TOTTENHAM...2 ARSENAL...2: The accolades for Arsenal never seem to run out. The players celebrated the gaining of the title in front of their supporters' White Hart Lane enclave, but they should reflect calmly now on the reaction of the Spurs fans moments before.

There had been unaffected delight in the home crowd then at Robbie Keane's conversion of a penalty which had been so asininely conceded by the Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.

That did complete a creditable if improbable comeback from 2-0 down, but the visitors were still on course for another Premiership honour.

In north London, nuisance value carries true worth for one party in a supposed rivalry. Spurs might protest that no one else has done any better in the Premiership than to hold Arsenal this season, and Arsene Wenger's men have only to survive the four remaining games to go through the programme unbeaten.

The Frenchman has already written himself into history as the first manager of the club to collect three league championships. That fact is something of an injustice to Herbert Chapman, who fashioned a team that completed that feat just a few months after his death at the beginning of 1936.

It is unlikely that Wenger would suppose he had eclipsed that great predecessor and, in any case, there is more pride in creating a side that floods any lover of football with pleasure. The Frenchman may just have been piqued that the expressiveness did not bring victory.

For that minor limitation he must fault the irascible Lehmann. The goalkeeper was probably impeded by Keane at a corner kick in stoppage time, but still dealt with the danger by flicking the ball away. The German had no need to shove the Irish forward, who responded in kind before ramming home the penalty.

Lehmann has been embroiled in similar altercations before, such as the one with Kevin Phillips at Southampton that brought him a fine, and no one should give credence to his claim in interviews that he is actually in control of himself despite appearances to the contrary. Wenger must be looking around for a goalkeeper he can trust.

In general the manager's alterations to the squad will be few. Money is limited and so too is his desire for alterations. As champions Arsenal are, by definition, the best team in England, but they are also the most integrated. The rapport will be as tough for rivals to equal as the talent.

When a corner for David Pleat's side was cleared in the third minute, there was already foreboding for Spurs, so adept are Arsenal on the break. The spectator had only to see space in front of Thierry Henry to anticipate danger, although he was leaving his own penalty area rather than entering the opposition's.

Patrick Vieira's assessment was much the same. It took more than stamina to get downfield to finish off that counter-attack. He had to realise the possibilities before launching himself into such an extended sprint so that he was on the six-yard line to meet Dennis Bergkamp's low cross after Henry had threaded a pass behind Simon Davies.

Spurs too ran hard, but it was never guaranteed that they would get anywhere. One had to respect their followers, who have been refining their sense of humour during the tyranny of, as one man put it, Darth Wenger. As a set-piece was about to be taken, another cried in mock anguish: "We never score from free-kicks, headers or shots." So deeply mined a vein of black humour must worry the club, who have now suffered Arsenal winning the title on six occasions since they were last champions in 1961. At present, all the same, there is plenty of inferiority to spread around the Premiership.

Arsenal are 10 points ahead of Chelsea and 11 ahead of Manchester United, the favourites at the start of the season. Frustration comes for Wenger in a special form, with dissatisfaction that his team did not make a more sustained bid for the Champions League. He has less to worry about than his counterparts at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge, whoever the latter may eventually prove to be.

No one else in England quite devises goals like Arsenal's second here. In the 35th minute, with Robert Pires as instigator, they were sweeping comfortable passes in midfield before Bergkamp snapped the move into ruthlessness with a ball beyond Stephen Kelly for Vieira to place the cut-back that Pires steered expertly into the corner of the net.

Spurs increased their tempo after the interval and took the first of their goals in the 62nd minute. The substitute Jermain Defoe cut across Kolo Toure before Michael Brown rolled a pass for Jamie Redknapp to score from 20 yards with a lovely, first-time finish.

Arsenal, given space to consider, can be proud that they completed their mission in the championship so smoothly after the angst of the Champions League loss to Chelsea. Perhaps, as Wenger argues, they are tougher now than they were a year ago.