In the directors’ box, Sir Bobby Charlton mopped his brow and David Gill, the chief executive, puffed out his cheeks in a manner that betrayed his knowledge that Manchester United had got away with it. In the stands, grown men hugged and Salford lads baited their London counterparts. On the pitch, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney embraced. And on the touchline, Sir Alex Ferguson thrust two hands into the air before offering Arsène Wenger a consoling hug that seemed to linger a little too long for the Arsenal manager’s comfort.

This was the moment when it all fell into place for United, a victory that could be likened to the one when Steve Bruce headed two late goals to beat Sheffield Wednesday on Easter Saturday in 1993 or when Peter Schmeichel kept Newcastle United at bay at St James’ Park three years later.

Last season’s run-in featured several such moments – at home to Blackburn Rovers and away to Liverpool and Everton – and this was another occasion when United were against the ropes and came out fighting.

It is the hallmark of champions and it is one that this Arsenal team, for all Wenger’s protestations, do not bear. Champions seize victory from the jaws of defeat. Arsenal, in the biggest matches of their season – against United yesterday, away to Liverpool in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday and away to Chelsea in the Premier League a few weeks earlier – have achieved the opposite. No matter how vehemently Wenger insists that his team have an “unbelievable spirit”, there is something about United’s hearts that Arsenal cannot match.

“We did it the hard way,” Rio Ferdinand, the United captain, said. “There’s not many times we’ve been a goal down at home and had to come back, but we showed grit and determination and a great team ethic.”

Ordinarily, in the sphere of the postmatch interview, such comments would be filed in the category of clichés or platitudes, but perhaps Ferdinand had touched on something here. Was it possible to imagine Gallas and his teammates engineering such a turnaround? Sometimes, yes, but not consistently – not over the past two months. More to the point, was it possible to imagine that Ferguson’s players would implode as Arsenal have done against Chelsea, Liverpool and now United? Again, the answer is no.

There was a time a few seasons ago when United’s famed team spirit was descending into myth. There were stories of disputes on the training ground – Ruud van Nistelrooy versus Ronaldo, Roy Keane versus Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy or Keane versus Carlos Queiroz. Something had to change and, to the astonishment of most, Ferguson chose to ship out Van Nistelrooy and Keane in what was construed as an enormous vote of confidence in Ronaldo, a player who had performed to his huge potential only spasmodically. To say that his decision has reaped dividends would be one of the understatements of recent times.

Perhaps it is not all sweetness and light behind closed doors at Carrington these days, but there is a unity about United that suggests it may as well be. At another club – even without taking their past into account – there may be tension between Ronaldo and Rooney, the latter having to do the legwork of a winger so that his teammate can rattle up the goalscoring tally of a striker – but at United such tensions do not begin to reach the surface. Rooney may occasionally contort his face in anger when Ronaldo wastes an opportunity to play the easy pass, but look at that same face when Ronaldo scores. Pure, unbridled joy.

United were on the ropes yesterday, having been outplayed for the first 52 minutes, but they ended as winners. Arsenal, having outclassed the Premier League leaders, ended losers. This is not a coincidence. There are many reasons why United will finish as champions while Arsenal end up empty-handed. Spirit – whether drawn from the heart or the soul – is not the least of them.