Mesut Ozil, as an unfortunate journalist found out this weekend, played brilliantly against Spurs at the weekend. Ozil was at the heart of the victory for Spurs against Arsenal, and Arsenal’s Twitter account decided to tempt fate with a smug tweet aimed at the writer.

Arsenal fans piled in on the journalist, with many crossing the line into anti-semitism and homophobia. Before that boundary was crossed, it was your normal football Twitter banter. After that, it was your depressingly normal Twitter abuse. But for all the giddy Arsenal fans’ celebration, they have missed that the win in the North London derby doesn’t change the perception of Arsenal and Ozil, it merely reinforces it.

For fans, it won’t necessarily matter right now. Like most derbies, the most important thing is to avoid defeat so as to escape the shame and humiliation of loss. This is the case in most derbies, and in most grudge matches.

Winning is, obviously, even better, because it means you can cheerfully bully the opposing fans, all in the name of tradition. The performance in the match is far less important than the end result. Indeed, winning by an illegitimate goal, or a terrible refereeing decision, makes any victory even more amusing.

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Understandably, Arsenal, their Twitter account and their fans chose to revel in victory, because times have not been easy for the club. They have seen that Spurs have marched away from their own club’s stagnation, and have improved meaningfully each season under Mauricio Pochettino.

They are perhaps one or two major signings away from challenging Manchester City for the title, whereas Arsenal are one or two major departures from crisis. And this win in the derby has changed little in that regard.

Alexis Sanchez might have scored, but it is accepted that he wants to actually win league titles, and his preference is to do that with Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. He has grown tired of Arsenal’s inconsistency and inertia. One win means nothing in this context. They are still only sixth, better than Burnley by virtue of goal difference.

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Ozil, the man so impressive on Saturday, has reportedly been openly discussing a desired move to Old Trafford, and appear happy to engineer a move in January to secure a pay rise and a chance to play for a more successful club.

Arsenal are celebrating the victory that was given to them by interventions from two players who now consider the club beneath their ambitions. Of course, the win counts above everything else in the moment, but with a minute’s reflection, the derby win is as hollow as one can ever be, because it comes in the manner that most famous Arsenal victories seem to in recent years.

The FA Cup final against Chelsea a few months ago was a good example of this. Chelsea had already met their target by winning the Premier League with an excellent showing of determination, running and self-assuredness, just a season after falling apart under Jose Mourinho.

Arsenal, however, had already missed out on the Champions League places for the first time under Arsene Wenger. Nothing was expected of a team whose fans had turned against them, who wanted the current boss out, and whose best player was expected to leave. And so, Arsenal duly won.

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This is a theme of Arsenal’s successes. When they are underdogs, the freedom with which they play raises their game. They are a more dangerous side when people now expect them to be defeated. You might wonder if the frothy excitement on Twitter, and the more hateful tweets, came from a place of shock as much as schadenfreude. Only the blinkered would have believed that Spurs were not favourites going into the match, just as they would be if there were a replay tomorrow.

This kind of performance has been seen when Arsenal were battered by Bayern in the Champions League in one leg, only to give them a fright in the return leg. Arsenal lost, of course, but once defeat seemed almost certain it relaxed them in time for the second game. This is now a side that can only reach its heights when past form has indicated they are no longer capable of such a thing.

Overall, this is not something to celebrate. The nature of Arsenal’s victory sums up the problems with Arsenal. They need to become a side again where, should Spurs beat them again, it is Pochettino’s side who react with joy and surprise.

They need to be a side where they can celebrate Ozil and Sanchez because they know it is a sign of future successes, rather than an aberration and a reminder that they are losing their most talented players in the near future.

Pochettino and his club’s side will be worried that this could be yet another season where they improve, but yet again insufficiently. They might even be concerned that if they can’t win the league this season then the manager and best players will leave for elsewhere. But this week, they can still be more optimistic by their side than Arsenal can.