There's nothing like a bit of late drama, providing it goes in your team's favour, and luckily for me it did as Danny Welbeck's injury time winner gave Arsenal a 2-1 win over leaders Leicester.
The Gunners, who are the only side to have done the league double over the Foxes this season, fell behind to a Jamie Vardy penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Leicester defender Danny Simpson was dismissed for a second yellow card after 53 minutes and Arsenal took advantage of having the extra man with goals from substitutes Theo Walcott and Welbeck sealing maximum points for the hosts.
It really did feel like it was going to be one of those days and, even after Walcott levelled the scores, I thought we'd get a point at best. But when Welbeck marked his first appearance of the season with a headed winner there was a real sense of our title bid being reignited. It will also do Welbeck's confidence the world of good to get a goal so early into his comeback and, fingers crossed, it can be the start of a decent run of goals for the England striker.
The result, coupled with Tottenham's win at Manchester City, puts us third with just goal difference separating us from our North London rivals. Beating Leicester also means we are now just two points behind the league leading Foxes.
In some ways it feels like we have massively improved our title chances but, with a trip to Manchester United awaiting as our next league match, we cannot rest on our laurels and will certainly need to be much less wasteful than we were against the Foxes. 24 shots on goal at home is an impressive statistic to see, but not when only six of them were on target.
Arsenal made a blistering start to the game and could've taken the lead inside the opening two minutes had Alexis Sanchez's header not gone just wide.
The Gunners continued to pile forward and Aaron Ramsey was given a great chance to score when put through, but Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel raced off his line to deny the Welsh midfielder.
Schmeichel's opposite number Petr Cech was also soon called into action and made an excellent save to keep out Vardy's header.
Chances continued to come for both sides with Olivier Giroud seeing a goal ruled out for offside before Cech clawed away N'Golo Kante's curling effort.
It was Leicester who eventually broke the deadlock through Vardy's penalty. The 29-year-old raced into the box before going down under a challenge from Nacho Monreal. Vardy made no mistake from the spot to give Leicester the lead but the home faithful weren't happy as they felt Mesut Ozil had been fouled in the build up to the penalty incident.
I must admit I felt more nervous about the game when I saw that key defender Laurent Koscielny had been forced off with an injury at half-time, with Calum Chambers coming on in his place. But in fairness to Chambers he did little wrong for the remainder of the game and actually put in a decent shift at the back.
Ramsey and Giroud both failed to hit the target in the early stages of the second half, while Leicester saw a penalty appeal waved away after Riyad Mahrez went down in the box.
Arsenal were then given a lifeline when Simpson was given his marching orders after receiving his second yellow card of the match following a foul on Giroud.
Despite now having a man advantage and mounting attack after attack, I did begin to wonder if we were ever going to score as Sanchez shot wide and the chances continued to go begging.
Arsene Wenger's men levelled the scores through Walcott 20 minutes from time. The England forward had only been on the field for nine minutes when he got on the end of Giroud's header to fire home from close range.
Arsenal continued to pile forward but Ramsey, Sanchez and Per Mertesacker all failed in their attempts to find a winning goal. Giroud then tried his luck from inside the box but Schmeichel produced a superb save to keep out the French striker.
With the game still level going into the final of the four added minutes it looked destined to end as a draw. That was, until Welbeck's vital contribution. Arsenal were awarded a free-kick just outside the box and Ozil's fine delivery was met by Welbeck's glancing header to win the game, and what a vital goal that could prove to be.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Leicester fan Mitch Ashworth was left frustrated by his side's defeat.
"I thought that the result didn't reflect the match and a draw would've suited it," said Ashworth. "Simpson's red card was a joke and that changed the entire game.
"Both teams had chances and it was a good game and they were both getting stuck in a good battle."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
This was a game we really had to win and it looked like it was going to be another one that got away. Welbeck's dramatic late goal not only gave us a vital three points but could this now make the players believe that this could yet be their year? It is still too early to say what will happen and there will undoubtedly be plenty more twist and turns along the way, but this at least gives us a chance.
If Leicester do slip up again we have to be ready to take advantage or risk the horrible possibility of Spurs going top. That should be motivation enough to ensure a positive run of results.
Regardless of their poor form Manchester United can not be taken lightly but we need to make sure we don't undo the hardwork of these three points and, if we can repeat our last performance against them earlier in the season, then we should be okay, but it's a big if.
I also want to take the time to give Leicester huge credit for what has been a truly remarkable season. Whether they bounce back to winning ways or this result causes them to crumble, it has been an amazing season for the Foxes either way and Claudio Ranieri has done a superb job.
Before we can even begin to think about what might be in the league, we must now turn our attention to other competitions. A home clash against Hull in the FA Cup before the mammoth task of the first leg of our Champions League tie with the mighty Barcelona. Two completely different games. In the first, the pressure is on us as the higher division side and also holders, but against Barcelona we are huge underdogs and have nothing to lose so let's wait and see what happens.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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