Eyebrows were raised when the sometimes-combustible Swiss was picked but in the end everything ran through him

As Tottenham’s defenders glared at each other in reproach for a third time, a beaming Thierry Henry extended his arms in celebration. Enjoying the spectacle with Henry in one of the Emirates’ executive boxes was Daniel Ek, the Spotify co-owner and high-profile suitor for the keys to one of English football’s grandest old estates.

They were revelling in an evisceration: for 45 minutes Arsenal produced football of speed, imagination and incision that recalled some of Henry’s happiest derby experiences. Those stormy days in May, when Ek sought to exploit the fury surrounding Arsenal’s decline and the botched Super League breakaway by making a bid for the club, could not have seemed further away. Wherever he was watching, Stan Kroenke must have felt there was plenty of life in his habitually tormented investment yet.

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