Declan Rice held his hands up to apologise to his team-mates and looked up to the skies wearing a smile of disbelief. Tottenham had just made it 1-1 thanks to Randal Kolo Muani's immediate equaliser. Rice clumsily took a risk on the ball on the edge of his own box and was dispossessed by Kolo Muani who lashed beyond David Raya. Just 123 seconds earlier, Eberechi Eze's first Premier League shot on target since November - and also the last time these two teams met, when he scored a hat-trick - had put Arsenal in front.

After the ball hit the back of the net, Rice gathered the men in red and white into a huddle and urged them to concentrate. As they returned to their own half, Rice gestured to his team-mates to stay switched on as he pointed to his temples with both index fingers. Isn't it ironic, don't you think, that he was the one who ignored his own advice and gifted Spurs their equaliser. In doing so, Arsenal broke a golden rule of football.

That rule, taught at every single level of the sport, is that you simply cannot gift-wrap presents to your opponents like that so soon after scoring yourselves. You have to be more concentrated than that. At such a high level, matches are won and lost on mistakes and split-second decisions. One lapse, one error, can be so costly. Rice now has to thank his team-mates that this one was not. He would have been constantly reminded of it otherwise.

Conceding 24 seconds after the restart is unacceptable for any team, let alone an Arsenal team of this calibre. Gary Neville reacted on Sky Sports' commentary: "You cannot believe that. These moments by Arsenal have to stop." The Gunners had already thrown away precious points in the title race at Brentford and Wolves in the last 10 days.

They led Manchester City by six points after 25 games. Coming into this, their 28th match of the Premier League season, they led by just two. Giving away more goals like this will cost them in the end. The pressure and emotional toll it will put on them, in the title race with City, will mount. For a team with only experience of losing the title, rather than getting it over the line, it sows seeds of self-doubt. At this time of the season, those seeds blossom pretty quickly.

On this occasion, Rice's blushes were spared. The Englishman, and the Arsenal team as a whole, responded strongly to Kolo-Muani's leveller. They couldn't strike back before half-time but just 91 seconds into the second half, Viktor Gyokeres unleashed a stunner past Guglielmo Vicario to put Arsenal 2-1 up.

The Swede has faced a lot of criticism this season. A fair bit of it warranted. But his 14th goal of the season will do wonders for him, especially his relationship with the Arsenal fans. This time, the away side stayed switched on. Eze killed the game beyond doubt on the hour mark with his fifth goal of the season against Spurs, who famously tried to sign him last summer before he headed to the Emirates instead. From there, the away team controlled it perfectly. The away end were able to enjoy themselves largely stress-free and Rice was pivotal to that comfort. They even got chance to celebrate further, when Gyokeres made it 4-1 in stoppage time - securing a second successive 4-1 win over Spurs this season.

Arsenal have thrown away points from winning positions against Manchester United, Brentford and Wolves in 2026 alone. They were not going to do so again here. Had they gone three without a win in the Premier League, with only themselves to blame, the repercussions could have been catastrophic. It would have been like throwing chum into the water for the sky blue City shark that lurks ominously beneath the surface.

Of course, this win by no mean guarantees Arsenal will be champions on May 24. But the five-point gap, having played one game more than City, is a relief. So is avoiding a slip-up against their arch enemies. It is a victory that tastes extra sweet, against their bitter rivals and after so much talk about the possibility of them bottling their lead at the top. Pep Guardiola's City will not play their extra game - at home to Crystal Palace - until after they meet Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final (March 22) and probably not until after they play at the Etihad in the league (April 18 or 19) either.

That means the north Londoners boast a buffer that is massive for them psychologically. This win alone does them the world of good mentally too. It is a warning to City that Mikel Arteta's men will not feel sorry for themselves and wilt away. They remain a serious football team with serious ambitions.

But mistakes like Rice's simply cannot be allowed going forward. If they do, Arsenal will pay and City are poised to take advantage. Failing to win this Premier League title would be the most painful near-miss yet for Arsenal. This can be one of the greatest seasons in their history, and they have to stop being the creators of their own downfall to realise it. Their response to Rice's error here was the perfect example of what they must do between now and late May.