This was a night when cool heads were needed. A night that should have happened in January but ended up taking place in May.
In the end, there is a certain irony that it was a Spurs player who would not have played on that original night but ended up being Arsenal's chief tormentor four months later. Son Heung-min was out with a hamstring injury at the start of the year, yet on Thursday night he caused Arsenal and defender Rob Holding, who lived up to both of his names, all manner of problems.
Son was pushed, shoved, held, kicked in the back and eventually had a shoulder smashed in his face, but he kept on going and he won the war. One of the best assists of the night might just have been from Harry Kane to stop the South Korean star reacting to one of Holding's many dubious moments of defending. The Tottenham striker got in between his team-mate and the Arsenal man, also swatted away Cedric like a fly, and prevented Son from reacting in a way he and Spurs might have regretted.
READ MORE: Every word Antonio Conte said on why Arteta must stop complaining and Spurs' win against Arsenal
Son composed himself and with Holding looking increasingly limited in trying to defend against him and instead sticking with the rough stuff so duly came the second yellow card and then red.
Spurs took total control from that point. A huge Tifo held up by the fans before kick-off read 'Dare, Dream, Do'. All that mattered really was the 'Do' and Tottenham 'Did'.
Kane had already fired home the penalty earned by a push on Son in the box and eight minutes before the break it was the South Korean who floated in a corner that Rodrigo Bentancur headed on and Kane dived to nod over the line.
After a nervy start, Spurs had ended up with the half of their dreams. When Son fittingly fired home a goal just two minutes himself after the break, burying his shot after Kane's run ended with him bring wrestled to the floor in the Arsenal box, the visitors' last fleeting hopes were crushed and it was job done.
Tottenham took their foot off the gas just the required amount, managed the game and rested up in preparation for their ridiculously short turnaround to the Burnley match at noon on Sunday.
Antonio Conte made changes and there was something refreshing in seeing Son genuinely annoyed at coming off despite the manager wrapping him up in cotton wool for the week. The South Korean, who is now just one goal behind Premier League top scorer Mohamed Salah, is not one for individual accolades but even he wanted more of the occasion and you could understand why. It wasn't until a big hug and a chat from Conte after the final whistle that Son finally flashed that big trademark smile.
It was a night when a record 62,027-strong crowd roared the team on from start to finish in the first north London derby able to be played in front of a full Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
They got to witness a Spurs side with a spine that gave it its strength. Kane and Son put in big player performances up front, while Dejan Kulusevski toiled down the right to cause Arsenal problems.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was a Danish warrior in the centre of the pitch with three tackles, one interception and three clearances, while Bentancur provided that assist along with two tackles and three interceptions.
Behind them Eric Dier marshalled the backline with four clearances, two interceptions and one tackle. Ben Davies alongside him continued his fine form and showcased exactly how to deal with a yellow card to his name, one gained early on after he appeared to be fouled first.
"To see my players manage this, what happens when there is a red card on the other side you have to pay more attention especially when they have one yellow card," said Conte, who was booked himself for disputing Davies' yellow card. "We spoke with Ben after the first half to pay attention. I am delighted with the way they managed and the attitude they showed."
Then there was Davinson Sanchez, replacing the injured Cristian Romero, and the Colombian overcame some understandable early rustiness to put in a good performance and it was the defender who played the pass through to Kane in the build-up to Tottenham's third goal. With the Argentine expected to miss the final two matches, Spurs will need Sanchez to carry on where he left off and it will put a seal on a season in which the 25-year-old has had many good moments despite never being first choice.
"I want to say that Patron Sanchez, he played his last game in the starting XI maybe two-and-a-half months ago and he worked a lot, he worked very well and to see him tonight have this performance makes me and my staff very happy," said Conte. "When you have these type of players like Sanchez and Joe Rodon, reliable players that whether they play or don't play they stay and work very hard, the coach and the staff are very happy."
