Arsenal moved eight points clear of Manchester City this afternoon with a comfortable 4-1 win over increasingly relegation-threatened Palace. As songs heralding Patrick Vieira rang out across North London, I sensed that the Arsenal family is becoming so enveloping and tight that part of the satisfaction from this win came from paying them back the insult to a bona fide Arsenal legend. And talking of bona fide Arsenal legends we were able to welcome four of them onto the pitch at half-time (see above). I’m conscious that these great stars don’t have the resonance they should have with the young supporters who inhabit the Stadium so raucously now but I could never really relate fully to Alex James and Cliff Bastin and David Jack when I was growing up. I have a chat scheduled with Bob Wilson tomorrow and I will be fascinated to learn what the legends thought of this crisp and enterprising performance.

There was no sign of a hangover from the disappointment of Thursday evening. As time goes on I consider it almost a blessing that we have now got the opportunity to focus and while I dislike Citeh intensely I see it as a huge advantage that they are committed on three fronts. Let the Cyborg go on scoring but let’s hope intense Premier League games prove a step too far for them as the season grinds on.

We picked a predictable team. Saliba was missing but his prospects seem relatively good for avoiding a long lay-off whilst I suspect Tomiyasu won’t be seen in an Arsenal shirt again this season. Trossard formed part of the three upfront and Capitola Rob Holding, the ‘bestie‘ of scruzgooner came in at centre back.

Palace hadn’t lost at Arsenal for five seasons, often because Zaha is a major headache to us and in the 10th minute he drove forward to fire in a near post shot which struck the post rebounded onto  the diving Ramsdale’s legs and then, rather fortunately, deflected past his post. Ramsdale then made a very brave save to block a Palace breakaway for the move to be ruled offside. The ‘keeper could have been seriously injured for no reason as a result of this ridiculous rule which allows play to unwind when officials know it is to be ruled offside. 

After this we started to dominate but just after the first quarter had passed I remarked to my neighbour that we had not forced their young keeper to make a save. Seconds later he didn’t save again but this was because Martinelli had latched onto a Saka pass and belted it into the far corner 

28 mins: Arsenal 1 Palace 0 

We were clearly dominating play now with Ødegaard playing brilliantly in the number 10 role, Saka shredding Mitchell, a top young full-back, every time he got near him and Ben White catching the eye with superb overlaps. I love watching this team with its complexity, intelligence and athleticism. They are so hard to contain and Palace just couldn’t do it.

Two minutes from halftime the enterprising White fed Saka and he drove it into the far corner for our second goal which survived a VAR check 

43 mins: Arsenal 2 Palace 0 

Half-time was reached shortly afterwards. One sensed Palace were extremely frazzled by the movement of the Arsenal front three and welcomed the break during which our legends entered the arena.

Half-time:  Arsenal 2 Palace 0 

I didn’t envy Paddy McCarthy’s job (was he the guy Val Doonican sang about with the goat?) trying to lift a team that had not won all year and who had been trying to halt a tidal wave of attacks. Xhaka had gone down with what seemed momentarily to be a serious knock but the man is made of Granit and is again getting forward more as he did earlier in the season. Ten minutes into the second half he scored our third latching on to an intelligent Trossard pass (his sixth assist since he signed) and bumping  the ball past the keeper 

55 mins: Arsenal 3 Palace 0 

The destination of the points was no longer in doubt but we did start to harbour some fantasies about a serious hike in our goal difference. Alas, the next goal went to Palace. Our set-piece coach might need a friendly word with Mr. Arteta as we conceded from a ‘bog standard’ left wing corner which hit Schlupp in the midriff and fell for him to knock the ball beyond Ramsdale. This passed a VAR inspection for handball.

63 minutes: Arsenal 3 Palace 1 

Zaha, who had forced a good save from Ramsdale early in the second half, then might have done better when well-placed, as he screwed the ball wide of the right-hand post. He is a player who always makes an impact when he plays against us. If he did this every time he played and if he were eight years younger he would be a no-brainer free signing but he also seems often to be afflicted with a weird form of labyrinthiitis which renders him incapable of staying on his feet when challenged. 

Arsenal continued as they began and among a rash of substitutions, Tierney took up the left-back berth and cut the ball back to Saka who lashed the ball home to make the points completely safe. Again VAR reared its ugly head but the goal was ruled onside .

77 mins: Arsenal 4 Palace 1 

Arsenal played out the rest of the game comfortably with Jesús getting more minutes and rather oddly Partey ending the game at right back, Kiwior came on for his league debut and twice we saw Arsenal defenders show exceptional pace to thwart Palace attacks firstly Tierney and then Kiwior. We have a big squad but we really don’t want to see Ben White getting injured.

