Benayoun’s early goal was not going to be the only similarity to the Norwich game. Andre Santos had dashed inside to close down a passing option, Vermaelen was goal side of Shane Long but decided to push out and catch the forward in an offside position which to be fair, he was exactly that. The assistant referee did not give the call and Long raced clear to side foot past Szczesny. At that stage of the game with the Norwich errors in mind, the sensible option may have been to

I cannot remember a time watching an Arsenal match where I have been so nervous as I was during injury time against West Brom on Sunday. We could all relate to Arsene Wenger hugging Pat Rice as his emotions overcame him when Robin van Persie smashed a shot over the bar.

The Norwich City cave in last week was too fresh, too raw and I am sure many supporters had massive doubts as to whether we could keep out the home side when it mattered at the end.

I cannot think of another time in my Arsenal supporting life where I seriously considered switching off the screen and just coming back to it when it was over and done with such was the strain the match was causing me.

With a couple minutes remaining, I decided to do something else that I try to avoid during important times of the game and that was to bypass the delayed stream and check for the final whistle on Twitter. There it was Arsenal.com telling Gooners that it was full time, I jumped around my living room with my Gooner friend while the game was still going on via my computer, a weird feeling I must say. I still needed the final whistle to go on my feed before I could properly digest what had happened.

There have been some very important goals this season. Arteta’s late winner against the Champions, van the man at Anfield and many more but if any one isolated stand out contribution put us in third place then it was young Kieran Gibbs’ tackle inside the box when the West Brom player was about to pull the trigger and side foot past Szczesny.

In the words of Andy Gray, ‘take a bow son’

It all started so well for us, man of the match by a country mile (after Fullop of course), Yossi Benayoun chased a lost cause like only he does and Martin Fullop’s first catastrophic mistake of the day presented Yossi with a tap in, his second early opener in two games. Even I had taken my eye off of the ball when it looked as if a routine scoop would happen.

Benayoun’s early goal was not going to be the only similarity to the Norwich game. Andre Santos had dashed inside to close down a passing option, Vermaelen was goal side of Shane Long but decided to push out and catch the forward in an offside position which to be fair, he was exactly that. The assistant referee did not give the call and Long raced clear to side foot past Szczesny. At that stage of the game with the Norwich errors in mind, the sensible option may have been to stick with the man as he was pretty much covered. Easy in hindsight I guess.

The second West Brom goal was certainly another Vermaelen error, he had once again gone walk about’s too far up the pitch and a ball over the top allowed Dorrans to head one side of Koscielny and smash a shot past Szczesny brilliantly on the half volley.

The Belgium’s leadership, commitment and technical qualities are all there to be seen and we are lucky to have him but his positional play clearly needs some work. Perhaps Bould can have a few words during pre season.

With Tottenham leading at White Hart Lane to Fulham, we were heading out of the Champions League unless we could fight back once more. Enter big George from the estate as Tom Watts calls him. Santos darted into an inside left position, swerved outside his man and fired in a low drive that Fullop could only parry into his own net. A great strike but a question mark can be placed next to the goalkeeper.

The winner was much more than a question mark. van Persie’s corner kick with an hour on the clock should have been a routine catch for any keeper worth his salt but former Tottenham keeper *Bwahahaha* decided to go with the punch, he punched the wrong way and Koscielny was on hand to prod home from close range.

There was still half an hour to go and that just did not sit right with me. I am glad the players could not hear my screams as I chopped and changed between score the fourth and keep the bloody ball!

Szczesny saved from an Andrews drive and Gibbs made THAT tackle.

In the end it didn’t matter what Tottenham and Adebayor with his ridiculous hair style managed, the three points and guaranteed Champions League spot went to the Arsenal.

It is not the beating of Tottenham that is important, although it is certainly worth a chuckle. You can see my photo special from last night, it is not even so much the chance to win the CL but for me it is the chance to give the manager and his staff every possible chance to keep building this squad without the interference of two very important qualifying matches which of course, could be taken away if Chelsea win their next match.

We have the money available now so the manager is able to do as he pleases from the off without having to wait to see if the CL cheque clears or bounces.

Before we can think about signing new players, every effort should be about keeping hold of our skipper, his own personal Robin in Theo and Alex Song. What we simply do not need is more rebuilding for the new season.

In September we were 17th in the league, having lost four of our opening seven games. Our previous captain and play maker had left along with many other players in the squad. Jack Wilshere has not played the whole season and today we find ourselves as the third best team in the country. I certainly would have taken that back in September. We finished a place higher, more points and more goals scored than last season.

It has been an emotionally exhausting season and now is a good time to recharge batteries and come again stronger next season without the summer disruption. We can all hope.

A big thank you goes out to Pat Rice for all his wonderful work at the club. The scenes at the end with the players throwing him up and catching him were lovely to see. I suspect it will not be the last time we see him around the club. Steve Bould has some big boots to fill.

Before I go, just a quick note on Arsenal Vision. I haven’t been able to write as much as I would have liked of late as life has taken another one of those whirlwind turns. The site is likely to take another direction during the pre season and into the new campaign. I am still sorting things out on that front. When I know more, I shall inform you.

Back soon.