Arsenal captain Aubameyang feels full force of unflappable Mikel Arteta

As far as preparations go, the Arsenal captain dropping out of the starting lineup for disciplinary reasons a couple of hours before facing your sworn enemies is textbook hellish. That fate befell Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who felt the full force of Mikel Arteta’s iron fist.

Pre-match, all the talk centred around the Gunners’ unshakable ability to thwart their own achievements. Stupidity on the ball, stupidity off the ball and an overriding urge to grant the opposition a leg-up over the course of the 90 minutes remains a source of embarrassing derision.

But this is Arsenal. To use a word Arteta adores, they’re ‘evolving’. This team has now unearthed a way to present an advantage to the opponent before games have even started. Quite the feat.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang suffers from a bout of tardiness, a rash that’s blown up on more occasions than just the visit of Tottenham.

Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang feels full force of unflappable Mikel Arteta in Tottenham win

There are matchday protocols in place, those all members of the squad must abide by, thus there can be no preferential treatment. Not even for the highest paid player and captain of the club. Nor when it means Alexandre Lacazette comes into the team last minute having prepared for the fixture with an entirely different profile of striker.

Bemoaning a lack of discipline within the squad after flurry of red cards this season, when it’s Arteta’s turn to dish out his own variation he must be lauded for doing so. If you want the team to be more disciplined you have to show it yourself.

Aubameyang was gutted. Fuming. As noted by The Athletic, he was the first one to leave the ground – 23 minutes after full-time, to be exact. In the warm-up his head was bent with disappointment, which you’d expect, and want, to see. No player will revel in missing a fixture of this calibre.

Arteta made the choice to go public with the decision, either knowing that a leak was inevitable or to make a statement about the letter of the law applying to everyone. In either case, it’s vital that Arsenal won so this could be put to bed.

"“For me [the standards] are the foundation and the platform that we can build something medium and long-term that is sustainable and that can bring us joy.” Arteta told Sky Sports."

Lesson learnt, move on.