The back arching back, fists pumped and with a bit of a roar, Arsene Wenger celebrated Arsenal's extra time victory over Manchester City, which took the Gunners to their eighth FA Cup final in the Wenger era. Due to all the criticisms, heartaches, contract wrangles and talk and abuse from the fans that Wenger has had to go through this season, this entry into the final of the oldest cup competition in the world might just be the sweetest yet.
Beat Chelsea in the final, and it will get sweeter, and maybe, just maybe, Arsenal, as a football club, with the ever-silent board, the always-fronts-up-to-take-the-criticism manager, the maybe-they-are-worthy-of-the-shirts-after-all players and the fans, can finally band together again.
For the longest time this season, that has looked impossible, with the fans divided over whether Wenger's reign should come to an end after 21 years, as Arsenal went through their worst run in the Premier League since the Frenchman took over in 1996. Change, was what, you felt, the majority wanted.
A win over Middlesbrough last Monday, a much-needed one away from home, got Arsenal back on track a little bit, but there was still that feeling of division amongst the fans.
It needed a lot more than a win over a team who are going to be relegated to forget about the problems, to just cheer Arsenal on as fans, not divided, but united for the same cause.
That came in this FA Cup semifinal against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City – the team with endless amounts of money and a manager considered to be the best in the world.
Wenger went in with a back three again, and for the first time in a while, the players actually looked like they cared what went on, on the pitch.
There was no lack of desire here; no random frustration from Alexis Sanchez; no staring into space as he mumbles something from Wenger.
This was more like the Arsenal that everyone wants to see – a united team in red and white, running around for each other, pressing as a team, fighting as a unit and playing to win a game for their manager.
Who knows, maybe this wasn't for the manager; maybe this was for themselves or for the fans, who had called them out after a dismal performance against Crystal Palace.
✅ Scores winner in @EmiratesFACup semi-final
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) April 23, 2017
✅ Gives shirt to young fan
? @Alexis_Sanchez#AFCvMCFC ?2-1? pic.twitter.com/ev01K92JyT
Maybe, they just wanted one final shot at redemption after a season that has taken one wrong turn after another.
Whoever it might have been for, the performance against Manchester City showed what this Arsenal team are capable of when they band together and play as a cohesive unit.
As Wenger pointed out after the match, even Mesut Ozil, so often criticised for not working hard enough when Arsenal don't have possession, was a man possessed, hounding down the City players and doing his defensive duties to perfection, to make sure the Gunners shut Guardiola's team out.
The big question, of course, is why can't Arsenal play like this all the time?
Sure, they might have a few off games, but they won't have as many as they have had over the past several years, if they play like this.
Had they showed this kind of fight at the turn of the year, when it all started to go awry for them, Arsenal wouldn't be sitting in seventh in the Premier League, watching their two London rivals fighting it out for the title.
Had they shown this kind of fight against Bayern Munich, the final scoreline, even with ten men in that second leg, would not have been 10-2 on aggregate. They might have gotten knocked out, but at least it wouldn't have been as embarrassing.
Had they shown this kind of fight more consistently this season, the majority of the fans would be celebrating Wenger signing a new contract, rather than dreading it.
Had they shown this kind of fight, Arsenal Football Club would be a team united, not one so divisively divided.
After the confetti runs out, and the reality of their season hits again, the fans will return to their respective "Wenger in" and "Wenger out" camps, but how nice it was to see all of them united for once, singing in unison as Arsenal vanquished Manchester City at Wembley.
