One In The Eye For Forest

Arsenal remain top of the table following a comprehensive thrashing of bottom club Nottingham Forest (apologies for the Nelson-related pun in the title of this piece btw). Which on the face of it is great, and far from it for me to start this piece by being churlish, but...

Firstly, Nottingham Forest aren't very good. Granted, they beat Liverpool last week; but, let's face it, everyone beats Liverpool these days - they're in turmoil at the moment. But Forest are bottom for a reason. And a comfortable win should generally be par for the course for the league leaders against the bottom team.

So why not rotate? Yes, I know that Thursday's Europa League performance and result were disappointing - a third lethargic away game in a row, in fact - and that there was perhaps a need to boost confidence, but there are far bigger fish to fry next weekend. Going with a full strength side seemed OTT to me, with the risks perhaps outweighing the genuine need to do it.

Plus two key players went into the game on 4 yellow cards, thereby risking the possibility of missing out next weekend, in a game where Arsenal really do need to be at full strength. I'd rather not be risking being without one or both of Saliba and Jesus away to Chelsea if I can help it, thank you very much.

And then there was, of course, the risk of injury. And we saw Forest continue the Kick Saka theme adopted by so many of our opponents this season from the very first minute. An assault from which Starboy never fully recovered - nonetheless, despite being impeded by the effects of the first minute challenge throughout his short stay, he managed an exquisite assist for Martinelli in the interim. The initial news on Saka is positive, so let's hope he's OK for next weekend.

Gibbs-White and Yates were doing their very best to get under Xhaka's skin throughout too, with a number of unnecessarily rough challenges going unpunished. We really could do without this sort of thing.

But Forest were off the pace throughout. Thankfully, they could barely get close enough for most of the time, as apart from a 15 minute spell before half time Arsenal looked in complete control. But... it's really, really difficult for any squad to go through a season without some element of rotation. Especially with a squad that's barely big enough to fight on 4 fronts. So despite the result I genuinely feel that loading extra miles into all the important legs may turn out to be a mistake. I do hope not, but...

A few other points from the game. Firstly, Reiss Nelson cannot be accused of not taking his chance when it was presented to him. Two goals and an assist was a fine day's work. And kudos to the two Fantasy Premier League managers who captained him this week. I should ask them what Wednesday's lottery numbers are going to be, I reckon! What's important to see is how he fitted in to the system - seamlessly.

And here I can perhaps be seen to be arguing against myself. Thursday's performance, with a much-changed starting eleven, was not so much disjointed (Arsenal saw plenty of the ball), but lacking in cohesion and penetration. So changing one or two players is maybe enough; any more and perhaps there's too much of a price to pay. So in conclusion perhaps what's needed is an infusion of quantity as well as quality in January? As it happens, the ludicrous World Cup break may work in Arsenal's favour - despite what pundits and the media may have us believe. 

Secondly, we saw many top performances from Arsenal players all over the field. Ben White goes about his business quietly, yet added a typically high quality performance to his portfolio. WIlliam Saliba's pace snuffed out danger as and when it was required. Tomi was really solid. Xhaka hit his minimum 7.5 out of 10 with little fuss. But for me, apart from Nelson the two stars were Partey and Odegaard. Partey bestrode the midfield like a colossus, totally dominating the Forest midfield on his own. And his goal was a carbon copy of the one against Tottenham, and a thing of beauty. 

And Odegaard once more - and almost unnoticed at times - oiled the wheels of the Arsenal engine. And got the goal he deserved.

As for Gabriel Jesus... well, what he desperately needs is a goal. He could have walked away with the match ball with a modicum of luck, but had to settle for two assists (I'd have given him one for Nelson's first goal too, tbh). He continues to work really hard for the side, but a confidence-restoring goal would really help him, I'm sure.

I'd also like to show those who haven't seen it this image. Good luck to you, man. But such speculative bets are difficult to repeat. And £125 stakes = sheer raving lunacy! Still... impressive!

