Two magical goals from Samir Nasri rescued Arsenal as moved top of the Barclays Premier League with a 2-1 win over Fulham at the Emirates Stadium.
The France star's jaw-dropping composure was in stark contrast to that of his team-mates, who almost threw away another three points in front of their own fans.
Nasri put them ahead early on but a clash of heads between Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci allowed Diomansy Kamara to equalise before Nasri netted a glorious winner.
With Manchester United's match postponed due to the big freeze and Chelsea held by Everton, the victory sent Arsenal a point clear at the summit.
But this was far from a champion performance, more from a side that had lost their last two home league matches.
The Gunners announced before the match that their players and directors had agreed to donate their day's wages to Centrepoint.
They had been less than charitable down the years to Fulham, who had never won at Arsenal in more than a century of trying.
That wait looked set to continue when Nasri's spectacular opener put the home side ahead in the 14th minute.
Andrey Arshavin pounced on Aaron Hughes' error before feeding the France star, who sold two sublime dummies before lashing the ball into the top corner.
Nasri was already guilty of a glaring miss after more superb work by the rampant Arshavin, who was running the show two days after helping his native Russia win the right to host the 2018 World Cup.
The first chance of the match had fallen to the striker, his close-range volley blocked by Mark Schwarzer, who had looked certain to join Arsenal in January before signing a new contract with Fulham on Thursday.