In a fixture which lives long in the memory of the red side of North London, Arsenal clinched the league title at the ground of bitter foe Tottenham for the second time in their history on this day in 2004.
The Gunners made the short trip to White Hart Lane knowing a point would be enough to lift the Premier League after closest rivals Chelsea dropped points in their two previous games. Understandably, Spurs were desperate to prevent this from happening and had added motivation - not that they needed any more - as they could put an end to Arsenal's 33-match unbeaten run in the top flight that season.
What ensued was a pulsating North London derby in which the visitors surged to a 2-0 first-half lead through Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires, with Thierry Henry producing a lung-busting run to set up the opener before his captain turned provider for the second.
However, if they believed Spurs would meekly accept defeat to their local adversary on their own turf, they had another thing coming. Jamie Redknapp produced a stunning drive from well outside the area to halve the deficit shortly after the hour mark and Robbie Keane made no mistake from the penalty spot to equalise deep into added time.
The Irishman's converted spot kick prompted emphatic celebrations among Spurs' players and home supporters who were only too delighted to deny Arsenal victory. However, these raucous scenes gave rise to bemusement among the Gunners squad, who knew the draw they were seconds away from recording would still hand them the title.
It was at this moment when Henry and Ashley Cole decided they would not adhere to their pre-match agreement with the police which dictated they would not to get too carried away with their own celebrations. This accord was made to prevent crowd trouble and was rubber-stamped by the visitors, only to go out of the window as emotions were released at full-time.
Henry and partner-in-crime Cole made a beeline for the away end with the former taking off his shirt and spinning it above his head. The squad then convened in the corner next to the travelling fans and began dancing as they revelled in their triumph, which came four games before they would complete a season unbeaten with 26 wins, 12 draws and zero losses.
The prolific Frenchman recalled the moment he knew he would neglect his "orders from the police" as he reflected on the match in 2017. "It was kind of weird because I remember we had orders from the police not to over-celebrate if we won the title there," Henry told Sky Sports. "In all fairness we all said we understood because it might go too far.
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"We went 2-0 up then they came back. Jens Lehmann did what Jens Lehmann did sometimes. They came back into the game and drew 2-2. They started to celebrate like they won the league so I thought, 'Wait, do they actually realise we just need a point to be champions?'
"I said to Ashley Cole at the final whistle, 'Now we are going to celebrate'. We wanted to be humble at the beginning of the game but you want to celebrate a draw? Really? We just needed a point!
"We celebrated and the pictures are there to prove it now. It was always important to have the last laugh and the story will tell you we won the league at the Lane, and it wasn't the first time by the way."
As feared by local police, the Gunners' celebrations did indeed lead to a heightening of tensions between the two rival fanbases after the match. Tim Payton, a key figure of the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, recalled being "chased down the street" as he eventually left the stadium long after the game ended.
"We'd been in there for an hour or so," Payton told The Independent. "So there was a sense Spurs fans had stayed around and we knew it was going to be a bit spicy. You always used to feel a bit on edge leaving the ground at the old White Hart Lane because you’d come out on a corner and feel very exposed. We ended up getting chased down the street!"
After securing the title, Arsenal drew with Birmingham and Portsmouth before defeating Fulham and Leicester to finish the season in style. Their unbeaten run would ultimately extend to 49 games before it came to an abrupt end with a controversial defeat at Manchester United the following season.
To this day, the Gunners faithful gleefully sing 'We won the league at White Hart Lane', a feat they also achieved in the 1970/71 First Division campaign. Arsenal have not won the top flight since 2004, with Arsene Wenger struggling to maintain the success of the early stages of his decorated reign as the financial toll of moving to the Emirates hit home.
However, there are signs of progress in North London once again and Mikel Arteta has led his side to a strong position in the race for Champions League qualification, something Arsenal have not achieved since 2017.
