Arsenal destroyed their bitter rivals in extra-time.
Frenchman Samir Nasri was the coolest man in White Hart Lane after the scores had finished 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes.Wham - he banged in a penalty high to the left two minutes into the extra period to give Arsenal the lead.
Bam - he smacked in another to the right four minutes later to make the game safe before Andrey Arshavin rubbed Spurs' noses in it with a fourth.
That sparked a mass exodus from the ground and by the time the final whistle went there were more Gunners supporters in the stadium than home fans.
And how they milked the moment. It was Arsenal's biggest win at the Lane in 32 years and revenge for their 5-1 hammering in the same competition two years ago.
Nasri's double was all the more impressive in that he was struggling with a hamstring injury and manager Arsene Wenger had considered hauling him off at the end of normal time.
Wenger watched from the directors box because of a one-match touchline ban after calling it on with the fourth official at Sunderland on Saturday.
But he managed to relay messages to the bench and was drooling from on high at the performance of young Jack Wilshere, particularly in the first half when the 18-year-old ran the show.
Wenger sprang something of a surprise by fielding a stronger side than expected.
There were starts for experienced men like Tomas Rosicky and Nasri and, though Wilshere is only a teenager, he might have expected to be rested having been involved so much in the Premier League campaign.
Perhaps Wenger finally realises that he needs some silverware on the table after five barren years By contrast, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp gave debuts to 21-year-old Brazilian Sandro and teenage centre-back Steven Caulker.
Young Caulker, 19, did not even have a number until Monday and his name was not on the squad list in the programme. Wilshere was the architect of Arsenal's opener on 15 minutes, feeding Kieran Gibbs, who then found Rosicky.
Wilshere did not just stand back and admire developments but continued going forward, collected from Rosicky and whipped in a low cross for the grateful Henri Lansbury, who slid in to convert from close range.
It was Lansbury's first goal for the Gunners on his first start.
Arsenal were robbed of a second when Wilshere picked out the rampaging Gibbs in the area and, as he skipped round debutant keeper Stipe Pletikosa, the linesman's flag went up for offside. Replays showed the full-back was onside and it was a big let-off for the home team.
It was such a shame for Gibbs that he suffered another suspected broken metatarsal which could wreck a second successive season.
Robbie Keane came on at the break and levelled within four minutes.
Kyle Naughton played a ball into Keane who was offside on the edge of the box but the flag stayed down.
Even then Keane's shot was not great and should have been saved by the hapless Lukasz Fabianski.
But the Pole's Gunners career has been peppered with errors and it was not a huge shock to see the ball slip under his hands.
Wenger reckons Fabianski has the potential to be world class although he did not specify at what. It surely cannot be goalkeeping.
Extra-time had barely got going when Sebastien Bassong pulled Nasri's shirt and the Frenchman fired home the spot-kick.
Then Caulker tugged back sub Marouane Chamakh and Nasri put his penalty in the other corner.
Wilshere's quick free-kick to Arshavin caught Spurs napping and the Russian topped off the night with a neat finish.
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