Anyway, easy win, what should be a simple task at home to Zurich on Thursday, and then Chelsea - who had been quietly accumulating points under Potter but got found out on Saturday and aren't, I suspect, as good as their league position would suggest. Arsenal have a decent recent record at Stamford Bridge, so we can be on the confident side of hopeful. We also received the good news that the hateful Diego Costa is banned for Wolves in our final match before the extended break, following his latest atrocity. Good; can't stand him - never could; never will.

Just a quick word here on heart-throb centre back Pablo Mari, on loan at Monza and victim of a cowardly and senseless attack earlier this week. Firstly, the world is clearly mad - you don't need me to tell you that. And secondly, thank goodness it looks like his injuries aren't serious. I wish him a swift and full recovery. Nice touch from the boys following the first goal here...

So on we go. COYG!

Bad Habits. And Bad Refereeing.

As regular readers of this column will know, I rarely say anything at all about referees... however, I'm going to be talking about this one in the course of your next 5 minutes. Because there's little doubt that he had a massive influence on this game.

Look, we've come out of it with a draw. In many ways, that's disappointing, as Arsenal were well on top throughout the bulk of the first half and should have gone in  at half time with a bigger lead than a mere 1-0. A combination of complacency regarding the level of opposition, profligacy in front of goal, and some mystifying decisions from Mr Jones combined to mean that Arsenal's superiority wasn't truly reflected in the scoreline.

On the other hand, Arsenal lost this corresponding match last season. So perhaps we'll look upon it as something more valuable than it currently feels later in the season. So let's look at the main threads:

Complacency and Profligacy

Granit Xhaka tested Bazunu from a tight angle very early on, and then Odegaard missed an excellent opportunity for Arsenal to take the lead, scuffing his shot (he continually gets into good scoring positions, but sometimes opts to pass; and he needs to up his finishing skills to take advantage of more of these situations), before Xhaka's astonishing right foot volley gave them an 11th minute lead.

Gabriel Jesus - possibly suffering from a temporary loss of confidence having not scored for a while - twisted and turned following a Ward-Prowse error but only hit the side netting soon after. Martinelli drove into the heart of the Southampton defence and got a shot away, only to be defied by a deflection with the goalkeeper going the wrong way. And Bazunu beat away a Jesus volley following another Southampton error forced by Arsenal's high press.

In the second half Jesus had a chance to put the game to bed before the equaliser. But his run towards goal - following yet another press-induced Southampton error - lacked conviction and his shot was weak and comfortably blocked. Sub Nketiah had a late opportunity, but by then Arsenal had essentially lost most of their control.

Fatigue

Again, I'm not making excuses. But Arsenal had less of a rest than Southampton, having played on Thursday. The squad isn't quite big enough, as we know, to enable Arteta to rotate as much as he'd like. And once again Arsenal faded in the second half. It's become a bit of theme recently, and frankly nothing's going to change for the rest of the season. With the big World Cup break looming, I think that it would be prudent for Edu to line up two or three January reinforcements; one in central midfield, one wide man, and an alternative forward.

Refereeing

I'm sorry, but this must be done. Robert Jones is one of the new influx of referees following the mass close season retirements amongst the old guard. And he is, frankly, incompetent. How he got this gig is beyond me.

Arsenal have suffered from his work once already this season, when against Aston Villa he allowed Tyrone Mings to get away with this...

... he allowed Villa's equaliser despite a clear foul on Ramsdale...

... and he also failed to punish serial offending by the opposition midfield. So I guess that what transpired on Sunday should have come as no surprise.

Here, he failed to punish an early Caleta-Car foul on Jesus, and thus set the same tone as he had against Villa. Seeing that they could get away with it, Caleta-Car and Lyanco felt that they had carte blanche to man handle Gabriel Jesus throughout, and they dished out similar treatment to Saka and others.

I won't list all the offences (these images do the job for me), but I reckon that on another day Arsenal could have had two penalties, and Southampton 5 yellow cards plus two red. 

However the non-penalty on Jesus is worth comparing to the one that Jorginho won the day before...

 ...whilst the booking of Saka for simulation (there was definite contact) merely added insult to injury...

For the first of the penalties, Jesus reported that the referee had told him that if he'd have gone down earlier he may have given the penalty. So Jesus is punished for trying to stay on his feet? The world has gone mad!

