This is what Giroud was alluding to when he spoke of players knowing one another’s movements blindfolded. This is what Wenger preaches day after day: trust and belief in a pool of talent recruited not over one hot, short summer but over his 17-year tenure as Arsenal’s team builder.

These two teams of North London have been bitter rivals since 1887. Arsenal moved to the Tottenham neighborhood in 1913, and the enmity between the two clubs, which are separated by a short bus ride, fuels a rivalry in which Arsenal has now won 75 derby matches and Spurs 54, with 47 ending even.

Rarely, though, has the margin been as thin as it was Sunday at Emirates Stadium, the splendid, 60,000-capacity building that Wenger’s parsimony has helped finance. Tottenham has no comparable home stadium, and cannot match the income that Arsenal draws from ticket sales and hospitality boxes every match day.

Tottenham has also not yet matched Wenger’s record of qualifying Arsenal for 16 consecutive seasons in the lucrative Champions League. Spurs fell one point short of a place in that league last season, thwarted, again, by the Gunners.

After that defeat, Tottenham lost hope of persuading Bale to stay.

The goal Sunday that was the thin divider between century-old foes was beautiful in its construction, and utterly true to the philosophy to which Wenger has devoted most of his coaching career. The ball was won by Per Mertesacker’s interception deep in his own half. It was then dispatched by four crisp passes, all along the turf, all sharp and all knowing that the receiver would be in position, or running into position.

Tomas Rosicky, Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla were involved, and Walcott, the final recipient, pushed the ball into the path of Giroud at the near post. There, knowing it would come and quicker than any defender to the ball, Giroud poked the ball past his countryman Hugo Lloris.

Spurs tried mightily to rescue this game. Tottenham’s players largely dominated the field, but Arsenal saw out the contest, including five minutes added at the end for injuries and substitutions.

The season ahead will tell how wisely Tottenham has spent its Bale money, and how long it might take to forge a team unit and a playing style out of such wholesale player purchasing. Arsenal needs more players and will pursue them until the window closes. But right now, Arsenal has the bragging rights in North London.