Final score: Arsenal 4 Palace 1 

It’s almost surreal to find ourselves so far ahead at the top of the table playing such incisive and intelligent football. In our last four league games we’ve scored fourteen goals and conceded three. We now await what the interlull may bring and prepare to resume in just under a fortnight with Liverpool travelling to the Etihad and a few hours later us welcoming Leeds to the Home of Football. Heady times and evidence today that there is a thread of excellence that has run intermittently through the club over the last fifty years. Please may another special chapter be about to be written 

The goal in the knock-out rounds of any tournament is not to get knocked out. In that regard, we failed to achieve our goal on a wet Thursday in N5. Sporting Lisbon won the first competitive penalty shootout at the Emirates, 5-3, after our Europa League Round of 16 second leg had ended 1-1 after extra time, with the aggregate score at 3-3.

The result makes moot one of the questions that 21st Century Gooner so succinctly posed in his excellent preview: should we prioritise the Premier League title, last won in 2004, over European silverware, last won in 1994? 

It does not, yet, provide an answer to his other salient question, might the pursuit of the Europa League trophy adversely impact our run-in for the Premier League title, a trophy most in this estimable establishment and the wider Goonerverse would consider the essential piece of silverware that the manager should be lifting at season’s end?

Elimination from the Europa League might be thought to tilt the balance to the positive side—fewer games to tax a young squad still learning how to pace themselves to the winning line. Yet, our first big European night at the Ems in three years (group games do not really count) tipped the scales in the other direction. 

Among the negatives, Tomiyasu and Saliba were both lost to injury in the first 20 minutes; an additional half-hour of extra time will have only further drained legs that we shall need fresh on Sunday for the league visit of Palace, legs already wearied by an energy-sapping game played at high pace with Sporting pressing and counter-pressing with intensity and scrapping for every second ball; and the emotional exhaustion of defeat in a game in which we were second best for most of the time but nearly pulled off another last-gasp victory, only to be denied in extra time by three outstanding saves by Sporting’s keeper, Adan.

By naming a strong team, Arteta answered the pre-match speculation about how seriously he would/should take the Europa League. Having called out the defensive performance in the first leg, he started all the first-choice defenders save for Ben White, returning him (briefly, as it happened), Matt Turner and Jakub Kiwior to the bench. 

As Arteta had also highlighted the lack of midfield control in Lisbon in the face of Sporting’s press, it was a slight surprise to see our master controllers, Thomas Partey and Martin Ødegaard, both start on the bench. Yet Arteta’s cunning plan was to counter Sporting’s 3-4-3 and midfield overloads with a 4-4-2. Midfield duties were assigned to Reiss Nelson, Jorginho, Granit Xhaka and Fabio Vieira, with two of Arteta’s collection of Gabis, Jesus and Martinelli, upfront. This selection promised to morph into the more accustomed 4-3-3 when we were attacking and allowed Bukayo Saka to put his feet up on the bench for a much-deserved and needed rest.

For Sporting, there were two changes from the first leg, Ousmane Diomande and Manuel Ugarte coming in for suspended captain Sebastian Coates and Hidemasa Morita in defence and midfield, respectively.

With the score level pegging at 2-2 from the first leg and away goals no longer counting double, both sides knew they needed to win.

I will not relay a blow-by-blow account. Suffice it to say Sporting settled the faster, pressing hard and preventing us from establishing any rhythm. We struggled to string passes together or to hold onto the ball. After a quarter of an hour, we started to find our feet and scored, somewhat against the run of play. Jorginho, the Italian with a Brazilian name, fed Martinelli on the left wing. The Brazilian with an Italian name, hared for goal, cutting in as he reached the penalty area. Adan’s left leg blocked Gabi’s hard, low strike for the far corner, but the ball rebounded to Xhaka, some 12 yards out, who hammered it into the corner Martinelli had been aiming for. ‘One-nil to the Arsenal’ rang out, and thus it stayed, somewhat uneasily, until half-time.

HT 1-0 (agg 3-2)

The second half started in the same fashion as the first. Again, we could not establish control and were being harried out of possession by Sporting’s press. However, this time, this continued until the 90 minutes were up. 

Our one-goal advantage was negated in the 62nd minute by Gonçalves spectacularly chipping the backpedalling Ramsdale from 46 yards after we had again turned over the ball. Almost immediately, Ramsdale saw a powerful header pass narrowly over his bar and then had to produce a top-draw save to deny Edwards, formerly of a neighbouring parish of little repute. We were rocking, and not in a good way.

The early injuries to Tomiyasu, who slipped going into a tackle, doing the splits and injuring his groin, apparently seriously, and Saliba, who ricked his back, had removed two of Arteta’s three opportunities for tactical substitutions that might have turned the tide. The lively Jesus was withdrawn at half-time rather than after 60 mins as planned, so Arteta could retain some flexibility over making a second-half double change. Partey and Saka came on for Jorginho and Nelson with 25 minutes of normal time to go. That stabilised us, but Sporting remained dangerous on the break, and we remained our worst enemy, mispassing and giving away the ball. There were chances at both ends, but the card-happy Spanish referee, Maleu Lahoz, blew for full-time with the scores still level in the match and the tie.

FT 1-1. (agg 3-3)

In extra time we were a team transformed, playing on the front foot and attacking Sporting as we looked for a late winner as we had done successfully against Villa and Bournemouth. Trossard was nearly gifted that six minutes into extra time via a sloppy back pass, but Adan produced an excellent save to touch the Belgian’s shot onto a post, and the ball bounced to safety. An offside flag then negated an appeal for a handball, as it had two decent first-half penalty shouts for players bundled over; in some games, you just don’t get the breaks.