I know that referees have been told to let the game flow a bit more this season, but a foul is a foul, and when I last looked rabbit punches in the back, attempted head butts, and throat grabbing were not permitted on a football pitch. And I can only assume that the VAR was having a long nap instead of paying any attention to what we were watching.

Anyway, what's the point of moaning? However, if we ever see that the incompetent Jones is awarded another Arsenal game (he should go back to Sunday League at Hackney Marshes if you ask me) then we'll know what to expect.

Anyway, we move on. To what I hope is massive rotation on Thursday evening in Eindhoven, and then what ought to be a straightforward task at home to Nottingham Forest on Sunday. How the latter beat Liverpool on Saturday I really don't know - all I can say that it was equally improbable and hysterically funny at the same time. And Spurs lost again.

Still top. COYG!

One final thing. You may have noticed that Southampton brought on Samuel Edozie as a late sub. He was signed from Manchester City in the summer, and he's only 18. However, I understand that he's nowhere near as good as his brother Fandab. Think about it...

The Longest Game

It has all been pretty much plain sailing for Arsenal this season. 8 PL wins out of 9, and 3 from 3 in the Europa League. Difficult to ask for too much more, and there's been little doubt that Arsenal have been the better side in every one of those games... at least up to this week, that is.

However, a trip to play on an artificial pitch in the Arctic Circle on Thursday - which ended in a somewhat unimpressive 1-0 win - was followed by quite a battle at a frantic and hostile Elland Road on Sunday. Victory, ultimately, but the jury should possibly remain out for the moment at what the nature of the two wins this week mean going forward. Are Arsenal starting to show some cracks at the start of this hectic 5 week schedule, and again suffering from lack of squad depth, or are these two hard fought victories a sign that this team can win ugly as well as beautiful? The jury may have to stay out for the moment; at least to my mind.

No changes in team selection from the win over Liverpool. But extra miles had gone into quite a few legs in Norway. Particularly those of White, Odegaard and Saka - who all started on Thursday. Plus there remained concerns as to the fitness of Gabriel Jesus. Arsenal have done well at Elland Road recently, so there was nonetheless plenty of cause for optimism. 

And so to the game itself. It kicked off at 2pm, and as we know finished at around 4.30! It actually turned out to be critical to the result that the loss of communication between the referee and Stockley Park was fixed during the 38-minute break between the match being stopped - after just over a minute - and it being restarted. Because for once VAR did its job properly and on-field decisions/errors were rectified by (of all people!) Paul Tierney as VAR. Without VAR, Arsenal would have lost his game comfortably.

The first half was fairly even, with Leeds pressing Arsenal really hard, stopping them from getting into any real rhythm, and thereby ensuring that the league leaders looked just a bit off the pace. An early Leeds chance, following a free kick, saw the first of several crucial saves by Man of the Match Aaron Ramsdale. In response, Odegaard scuffed a shot having been set up by Xhaka's dummy, the ball fell to Jesus and his chip failed to hit the target when he should have done better. 

But soon after Arsenal got their noses in front when Rodrigo's outrageous attempt at a crossfield pass only found Saka, and he exchanged passes with Odegaard whose exquisite through ball - the second similar assist in successive PL games - relocated Saka on the left of Leeds' penalty area. Starboy put his right (wrong) foot right through the ball to lash it over Meslier's head and into the net. That's 4 goals (three of them match-winners) in three matches, in the space of 8 days, for everyone's favourite player. 

It had already like the first goal was going to be critical, and so it proved. Because the second half was almost all one way traffic - in the wrong direction! - as Leeds upped the pace further. The half-time introduction of Patrick Bamford was a real catalyst for this, as it gave Leeds a focal point in attack that they had been missing in the first half. On reflection, it was all a bit frantic - a case of trying just a bit too hard and displaying a lack of composure. But there were plenty of scares on the way.

Almost as soon as the second half had started, Leeds had the ball in the Arsenal net as Bamford clipped home Harrison's cross. But he was penalised - slightly harshly if you ask me - for easing Gabriel off the ball. First let-off.

