When a football game ends 0-0, there are usually no significant emotional outbursts afterwards.
No goals to argue about, hardly any finger pointing;
both teams receive a point for their efforts and go their separate ways.
But the 0-0 draw between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United on Tuesday was different: It was a gripping Premier League game with rough edges, with a total of nine yellow cards - and with contrasting emotions after the final whistle.
The team from Newcastle, together with the fans who traveled to London, celebrated their point win almost like a victory.
They had to put in a lot of effort because Arsenal were superior in terms of play and shot more than twice as often on goal.
Newcastle's defensive colossus Dan Burn, who was always there when the going got tough, became a symbol of resistance.
While manager Eddie Howe's defensive approach angered Arsenal fans, it paid off once again as Newcastle have kept their fourth consecutive clean sheet in the league and have a realistic chance of finishing in the top four teams for this season to qualify for the Champions League.
It would not be an innocent football fairy tale, because that is exactly what the club from the north of England have been aiming for since the controversial takeover by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF.
Money hasn't played any role since then.
Arsenal feel cheated of their wages
On the other hand, Arsenal felt cheated of their wages, especially coach Mikel Arteta, who quarreled with what he saw as “scandalous” mistakes made by the referee.
The draw against Newcastle also broke up a nice run by the Londoners: by then they had won ten league home games in a row.
More importantly, Arsenal are top of the Premier League table after 17 games out of 38 and, to everyone's surprise - not least their own - find themselves in the middle of a championship fight.
In this fight, a draw against Newcastle feels like it's not enough, especially since none other than defending champions Manchester City are lurking in second place.
Arsenal went into the season break as leaders for the World Cup in Qatar.
Accordingly, the fans of the "Gunners" were nervously awaiting the continuation of the game.
But her side kept their rhythm and defeated West Ham United 3-1 on Boxing Day and Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 on New Year's Day.
Observers in England are beginning to believe that Arsenal could actually play a role in the title fight.
It would be a sensation: the last time they won the league was 19 years ago.
In any case, the predominantly young team is hungry.
"If you had asked us at the beginning of the season if we wanted that," said 21-year-old Bukayo Saka about the unexpected soaring, "we would have bitten your hand off."
Not much older than Saka is the captain of the Londoners, Martin Ødegaard.
The Norwegian, who switched from Real Madrid to Arsenal FC in 2021 as a so-called "eternal talent", turned 24 in December - and is currently in what is perhaps his best form.
In 16 appearances he scored seven goals and prepared five;
he is the linchpin in central and attacking midfield, he gives the team structure and determines the number of strokes when in possession of the ball.
Like in the game against Brighton, when he pulled off a stroke of genius: Ødegaard received a low pass in the middle of his own half of the field, looked up briefly and, with the first touch of the ball, circled a wide, steep, slightly inward flat pass with millimeter precision into Gabriel Martinelli’s path , who scored effortlessly to make it 4:1.
A scene that you can watch over and over again without getting bored.
His jersey doesn't do Martin Ødegaard justice in this form, the Guardian quipped, and suggested he play in a tuxedo instead.
But against Newcastle they also recognized a problem for Arsenal: there is still not enough quality in the squad, especially since the center forward Gabriel Jesus, who signed for more than 50 million euros before the season, was injured while playing for Brazil at the World Cup.
"Arsenal can win the league but they have to be active in the transfer market," said Sky pundit and former professional Gary Neville.
Premier League clubs can buy newcomers until the end of January.
Arteta also asked the club to get reinforcements to keep the competition at bay.
Manchester City plays Chelsea this Thursday evening – and can reduce the gap to five points with a win.