Tottenham are finally off the mark at Wembley after Christian Eriksen sealed a narrow win over Bournemouth and his side's first Premier League victory under the arch.
This was still not the imperious Spurs of White Hart Lane last season but Eriksen at least gave their stop-start display a positive finish, his second-half strike securing a morale-boosting 1-0 victory.
While Mauricio Pochettino's men stay third, five points off league leaders Manchester City, Bournemouth remain pointless from what is now four league games on the road. They sit 19th.
Tom Collomosse analyses the key talking points at Wembley...
World-class Lloris
His decision-making and handling have occasionally been shaky this term, but there are few better shot stoppers in the world than Hugo Lloris.
The France captain showed his prowess again in the 20th minute to keep Tottenham level, when he was somehow able to reach to his left to keep the ball out after Eric Dier had directed Junior Stanislas’ corner towards his own-goal.
Lloris’ reactions and athleticism are truly remarkable - and he may need to show them again on Tuesday, when Tottenham face Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Madrid are used to dominating opponents at home and Lloris is likely be busy.
Wembley crowd play their part
If Tottenham’s players have struggled to adapt to Wembley this season, then so have their supporters.
Had this game been at White Hart Lane, the home fans would have been backing their team loudly from the first whistle, yet in the opening half here, the atmosphere was so flat that you could almost hear the players calling to one another.
True, Tottenham did little to excite their followers, with Bournemouth goalkeeper Asmir Begovic not forced to make a save until the 33rd minute - but they were in far better voice at the start of the second period, and were quickly rewarded when Christian Eriksen opened the scoring.
Though Tottenham will never create the atmosphere of White Hart Lane here, the majority of the 73,502 at Wembley needed to make things a little more intimidating than this.
Back three again in Madrid?
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Mauricio Pochettino was a 4-2-3-1 fanatic during his first two seasons at Tottenham but he tends to prefer a back three these days, which is why it was slightly surprising to see the Argentine return to his old favourite here.
The absence of Ben Davies, who could not play due to illness, gave Pochettino a decision to make, and he concluded that it would be too risky to use Heung-min Son as a left wing-back.
If Davies is healthy again on Tuesday, we will surely see a three-man defence again in Madrid: the players appear more comfortable in that system, and before Eriksen scored, much of their approach work was predictable.
Pitch problems
Tottenham’s players and coaches would surely have been alarmed to see the state of the Wembley pitch. A section of the surface, along the touchline where the dug-outs are located, looked bare and was different in colour to the rest of it.
Then, as the match wore on, two divots appeared - one inside the penalty area and another inside the ‘D’ - as Tottenham pushed for a second goal. England have played here already this month, there were also NFL matches at the national stadium on September 24 and October 1.
Spurs take on Liverpool here on October 22 and West Ham in the Carabao Cup three days later, and they will hope that the necessary repair work is completed before then.
Luck finally goes Spurs’ way
In their league matches at Wembley this season, luck has rarely been on Tottenham’s side. That changed today with the winning goal: Eriksen over-ran the ball, but it rebounded perfectly for him to guide a precise left-foot finish past Begovic.
It was enough for Spurs to claim their first victory in the Premier League at the national stadium, even though Harry Kane is still without a home goal in the league this term.
Had Spurs failed to win at home here, it would have mirrored their start to the 2008-09, when they were winless in four fixtures at White Hart Lane.
Had they drawn or lost today, Pochettino would not have suffered the same fate as then-manager Juande Ramos, who was sacked in October 2008 - but it is a huge relief nonetheless.