Second let-off minutes later, as Saliba's handball - he got a nudge from the man he was marking but the mistake was all his - was referred to the referee by VAR and a penalty rightly awarded. Some handy shithousery from Arsenal delayed the taking of the kick and then Bamford - still awaiting his 100th League goal having been stuck on 99 for 18 months now (he'd been out with a long-term injury) - failed to hit the target.

And so it went on. Arsenal barely able to keep the ball at all, and wave after wave of Leeds attacks the feature of the entire half. Arsenal were unable to exhibit any control whatsoever, with Jesus looking well off the pace up front (Arteta should have brought him off long before he finally did, and given Eddie a runout), our two star wingers and all of our midfield having to work overtime keeping the marauders at bay, and our defence coming under concerted pressure. Saliba had his least impressive game of the season, and must adapt quickly to the sort of pressure he was put under. Still, he’s very young, and I have every confidence that he will do so going forward.

However Gabriel was magnificent. 90% passing success, won 8 duels, made three successful tackles, three interceptions, 4 clearances and blocked 4 shots. Now that's eventful - and also an indication of how hard he had to work!

In addition, Ramsdale made three further vital saves - one very painfully indeed! - as Arsenal rode their luck on their way to a crucial three points. The final piece of luck being the penalty/no penalty - red card/no red card injury time set-to between Gabriel and Bamford which saw VAR once more intervene - rightfully - in Arsenal's favour. Bamford committed the first offence, Gabriel lashed out when he shouldn't have done, and Bamford reacted as if shot. All's well that ends well, although it's certainly not good for the old ticker...

The longest game... a 38 minute first half delay, and almost 10 minutes of second half injury time... it meant that we missed the start of the Liverpool/City game - a match that we could relax a little watching, knowing that we were 4 points clear. And that reminds me - Happy Invincibles Day everyone! 

I once more cannot finish up without mentioning Tottenham, I'm afraid. Another penalty, won in dubious fashion by Kane (people are really starting to notice now), and they won again. In their traditional boring manner. But they’re right up there with City as a result. Some Spurs fans are saying 'Wait until we start playing well', but my response to that is that this is as good as they are, and they WILL get found out sooner rather than later. Big game for them on Wednesday; away to United. I shall be writing to the Premier League, asking them to award zero points irrespective of the result...

But let's get back to more important matters. Arteta is almost certain to go pretty strong on Thursday, as victory over PSV will mean an almost certain top place group finish. And then it's on to one of our bogey grounds, St Mary's, to face Southampton on Sunday. Expect more from them as we got from Leeds.

The time to rotate may then well be the return with PSV, and definitely Forest at home? Of more concern is if these under par performances turn out to be more than a blip. And that does concern me. Meantime, let’s bask in the glory. Sunday was a great day, as it turned out. Three points. City lost. 4 points clear. Invincibles Day in October. What more can one wish for?

COYG!

He Who Dares (Rodney)... Unpicking Victory Over Liverpool

Two contrasting home matches on successive weekends, against two sides expected to be right up there pushing for Top 4 at the end of the season. One against a dreary, functional Tottenham who bore the pants off anybody who watches them in action and against whom the result was barely in doubt at any stage. And the second a vibrant, see-saw contest against a team who came to actually play football.

And what a game it was! Liverpool are clearly in a false position in 10th place, with fitness and availability issues - and, significantly, the loss of Mr Elbows (Sadie Mane to most; but ask Kieran Tierney, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Cesar Azpulicueta, to name but three, what he’s really like) and his importance to their super-effective pressing game - having conspired against them. They are comfortably the best side that Arsenal have come up against so far this season.

The game swung to and fro almost throughout, with at least three of the goals coming against the run of play. On balance Arsenal deserved to win, but it was ‘moments’, mistakes, small margins and a couple of arguably controversial decisions that ultimately swung the game our way.

Taking the lead in the first minute - and against a team with whom Arsenal have appeared for several years to have had a mental block - was especially significant. Whilst a contested ball fortunately fell Saliba’s way to start the move, the speed at which Arsenal moved the ball, stretching Liverpool’s retreating defence and thereby creating a passing lane that the crafty Odegaard readily exploited to send Martinelli (who terrorised Liverpool’s right hand side throughout) in on goal, it really was a superb goal that epitomised just what Arsenal are about this season.