On the wings, Ryan Sessegnon and Emerson Royal dealt with much that came their way and were involved in the attacking endeavours, the Brazilian having two great chances to score.
At the back of them all, captain Hugo Lloris only had one real shot of any menace to save and that was Eddie Nketiah's drive that he had to tip over the crossbar.
After the game Mikel Arteta was fuming, declaring that he could not speak about the referee Paul Tierney's display because he would be suspended, but in his short and sharp press conference he did say: "This beautiful occasion was destroyed and unfortunately, we could not play the game we wanted to play."
That would signify that the Arsenal boss had a problem with the sending off. The penalty perhaps you could understand some displeasure at, even though it was a push on Son, but the spot kick was not an occasion destroyer for the visitors.
That instead would have been Holding's red card, but it's difficult to understand any genuine Arteta gripes with the officials in that instance rather than his own Arsenal defender losing his head repeatedly on a big occasion.
Conte was not having any of it when football.london explained to him what Arteta had been like during his press conference before the Italian walked in.
"I think that Mikel Arteta is a really good coach. He's being a really good coach. He's just started to do this job and I think that I hear him complain a lot. I think that he needs to be focused more on his team and not to complain," said the Spurs boss.
"Because he has just started his work and I think he has to be calm and to try to continue to work. Because he's very good but to listen to a coach complain a lot of time is not good.
"But it's ok, the red card for me it was clear. Don't forget against Liverpool I said nothing what happened with Fabinho, a lot of time, because if we want to complain we have the possibility every game to speak about the referee, about the decision, about the postponed game, I think that this is the advice if you want to accept the advice. If you don't I don't care."
He added: "If you remember he complained about the fixture. It is not good to complain. Arsenal were good to postpone a game in an incredible way with Covid and they only had one player with Covid. I didn’t forget this. If he wants to complain, we have a lot of possibilities to complain.
"Now, today I can complain about why I have to play on Sunday at 12pm and Arsenal has to play on Monday night and they have one day more rest. We played against Leicester, Liverpool, Arsenal and now after only two days we have to play and we have to play the first game at 12pm."
Ultimately it's still in Arsenal's hands and if they win their remaining two matches away at Newcastle and at home against Everton then they will take fourth spot. Conte will be hoping that a combination of sapped morale after this north London derby defeat, injuries and Newcastle and Everton sides looking to finish their seasons in style could see some points dropped.
Whatever happens to the Gunners, what's important is that Spurs continue 'to do'. The atmosphere on Thursday evening was special and not only do the players have to put in just a committed performance against a Burnley side battling to remain in the Premier League on Sunday but so do the fans.
"I'm pleased for the commitment and the attitude of my players, for the way that they managed the pressure," Conte told football.london.
"At the same time I was very clear with them, it's right to celebrate but if we don't win on Sunday we risk that you won a derby. Now we are very close for a big achievement. We are one point less than Arsenal. There are two games to go. I think we have an important game against Burnley.
"We lost against Burnley and you know very well that after this game it made me very, very angry. I think it was a good step for me, for my players, for the club to understand what I wanted of my players and now to stay in this position I think at that time, none of us could think that two games to we would have the possibility to play for a place in the Champions League."
On his work and those Spurs fans he added: "In six months and a half we worked step by step. For me it was important to know my players much better and them to know me much better, and understand sometimes when I'm angry, why I'm angry. Don't forget the defeat against Burnley made me very angry, if you remember.
"Now they're improving in many aspects. Not only on the pitch but mentally they are becoming strong. Now we're talking to tell a lot of positive things but on Sunday we have to win.
"So I ask to our fans to recreate this atmosphere because tonight it was amazing. The fans scored one goal. We scored two and one for our fans. It'll be important on Sunday to stay together and create again this atmosphere. We need to play this game all together because it won't be easy. It'll be a sporting war, clearly."
The Tifo still holds true. Tottenham Hotspur can dream, they must dare but ultimately they must do and then events elsewhere might just respond in kind.
