At last, a proper half of football at the Emirates. After weeks in which Arsenal too often looked as though they were running through mud, after nights where the heart wanted more than the legs could deliver, this was finally a performance that felt like a side breathing freely again.
And that matters at this stage of the season.
If one player embodied that shift in rhythm, it was Viktor Gyokeres. Quite possibly his best half since arriving. Two goals and an assist, yes, but more important than the numbers was the impression. We have been saying it from the start: give him trust, give him service, do not leave him stranded, and he gives something real back. He needs the ball, he needs support, he needs to feel part of the centre of the picture, and when that happens he changes the whole attacking mood.
The first goal was exactly the kind Arsenal supporters have wanted to see far more often. A sharp Saka burst, a ball into the right zone and Gyokeres left with the simple task of setting his foot and finishing. It should not be rare. Too often this season it has felt as if neither Saka nor Odegaard spotted Gyokeres early enough, or only saw him once the safer option had already taken over. Tonight, at least for long stretches, it finally looked different.
That is why Bukayo Saka deserves a special section too. It felt as if he had heard the criticism after Atletico, where there were flashes but not much more. Tonight he seemed determined to remind everyone why he once carried the Golden Boy label and why a few right touches from him can completely transform a game. He looked alive, direct, hungry for duels and much more decisive than he had been in Europe.
The best part was that the night did not stop at one good move and one opening goal. When Eze took the ball in midfield and, without overthinking, released Gyokeres, Arsenal suddenly did something they have badly missed in recent weeks: one quick decision, one vertical pass and an attack without hesitation. Gyokeres carried it, fed it back between two defenders and left Saka alone through on goal. Two-nil. Smiles. A hug. And a brief exchange between the two players from whom perhaps most was expected this season. Whatever they said can stay between them, but it looked like relief and understanding, and football teams often need that more than any outside conversation.
Gyokeres did not stop there. He met a cross with his head for the third goal, his second of the match, just before the break and to a proper eruption inside the stadium. We have not seen enough of that in the last month. Too often Arsenal had looked like a team with heavy legs, slow ideas and a tight chest. Tonight the heartbeat was stronger, and the players looked fresh enough to show it.
Then came Arteta in the second half: Saka and Gyokeres off, Jesus and Madueke on. From a supporter’s angle it is easy to see that as a move that kills the flow and cuts short the chance to build an even healthier goal-difference cushion. But the context is obvious too. Atletico are right around the corner again, the schedule is brutal, and Arteta made it clear afterwards that protecting energy and managing the load of his biggest attacking pieces was part of the thinking. Supporters do not have to love it to understand it.
That does not mean there is no frustration left. There is. This was a game that could have been used to build an even larger goal-difference advantage. It could easily have gone beyond 3-0. Still, not everything has to be complaint. Two straight wins, a clean sheet, the leading striker hitting three goals in a matter of days and, finally, a calmer evening without the usual what-if spiral. It is not perfection, but it is progress.
I also found Myles Lewis-Skelly especially interesting. He showed real strength. At times he can still look a little heavy, which is normal when a player lacks repeated big-game exposure, but you can clearly see how strong he is in his legs and how naturally central midfield suits him. That is why the bench time leaves a question behind: maybe Arteta’s stubbornness with Zubimendi had, in some part, also cost the team freshness. Then again, one thing is sitting on the bench and managing Arsenal against Fulham and soon Atletico, and another is writing a blog about what should have happened. Make of that what you will.
The second half brought nothing major to change the picture. The score stayed where it had been at the break. Arsenal controlled enough to keep calm, Fulham never really created drama, and maybe that is the best thing to take from the night: for once, the job was done on time.
City still have two games in hand, four goals to make up, and now they carry the kind of pressure that has sat on Arsenal’s shoulders for too long. For once, let some of that tension belong to them. We will keep watching the race unfold, as we always do.
In short: the midfield needed freshness, Gyokeres is dangerous the moment he gets service, and tonight both team-mates and staff were given more than enough proof of the direction Arsenal have to follow in the remaining games.
Time will show what each player could really give. For us, all that remains is to hope for the best. And for me, hopefully, to keep filling these pages with the kind of results and statistics people around this club have been waiting too long to celebrate.
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Author: B.