This was not, for all that Arsenal fans will whine about conspiracies, about the refereeing decisions. It was not about the red card to William Saliba in the first half or about the penalty awarded in the second, profound though the impact of those decisions was. Rather it was about the extraordinary self-destructiveness that led to those decisions, the poor passes, the lack of discipline, the woolly-mindedness that so often afflicts Arsenal at key moments.
Perhaps the standards expected are unrealistic. This, after all, is a team that accrued 89 points last season in historical terms, a huge number. In the old days, teams were allowed their slips. But that is not the modern world. When 90 points is effectively the minimum required to win the title, points cannot be given away like this if a team is to be regarded as a serious contender.
Arsenal succumbed, yet again, to their strange habit of making life difficult for themselves. Dramatic comebacks, late winners and nerve-jangling victories are all very well, but title-winning teams tend to have a number of routine victories, matches in which, without expending too much nervous energy, they rack up points almost unnoticed. Since beating Wolves on the opening weekend of the season, Arsenal haven't had a single one of those.
Without Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka, Arsenal were always likely to lack creativity. Arsenal without Saka's inswinging corner isn't quite like Stoke without Rory Delap's long-throws, but it is a weapon they miss, as was made obvious by the fact their first three corners of the game, taken by Declan Rice, were all outswingers.
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