When we scored after 19 seconds my immediate reaction was that we’d fail to ram home our advantage. I’d seen it before. Though in fairness I imagine that if you go back through history and look at all the teams in various leagues who have been clearly one of the better sides but clearly not the best, an ability to take the lead against lesser opposition but then fail to add two or three more is a fairly common complaint. That, inevitably, is one of the things that separates the better sides and the best sides.

At the time of writing, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs each have two games to play in what would be an absolutely thrilling race for the title were the three sides of title challenging quality, which they patently aren’t. In terms of our top 4 chances, if I could have a sneak preview of the result of one of the games and then be allowed to make my pick, it would be Stoke v Spurs tomorrow. I don’t think any of the other five games is more consequential.

A Spurs win and we, in all likelihood will have to beat Wigan and then win at Newcastle. Not impossible, but I think I’d back Spurs. A Spurs draw or defeat and a win against Wigan would seal the deal for us, such is the superiority of our goal difference. Speaking of which, the many a seasoned observer who have spent much of the season declaring Spurs a clearly better side than us would do well to note that with two games to go, we’re a point ahead and we’ve also scored four more and conceded nine fewer. Now as it happens I think our goal difference belies the fact we both concede and struggle to score in the tougher tests but whatever happens, I think we can confidently say Spurs are not miles ahead of us.

Finally, Fergie. Undoubtedly brilliant for United, I’m not convinced his legacy to football is all positive. In an era when the game appears more cynical and less trusted than ever before, it is right to ask whether he contributed to this or mitigated against it. I think the former is true.

As for Moyes as his successor, it appears 100% continuity Fergie. Yes, Moyes has been picked on merit. But also because in his fellow Glasweigan, Fergie saw the manager most similar to himself. Given United have hardly struggled for trophies in recent years, the desire to do things as they’ve always been done is quite understandable.

But does this mean everything must remain exactly as it was? What happens the first time David Moyes wants to change something?

YOU KNOW how big an occasion the Emirates is hosting by the extent to which the constant standing that is most prevalent behind our “second half” goal sweeps round past the singing section towards the dugouts. Ordinarily, in our seats down by the corner flag you’d expect to spend the entirety of Arsenal v United on your feet.

But not today. I’ve never spent so much time seated for an Arsenal v United game. It wasn’t a conscious choice on my part – it was what we were all doing. It was disconcerting – a hefty something sapped from what is ordinarily such a fine occasion by the fact that for United the result mattered little. It was a strange, discomforting feeling, though arguably still better than them winning it on our turf, which would have just been hideous.

Of course in the best of all possible worlds they’d have come needing something from the game and left still needing something. But on the evidence of what we did see, I’m not sure I’d have fancied us greatly against a United side with something to play for.

We started well enough – our goal beautifully worked, albeit offside. It may seem churlish to criticise a successful finish, but to those saying Walcott took it well, I’d kindly suggest that anything less well placed would have frankly constituted a pretty poor effort.

But anyhoo. United were pretty woeful frankly for a while and there for the taking you sensed. And it was at that stage that I began to get a bit angry because I remembered that for everything A-list about the club (the stadium, the ticket prices, the wages), we essentially have just the one player who we regard as a striker and that is a fairly shocking state of affairs frankly.

United rallied, put one wide, had one well saved and then got the cheapest of goals. A sloppy ball from Sagna, a run from Van Persie, an attempt to recover from Sagna, me screaming from about 15 yards away “don’t foul him, don’t foul him, don’t foul him” and then, of course, a foul. I’m Sagna’s biggest fan but all in all that was pretty poor frankly.

After the break they probably looked most dangerous but we were game enough and fashioned a couple of openings ourselves. A draw was fair – it was one of those games where if either side had got a winner you’d have said they merited it but neither did.

A few observations on some of the players:

Van Persie: The sight of some things and some people on a football pitch make my blood boil. He is not one of them. For me, he had every right to leave: I’d have done it at the same stage. Going to United was hardly a huge punt on his part, but I struggle to see how one can begrudge him the move. Then there is, of course, how he left. Not particularly graceful I’ll grant you but changing jobs often isn’t.

But for me the overriding reason why it doesn’t really hurt is frankly because he never won anything with Arsenal (other than a bit part in an FA Cup triumph). Yes, he was once one of ours but it is largely in the winning of trophies that immortality is conferred. Without them you become the best player of a soon forgotten crop.

Theo Walcott: I hate to be negative and I am aware I am perhaps picking on him a little. But can someone tell me why he basically just stands there for large parts of the game, giving his opponents completely free reign to play around him. His goal aside, he was woeful for long periods and only sparked up when it appeared the Ox was about to replace him with five minutes left. His corners were utterly woeful too.

Aaron Ramsey: The way he gravitates towards the ball while others (see above) do the opposite, is now appreciated by the vast majority of the Emirates crowd, who realise it is better to make the odd mistake than never to do anything at all. I’m not greatly surprised: he is a useful player to have, a little Ray Parlouresque in some (but not all) senses.

Next year, I just hope this fixture is some time between November and February.

A few once sacred mental cows have been slaughtered in recent years: we are no longer in a continual battle for supremacy with Man United, we no longer beat them as often as they beat us, we can lose 8-2, we can see former players step up from playing for Arsenal. We have seen them leave us and within a year be Champions.

In short, we have had to become accustomed to a more modest footballistic lifestyle.

And yet, to my mind, there are two sacred cows that remain. Two things that we can hold dear to, irrespective of the change going on elsewhere. Two things that are intrinsically us.

The first is Invincibility: when the last unbeaten record goes each season in the Premier League, I feel enormous relief. An inner peace.

