It was the first day of the rest of their season. After a patchy start to the campaign, littered with red cards and brain fades, double saves and points needlessly dropped, what Arsenal needed more than anything else was a straightforward win.

It’s in the routine Saturday 3pm kick-offs just as much as in the live televised clashes, and in wins ticked off, almost without incident, far more than in the great expenditures of energy, that championships are decided. Arsenal may or may not be challenging for the title in May but this at last was a performance and result that allowed them to believe they may yet be able to recover from a run of two points from their previous four games.