It doesn't paper over the cracks, but what a superb result that was for Arsenal to get a 2-0 victory away at AC Milan in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie.
Given our poor form and shattered confidence, and the fact that AC Milan haven't been conceding many goals of late, I didn't feel too hopeful ahead of the game, but Arsenal surprised me.
We travelled to Italy in a torrid run of form which has seen us lose four straight games for the first time since 2002. We really are in a rut, so this unexpected away victory was a pleasant surprise and felt really sweet.
In recent games we have looked fragile, especially at the back, but in Italy somehow we were playing as a more organised and disciplined team, chasing to win the ball back and showing a will to win.
Both sides wasted early chances as Arsenal's Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Milan's Patrick Cutrone both sent shots into the side netting.
The Gunners then broke the deadlock after 15 minutes as Mkhitaryan scored his first goal for the club since his January move from Manchester United. The Armenian midfielder collected the ball from Mesut Ozil before cutting back inside and unleashing a powerful strike beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma. Our opening goal ended a run of 599 minutes without conceding for AC Milan yet somehow we had managed it.
The game was only in its early stages and already we were showing better movement and pace than we had in the whole 90 minutes of our last few matches.
Arsenal continued to pose a threat as Calum Chambers' cross was nearly met by Danny Welbeck, but Milan defender Davide Calabria did enough to put the ball behind for a corner.
At the other end Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina had to be alert and quick off his line to deny Cutrone.
With just three minutes of normal time remaining Arsenal missed two great chances to extend their advantage. Chambers' powerful strike was excellently palmed away by Donnarumma before the Milan goalkeeper stood his ground to deny Welbeck, who had raced through on goal.
Welbeck then turned provider to pass through to Mkhitaryan, but the midfielder's effort bounced behind off the crossbar.
Suso sent a shot high and wide for the hosts before Arsenal finally got the second goal their performance deserved deep into first-half stoppage time. Aaron Ramsey latched onto a fine pass from Ozil before rounding Donnarumma and tapping the ball into the net.
Where on earth had this come from? To go from being so poor lately to 2-0 up away at a side who have a good defensive record was very impressive, but also frustrating as to why we couldn't have done this more often.
Donnarumma did well to deny Welbeck in the early stages of the second half, but the Gunners weren't made to pay for that miss as Milan wasted all the chances that came their way.
Ricardo Rodriguez sent a volley off target before Ospina produced a great save, rushing from his line to deny Nikola Kalinic.
It is annoying that the defence and goalkeeper haven't shown this level of character more often this season and this result doesn't paper over the cracks, but a 2-0 win in Milan is certainly impressive.
SECOND LEG
Like most Arsenal fans I know the tie is far from over. 2-0 is a great result away from home against a team like AC Milan, but I am certainly taking nothing for granted.
The visit of Watford is before the second leg at the Emirates so we need to turn our attentions swiftly to that, but in terms of our Europa League round of 16 tie I am happy with how it stands so far.
Home advantage should in theory put us in pole position to qualify for the quarter finals, but with Arsenal anything is possible. We have at least given ourselves a great chance though.
AC Milan will be expected to come out for the second leg all guns blazing to try and turn the tie around and with our defensive frailties it can't be ruled out.
Instead of a poor first leg and giving ourselves a mountain to climb we have finally given ourselves a positive foothold going into the second leg.
I won't get too carried away as anything could happen, but the prospect of reaching the quarter-final actually seems even more possible than I had expected, so let's go give it our best shot.
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
A great performance, especially in the first half, and result left me feeling good, but the fact remains that we are too inconsistent.
Taking nothing away from the performance in Italy though as we thoroughly deserved the win.
Although our league campaign and any chance of a top-four finish is virtually already over, if we can replicate our performance against Milan for the rest of the season at least it won't be quite so depressing.
I still feel change would be a good thing in the summer, but at least we have a surprisingly positive result to talk about and our Europa League journey remains very much alive.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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