Barcelona's new star annihilated Gareth Bale in a thrilling north London derby to cement himself as Arsenal hero

Wojciech Szczesny may have left Arsenal seven years ago, but he remains a firm fan favorite at the Emirates.

He 34 years He came through the club's famous Hale End academy, where he made 181 appearances and won two FA Cups.

His great season came in the 2010/11 campaign, where he took advantage of the injuries of Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski to establish himself as the Gunners' number one.

And although he was partly to blame for Obafemi Martins' spectacular goal in the League Cup final in February 2011, he quickly endeared himself to the Arsenal faithful.

Szczesny, who recently joined Barcelona With a contract until the end of the season, he twice brought down Gareth Bale, much to the delight of the Gooners.

Their first North London derby against Tottenham He arrived in April 2011 and certainly left a lasting impression, both on fans and Bale.

Both incidents involving the two players occurred in the first half of the six-goal thriller at White Hart Lane, which ended with honors tied 3-3.

Their first fight came in the 37th minute, when Bale tried to catch a bouncing ball inside the area, but Szczesny came out and claimed it.

But in doing so, he abandoned Bullet in a heap on the ground after making contact with the Welshman while jumping high above him, before accidentally hitting his head with his elbow after landing on the striker.

This forced the stoppage to be delayed and the winger required medical attention, which he would also need just before the break.

In the second incident, which lives on in the memories of Arsenal fans, Szczesny reacted brilliantly to prevent Bale from reaching the end of a pass.

Rafael van der Vaart, who scored twice in the match to rescue a point for Spurs, floated the ball past Arsenal right-back Bacary Sagna.

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Having sensed the danger like lightning, Szczesny ran to push the ball away for a throw-in just as Bale attempted to shoot, completely annihilating him in the process.

Bale was seen somersaulting over the Poland international after the collision, where he landed on his head, prompting huge calls for a penalty from Spurs fans.

Knowing he had the ball, Szczesny calmed down and walked back to his goal, where he gave his teammate Johan Djourou a wry smile and a cheeky wink.

It was the moment that cemented him as an Arsenal cult hero.

While Szczesny was accidentally hit by Bale as the duo went for the ball, it was the latter who came in second.

For the second time in less than ten minutes, Spurs doctors took to the pitch to treat the former Southampton star.

They even brought a stretcher, although Bale was able to leave cautiously after the half-time whistle.

But he failed to make it through the second half, in which Arsenal failed to maintain their lead in what was a classic start-to-finish North London derby.

After Szczesny irritated the Spurs faithful following his loud collisions with Bale, he began to make it a regular thing by trolling them on social media.

Following Arsenal's 1-0 victory over Tottenham in September 2013, he shared a video of himself playing the piano to the tune of 'When the Saints Go Marching In'.

The tune is used for the famous Spurs chant, and Arsenal fans have their own version referencing their two league titles won on enemy soil.

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Even during his loan spell at Roma in 2016, he mocked Spurs after their 5-1 defeat at Newcastle on the final day of the season, which saw Arsenal leapfrog them into second place.

It means Arsenal finished above their rivals in the league for the 21st consecutive season.

This time, uploading a video of himself singing, Szczesny shouted: “It's happened again, it's happened again, Tottenham Hotspur, it's happened again.”

Even after his permanent departure from Arsenal in 2017 to Juventus, he still couldn't help but mock Tottenham.

After the Old Lady knocked Spurs out of the Champions League in 2018, she gestured to fans to “keep their chins up”, before posting “North London is red” on X.

While Szczesny may never have reached his full potential at Arsenal, he will always be fondly remembered.

And he's living proof that you can take the man out of Arsenal, but you can never take Arsenal out of the man.