But scoring early doesn’t necessarily define a game, and for much of the first half there was a sense of inevitability that Liverpool could and indeed would strike back. In Thiago, they have a magnificent ball player, and so much of what Liverpool did well went through him. Ultimately, however, it was his inability to cope on the defensive side that cost Liverpool the game. He and Henderson bossed Partey throughout the first half, as the latter was constantly left isolated with Xhaka and Odegaard pushing far ahead of him. But the adjustments Arteta made at half time turned the flow of the game on its head for much of the second half. And that Arteta stuck to his game plan was what led to the win. 'We'll score more than you. He who dares, wins'...

The first equaliser came about as a result of a misjudgement by Gabriel. There has been a lot of debate about how he’s been performing in comparison to the rest of a group that are playing at approaching elite levels - his challenge for the penalty last week, for example. And the fact is that perhaps the performances of the less experienced, but freakishly superb, Saliba alongside him show up some limitations.

Liverpool had a definite shout for a penalty for handball against him early on. Slow motion replays showed that the ball had actually deflected from his chest to his upraised arm, and there was also the question of proximity to the opponent, so it was probably the right decision not to award it on balance. But that could have gone either way. Phew!

Gabriel plays with a passion, whereas his partner is more detached, and his distribution is not quite as good as Saliba’s (although the latter’s passing stats are actually remarkable). But he adds a steel to Arsenal’s defending, and he can’t be knocked for that. And whilst he has improved since he got into the side a couple of years ago, I’d probably describe some of what he does as ‘clumsy’ - indeed, I have done so before now. He needs to sort his feet out a bit quicker, I guess, and it’s that which is holding him back from the 8 and 9/10 performances that others are putting in around him. I don’t think that Arteta is at the point of thinking of shaking things up, but things will have to improve for Gabriel.

Fortunately for the unit, Arteta has several options should he wish to shake things up. The selection of Tomiyasu at left back came as a surprise to everybody, but he did a simply magnificent job in neutralising Salah. The ability of so much of the defensive line to play in several positions will surely be a great help as the season progresses. 

Ben White had another superb game, and has made the right back position his own. How Southgate has seen fit to leave him out of his England squads frankly defies belief! Saliba - for all that the second equaliser found him out a bit - has been superb throughout. Zinchenko and Tierney have their own different yet excellent qualities. The key is, of course, to avoid long term injury.

And so Liverpool drew level with a very well taken goal from Nunez, and Arsenal were somewhat under the pump as half time approached. Odegaard took a tactical yellow for the team close to the half way line, and from the subsequent free kick Arsenal pounced with a devastating breakaway. Thiago’s defensive inadequacies were shown up initially, and then TAA made a poor decision in coverage, allowing Martinelli to check back onto his right foot and find Saka at the far post for 2-1; right on the stroke of half time. And so we went in ahead - somewhat against the run of play. But… who cares?!?

The Liverpool injury jinx continued to strike. They’d already lost Luis Diaz (also prompting a change in my FPL Fantasy squad) before the break. They lost TAA at half time (he had an ankle issue following an accidental coming together with Martinelli), but frankly he was being terrorised by the latter. And they’ve now lost Matip for a couple of weeks too. Unfortunate timing for both Liverpool and Arsenal, with Manchester City up next for Liverpool. 

Arsenal came out flying at the start of the second half and missed a couple of decent opportunities to stretch their lead. Just as I was saying to those around me that they might regret those missed chances, Liverpool equalised again with a goal remarkably similar to Arsenal’s opener, as the scourge that is Roberto Firmino converted Jota’s defence splitting through ball. This as a result of Partey remaining outnumbered in midfield - although he came to terms with it soon afterwards as Thiago and Henderson ran out of steam, and put in a tremendous shift for the rest of the game. 

Arsenal had started to vary their play a little at this point, with Tomiyasu starting to chip the ball into the open spaces behind substitute Gomez for Martinelli to exploit the space behind. With Saka, Odegaard and White terrorising Liverpool’s other flank, and the crowd driving the team on, Arsenal were back on top.

