Wenger: Today shows Arsenal is more alive than anybody thought

LONDON - Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal’s “perfect” comeback to thrash Tottenham proves his side can still finish above its bitter rival in the Premier League this season.

The Gunners staged a sensational fightback from two goals down at Emirates Stadium on Sunday to win 5-2 with a sparkling attacking display to humiliate Spurs.

Bacary Sagna, Robin van Persie and Tomas Rosicky scored to put Arsenal in the lead before Theo Walcott capped the win with two goals, having been jeered by his own fans earlier in the game.

The Gunners came into the game under pressure after back-to-back defeats to Milan and Sunderland but the result takes Arsenal back into fourth place as the team targets a place in next season’s Champions League. It also closed the gap to the Gunners north London enemy to seven points.

“Today shows that Arsenal is alive more than anybody thought before the game,” said Wenger. “We had a performance today where the technical side and drive of the team was perfect. Everything was perfect despite a very bad start.

"I think Tottenham started well for the first five minutes. After, it was all us for 85 minutes. We dominated the game. We were 2-0 down and refused to lose the game. We were determined to win. We had a great spirit.

“It is still possible to finish above Tottenham if we keep our run going. It is possible but it will be down to consistency. Everybody in the Premier League now can lose points. We both have difficult schedules but if we continue to play like that, why not?”

Wenger reserved special praise for Walcott and admitted he considered substituting the winger after fans started to express their frustration with his lack of end product in the first half.

“The crowd was starting to get on Theo’s back,” Wenger added. “You don’t know whether to do him a favor by taking him off or leave him on. I felt he had the qualities to get behind defenders. He’s a very direct player. Sometimes he misses a first touch but I felt it was important to keep him in the team for the balance of our side.

“We had a good balance between offense and defense. We had creativity and went into the space behind defenders. I felt it was a performance of good maturity.”