And the second is the issue of where titles are won. United may have amassed many, many more than us but when it comes to that moment when challengers become champions, nobody can match us for style: Anfield, Old Trafford, White Hart Lane – moments of unadulterated joy rendered oh so much sweeter by the setting. Winning at the home of the enemy is what we do to others – not what we have done to us and that is why I was so delighted to see United beat Villa tonight.

As United had stumbled over recent weeks it was as if they were saving themselves for the Emirates. I was dreading it.

Frankly, I couldn’t give a stuff about a guard of honour – for me it will be a painless experience – one over in seconds. Yes, we will be welcoming United to our ground as Champions, but frankly we’ve done that countless times over the years!

What they’ve never done is win it in our place. They’ve never been able to sing about how they won the league at Arsenal. They’ve never been able to explode into title winning joy on our turf. And that remains the case.

And it is for that at least that I am grateful to Robin Van Persie.

Seamus Coleman got in what the referee deemed a block. Others might have called it a penalty for a foul on Giroud but it was one of those decisions where the referee could have gone either way and you’d see where he was coming from.

We’re in exactly the position I remember saying about six months ago that we’d be in at this stage: slightly behind Chelsea and more or less neck and neck with Spurs. The only people who ever doubted that latter point were those who, once again, overstated the competency of a club who have been anything but when it comes to finishing above us in recent years.

Whether or not we qualify for the Champions League will, for many, likely be the premise on whether or not they think Wenger should continue. I’m not one of those people because I believe that ultimately we’ve been bobbing around the fourth place cut off point for years and whether we finish just one side of it or just the other side is neither particularly here or there. I wouldn’t have wanted Wenger sacked had Spurs finished above us in 2006 and so I don’t think failure in 2013 would, in itself, be sufficient grounds.

That is not to say I am against change: for a while I’ve feared it necessary. But these are discussions for the end of the season.

More imminently, Manchester United are doing everything they can to delay winning the title until they visit us in just over a week’s time. Should be interesting.

Whether we will finish above spurs is anybody’s guess. Personally I always thought it would be tight at this point and I suspect we may still have some blips of our own to come. But what we can say is that so much of what was written by so many apparently esteemed observers in the aftermath of the derby game was complete guff.

We did pretty well against opposition who look destined for the Championship. It was hard to see what Reading’s game was – they neither pressed particularly, went for it particularly or parked or a bus particularly.

Looking at the big picture of the squad, I’m unsure one would be well advised to draw too many conclusions from a midfield of Arteta, Rosicky, Ramsey, Gervinho and Cazorla. Dominate as they did, it is not a five that will us the title anytime soon.

One of those five is a little special though. What is not to like about Cazorla? Goals, two feet, creativity and a Barcelonalike intensity when trying to retrieve the ball. His cross-shot for the first was intelligent, his curled shot for the second beautiful.

The question, I suppose, is where his first season ranks compared to those of other attacking midfielders we’ve seen of late. In my view comfortably better than Pires, Nasri, Ljungberg, Hleb, Rosicky and anyone else other than Limpar and Overmars and even then it is probably only the fact we won the league in those seasons that puts them a nose ahead.

Sorry this report isn’t longer – I blame the combination of a birthday and a bank holiday for the slackness.

To be frank, I spent a significant part of that 45 minutes a little bored.

But you know, credit where credit is due: it was boring in part because for once we didn’t look like conceding. We were very solid against a team with decent attacking credentials.

It would be a lie to say our attacking performance was all singing and all dancing but we got in there in the end, in no small part thanks to the drive of Santi Cazorla who seemed to be playing with a little bit more purpose than some of his teammates. In the build up to the first goal it was quite apparent he did not intend to be deterred.

Just before Gervinho tucked away the second I was cursing Ramsey for what I initially thought to be a poor pass that was behind the Ivorian. On closer inspection I changed my mind: there was no angle to play the ball the other side of the defender, a high ball was a risk while the option he did choose still (as we saw) allowed enough time for Gervinho to collect the ball and score.

So a good day, though as I intimated, I’m not sure it would have been had it not been for the contribution of Cazorla. Among the attackers Theo Walcott in particular wasn’t great. Going through a lean spell (no goals in his last eight) is something that every player experiences, but appearing to accept it with such passivity doesn’t look great.

LOOK – 2-0 in Munich is a terrific result. And I’d go so far as to say we merited it: we scored two perfectly good goals while Munich were rarely very close to scoring. Had it been the other way round we’d rue our impotence and applaud the opposition’s efficiency. So no complaints regarding what happened on the night.

What I would say to you, however, is that if you think we were ever particularly close to winning the tie at any stage, feel free – but you are kidding yourself. This Arsenal glorious failure was very much of its time.

But this was an occasion that was more than simply a United Champions League tie. It was an occasion where those of us who can only get away with watching so many non-Arsenal games each season felt confident cashing in a chip on. It was one of those occasions where you had two terrific sides in terrific form. You wondered what would ultimately separate them.

And for a while it was great. United scored but that didn’t really matter because Madrid still had to get one and we wondered how it would all play out.

And then the referee intervened: it was clearly a complete accident and to those who say it is reckless to control the ball at that height, I’d remind you that we’re about to cast in bronze a statue of Dennis Bergkamp doing exactly that.

But for me the point is the referee never had to make that decision: no fan, player or manager of Real Madrid would have cited a failure to issue a red at that point as explanation for their failure to qualify. Just as nobody from Barcelona ever would have dared cite a failure to send-off RVP for kicking the ball away in the Nou Camp a couple of years ago had we gone on to beat them.