Liverpool need to look at their defending for Arsenal’s winner. They had numerous chances to clear the ball as Arsenal piled on the pressure, but failed to do so. And finally Thiago’s attempt to prevent Jesus from getting to the ball was just a little bit late, he caught the Brazilian’s calf, and as forwards do these days he went down. He’d caught him, it probably hurt him, and thankfully Michael Oliver pointed to the penalty spot. Soft? Perhaps; but we've been on the receiving end of plenty of these. So, again, who cares? 

Following a long delay - caused by an altercation between Henderson and Gabriel (escalated by Granit Xhaka) - Saka kept his cool to bury the spot kick. Starboy had delivered again in a pressure situation. He has come back magnificently from his Euros Final disappointment.

I’m not going to speculate on what may have been said by Henderson to cause the altercation, but there are suggestions that he used racist language to Gabriel. The reactions of both Firmino and Xhaka certainly suggested as much. One way or the other, Oliver felt it serious enough to go over to the two Managers to explain, and there’s an ongoing FA investigation now. On a weekend where PL players had once again ‘taken the knee’, this is somewhat ironic at the very least.

The last 20 minutes saw Arsenal manage their narrow lead well, and we went back above City to the summit. And, make no mistake, this was a statement win. The football fraternity are taking Arsenal seriously now, the bookmakers have us down from a pre-season 40/1 to win the title to just 8/1 - City are unbackable at 1/5 - and this win breaks a hoodoo that we can now put back into its box.

The next three games are a little easier, I guess. We need to keep winning, starting at Elland Road on Sunday. Not an easy ground to go to. Before that, there’s the reverse Europa League fixture in Norway. Glimt have a phenomenal home record, and I’d be happy enough with loads of rotation and a draw, to be honest.

Meantime, the bandwagon rolls on. COYG!

Football 3 Anti-Football 1

My son is an Arsenal fan - the whole family are, to my (and my wife's) credit - and he, along with myself, is fortunate enough to have an Arsenal season ticket. He is also wheelchair-bound, so I drive him to matches. And last weekend it was my wife's turn to accompany us to the game.

On the way there I was getting particularly worked up - as I always do when it's Tottenham - because it is of course imperative that we put them back in their box at every opportunity, and I wanted to be right up for it by the time we got to the ground. We owe them after last season, don't we? 

My wife was surprised - although we've been married for 34 years - to hear me winding myself up to the necessary pitch, and kept telling me to dial the 'hatred' down. She hasn't attended too many NLDs, so maybe she'd forgotten. But as soon as she sensed the atmosphere and the game started, and she saw how Tottenham were set up and how they were playing, she changed her tune. She soon realised what was at stake. Not just a NLD, but also Football versus Anti-Football. Good versus Evil. Freedom versus Repression. However you want to put it, really...

Tottenham have good players, are well organised and have a certain 'style'. I've been saying all season, having had the misfortune to watch them a few times, that they're actually sh*t. Well, of course they're not; but what they in fact are is an old-fashioned Italian-style team playing in the Premier League. They are boring to watch - almost soporific, in fact - with a dreary willingness to sit back, soak up pressure and hit sides on the break. Conte teams are like latter-day Mourinho teams; and you can't say worse than that. It's anti-football; the antithesis of entertainment. If you're suffering from insomnia, put the telly on and find a Tottenham game to watch; you'll be out like a light before you know it.

And that's fine, if you like that sort of thing. But even Tottenham fans of my acquaintance can't bear it. What ever happened to 'Glory Glory'? And, make no mistake; because they've got good players, a fine forward line and a direct way of counter-punching opponents, they will win more games than they lose. The Conte way has always been to rely on solidity and to hit hard on the break - and to be fair he's had success with it elsewhere - and they had some sporadic opportunities early on with which they could have done better. But xG and 'field tilt' will find him/them out eventually. Fashions in coaching change, and Conte is becoming something of a dinosaur in that respect.

