Arsenal 2-0 West Ham: 4 major positives for Arteta’s side

4. Responding to the Aubameyang Captaincy Drama

The unavoidable elephant in the room. Or more like, the avoidable Panther staying at home, there was no shying away from the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shaped cloud hanging over this match.

Yet from the first minute to the last there wasn’t a moment where it came to mind.

Backed by a superb Emirates crowd that was slightly reduced amid the growing worry over the new COVID variant, this was a group of supporters and a team focussed solely on the task at hand. The professionalism of the side under those circumstances was magnificent. As much as it may not bother certain sections of the fans – even though they’ve been witness to this curse for a frightening number of years – it could easily have affected the players.

Aubameyang is for most their friend and their colleague. However, whatever sympathy or lack thereof for him was put to one side the minute they crossed that white line.

After the game Martinelli was even quizzed on it during a post-match interview – which was a nonsense question to ask a 20-year-old doing his first ever such interview by himself – and he responded in a mature manner just as the rest had done on the pitch.

It’s impossible not to fall back on the word ‘unity’. It’s Arteta’s favourite term and based on Wednesday night’s showing, you know why.