free kick from just inside Arsenal’s half that asked questions of the defending players that they singularly failed to answer. Bendtner, under pressure from Michael Dawson, the central defender, headed powerfully into his own net, a real centre forward’s goal.

The game would have gone from Arsenal’s reach even before half-time had Dimitar Berbatov scored when put through by Jenas three minutes later but, left with only Fabianski to beat, he scuffed his shot against a post.

Tottenham were made to wait until the second half, then, to feel safe. After waiting almost nine years, they would hardly have minded. Particularly as it took just three minutes for the third to arrive, a great ball by Berbatov finding Robbie Keane, who sped away from Arsenal’s defenders and slotted the ball into the net with customary coolness. There was similar certainty about the fifth, a generous exchange of passes between Keane and Aaron Lennon that ended with the winger leaving Fabianski stranded once more. A Jenas cross — and he is a certainty to be included in Fabio Capello’s first England squad after this, by the way — gave Malbranque the easiest finish for the fifth in injury time.

Arsenal had got one back in the 69th minute, but frankly, who cared? Certainly not Adebayor, who minutes later was doing battle with his own striking partner.

As for the final, it will be interesting if Chelsea defeat Everton this evening, not least for Kevin Keegan, the Newcastle United manager, who will be surprised to see 80,000 Londoners descending on Wembley when he expects them to be at the theatre. The last time Tottenham trod this path they defeated Chelsea 5-1 at the same stage before losing to Blackburn Rovers in the final. So tragedy tomorrow, maybe, but with Arsenal reduced to fighting among themselves it was certainly comedy tonight.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): R Cerny – P Chimbonda, M Dawson, L King, Lee Young Pyo – A Lennon (sub: T Huddlestone, 74min), J Jenas, T Tainio, S Malbranque – D Berbatov (sub: J Defoe 63), R Keane (sub: K-P Boateng, 63). Substitutes not used: P Robinson, J O’Hara. Booked: Malbranque, Jenas.

Arsenal (4-4-2): L Fabianski – B Sagna, J Hoyte, W Gallas, A Traoré (sub: Eduardo da Silva, 64) – A Hleb, Denilson (sub: F Fàbregas, 18), Gilberto Silva, A Diaby – T Walcott (sub: E Adebayor, 64), N Bendtner. Substitutes not used: V Mannone, M Flamini. Booked: Hoyte, Adebayor.

Referee: H Webb.

Party like it's 1999

— When Tottenham beat Arsenal on November 7, 1999 (the last time they tasted victory over their rivals before last night):

Big Brother had yet to appear on television.

Milton Keynes Dons were still known as Wimbledon and playing in the Premier League.

Arsenal were still playing their George Graham-era back four of Lee Dixon, Martin Keown, Tony Adams and Nigel Winterburn.

Theo Walcott, the striker, was aged 10.

— In January 2002, Tottenham ended a 26-match sequence against Chelsea without a victory by beating them 5-1 at home in a League Cup semi-final, second leg. Last night Tottenham ended a 21-match sequence against Arsenal without a victory by beating them 5-1 at home in a League Cup semi-final, second leg.

— Arsenal conceded more than four goals in a match for the first time since February 25, 2001, when they lost 6-1 away to Manchester United in the league

— Previous Arsenal defeat to Tottenham by three goals or more — April 4, 1983: Tottenham 5, Arsenal 0, top flight

Words by Bill Edgar

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