What a departure this was from the night, 13 months ago, when Arsenal buckled under a battering at this stadium. This time they subdued it to near silence, taking an early lead through William Saliba and never looking remotely likely to let it slip. Ghosts are rarely slain this cleanly: Mikel Arteta’s team were vastly superior to Brentford in every department and, given it is safe to assume not all of their rivals will have it quite as easy here, can feel they have provided a compelling advertisement for their ability to compete at the business end.
Further goals from Gabriel Jesus and Fábio Vieira, the latter with a sublime strike from range, guaranteed their return to the top and meant they could contest most of the second half with the match won before creating a moment of history at the end. When Ethan Nwaneri emerged from the bench early in stoppage time, he became the Premier League’s youngest-ever player, at 15 years and 181 days old.
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