And apart from one 5-10 minute spell just after they'd equalised - an entirely avoidable series of events from an Arsenal perspective, as I'm sure you've seen - Arsenal simply dominated them. Relentlessly. And without mercy. In games against the top sides, if Tottenham play like that they will simply get rolled over. No way can they possibly repeat last season's results against City with the type of passive defending that they exhibited on Saturday. These days, you simply can't just sit off. And they are currently comfortably second best when compared to this vibrant Arsenal side.

And so to the game. Good news - Arteta had everyone back and could name his strongest possible XI. And the pattern of the game was swiftly established; Arsenal looking to play all the football, and Tottenham looking to stifle, to break up play by whatever means, to throw themselves to the floor Italian-style - and let's face it, with a forward line of Son, Kane and Richarlison that gives them the entire width of the pitch to throw themselves onto - and in particular to try their very hardest to get Gabriel Jesus, on his '4 yellow cards' tightrope - booked. 

Professional? Maybe. Cynical? For sure. But it didn't work. They had the odd opportunity on the break, where a better final ball may have got them in on goal, but Arsenal's sheer relentlessness ground them down. Partey's well-worked and beautifully executed opener (22 passes prior to the shot, I believe) - his first successful attempt in 65 from outside the box for Arsenal, the statistics tell us - was no less than Arsenal deserved.  

And for all that the game turned for a short while following the equaliser (a Kane penalty; how unusual!), half time came at a helpful moment and the second half was pretty much a procession, was it not? As this graphic clearly shows:

The second goal came as a result of Saka driving at the defence in trademark style, a Lloris howler, and typical opportunism from Jesus. Last year, we wouldn't have scored that goal; no way would Laca have had the instincts to be where Jesus was. 

To be honest, I didn't see the ball go in; I'd turned away when I saw the goalkeeper fall on the ball. But he's got that in him, has old Hugo. From then on, the result didn't look in doubt. But the sending off clinched it. And the Tottenham threat faded completely. I had a sense, as the match progressed, that Son's heart wasn't in it, and that Harry Kane was starting to look 'old'. 

The red card incident occurred on the other side of the pitch from where we sit, so we weren't quite sure what Emerson Royal had done. But it was a bad enough one; although having seen it on television it’s one for which you'd perhaps hope to avoid a red card if it was your player who committed the foul, but would be annoyed if it wasn't a red if you were on the other side. Comfortably, on balance, the correct decision. And Conte then waved the white flag with his substitutions, of course.

There was frustration that it took so long for them to receive any other cards. Dier was eventually cautioned. Romero committed several yellow card tackles. Hojbjerg and Bentancur could have seen yellow too. Kane and Richarlison are directly into the Premier League Snide XI and Son is, as we know, a sneaky baby-faced piece of work. Arsenal, on the other hand, are of course all angels...

And on the whole, barring Xhaka's error that led to the goal - he made up for it with another superb performance - and Gabriel's clumsy tackle on his snarling, idiotically coiffured compatriot for the penalty itself - it was a pretty flawless performance all round from Arsenal. Particular praise must go to Ben White, who kept Son very quiet and spent quite an extraordinary amount of time overlapping Saka, William Saliba (consistently magnificent), both Partey (understatedly superb) and Xhaka, and to Jesus, who always sets the tone. But whilst I'd give those players all 9/10, I'm not going lower than 8/10 with any of the others.

And so we remain top, despite another scintillating display from Manchester City and their freakish centre forward. How long it will continue, who can tell? Because it's Liverpool next - and boy, are we due a win over them?!? Preceded by Bodo/Glimt on Thursday, of course - but our reserves ought to have too much for them, one would expect. 

It's going to be key to avoid injuries and suspensions in order to keep up anything like this pace. But it's not entirely inconceivable. It's quite clear now that Arsenal are The Real Deal this season. Much credit to the entire club, from top to bottom, for the transformation. Manchester City are of course exceptional - with added depth - so at this early stage I'm looking at a possible respectful second place finish. Although City did still manage to concede three on Sunday, so...

Top of the league, yet still under the radar. That will probably change with a win next weekend. In the meantime, let's keep looking down. 

By the way, I have a friend who flies light aircraft. He took a photo of North London from above yesterday, and sent it to me to use here. Here it is:

COYG!