As the clock wound down towards 120 minutes, Gabriel was twice denied by top saves by Adan, and Sporting had Ugarte sent off for a second yellow for taking time off from clattering Martinelli to clatter Saka. But the winning goal could not be forced. 

AET 1-1 (agg 3-3)

And so the shootout. Sporting were perfect, but that man Adan again denied Martinelli. Nuno Santos slotted the fifth and winning penalty. We were out.

Penalties 3-5.

Over the two legs, we probably needn’t have lost, but it is difficult to say that we deserved to win. Arteta has a huge task now to lift tired minds and bodies and deflated spirits for Sunday. Whether his young team can dust themselves down and pick themselves up will be a real measure of whether they have the reserves of what it takes for the only thing they now have left to concentrate on, becoming league champions.

As good Holics do, we were about to leave the ground when we noticed a brand new bar (which had been besieged at half-time) was virtually empty. So we did the obvious thing and carried out a taste test to see whether the Camden Pale Ale at Craven Cottage was inferior to that at the Home of Football. Inconclusive – one of the very few inconclusive things we saw today. 

As I shuffled to the bar (I always slow things up when I’m paying) I came face to face with a very unhappy looking Fulham fan. Being a conversational sort and not wanting to gloat or even reveal that I was an Arsenal fan I made inane conversation about hoping this time next week things might seem a lot happier from a Fulham perspective. (They play United in the sixth round of the FA Cup.) His reply was instructive. “Oh, it will mate, we don’t have to play this lot again. They’re the best team in the league and no one can get near them.” 

It was a source of great pride and satisfaction to see one’s team described like that but today it was a very fair assessment. I watched Manchester City play an inferior team last night (Fulham beat Palace 3-0 at Selhurst) and really struggle to overcome them. Today, we saw a team who less than 72 hours before were locked in battle in Lisbon quash a team that has been one of the revelations of the season. 

The pleasure of the match was immeasurably enhanced by the company of two of GHF’s finest, BtM and Bathgooner and in Holic fashion we prepared for the match by taking lunch in a cheeky Italian eaterie near Putney Bridge. Neither of my companions had visited Craven Cottage before and we were to be ensconced in the new, unfinished Riverside Stand. Two weeks on and we’d have been able to see the Boat Race as well! The Riverside Stand is starting to rival the Sagrada Familia for the time taken to construct it! I didn’t notice Gaudé had signed the architect’s contract.

In truth, it was a good vantage point and we were greeted by the news that Trossard had returned to the starting eleven and Jesús was on the bench. I had been concerned that a return over Easter would lead to the most extensive litany of ‘Jesús returns’ headlines ever seen. His earlier resurrection was both a surprise and an inspiration to his many disciples.

So, to the game. Our team was the usual back five, the usual midfield, with Trossard as a false 9, flanked by Saka and Martinelli. Though having said that, the bewildering interchange involving Zinchenko, Trossard and Martinelli was way too much for Fulham. After an energetic but sterile first ten minutes in which Fulham tried to compress play in the Arsenal half we took the lead in the 16th minute when Xhaka played a fine ball behind Tete and Martinelli tested Leno, formerly of this parish, only to see Leno’s parry bounce in off Robinson. The spectre of VAR soon appeared and the goal was eventually ruled out for offside.

Fortunately, the team was not affected and four minutes later Trossard’s corner was headed in by Gabriel. Fulham put nobody on the post and got outmanoeuvred by Partey and Gabriel for our twelfth goal from a set piece this season.  

0-1, 20 minutes 

We were now massively on top and increased our lead a few minutes later. The goal was notable for the quality of the assist from Trossard. After 18 consecutive passes, beginning on our left midfield flank and progressing to our right defensive flank, the 19th raking pass from Saliba on the right side of our box found Xhaka in space in left midfield. Xhaka advanced towards the Fulham backline then put Trossard in on the left of the Fulham box. The Belgian had little room to work with but put up a steepling cross and Martinelli outjumped Robinson to head it in. 

0-2, 24 minutes 

Confidence flooded through the team. Saliba ended a fierce forward run with a shot that went narrowly over. A great ball by Ødegaard was dummied between Trossard and Xhaka to leave the latter to walk the ball in, but he couldn’t. Trossard sliced just wide after another fine move. Fulham offered little riposte. A conventional striker like Mitrovic gets marginalised in a game where his team has so little possession. Solomon on the left looked lively and speared one ball across goal but even in two long spells of possession Fulham couldn’t ever get into our penalty area. Just before half-time, a lovely break down the left saw Xhaka play in Trossard who fed Ødegaard a long chest-high cross which he controlled effortlessly, went round a defender and bent the ball into the far corner. 

0-3, 45+2minutes 

Half-time came immediately after: Fulham 0 Arsenal 3 

During a comfort break I heard the in-house Fulham magazine bemoan the situation and suggest that “a win was fairly out of the question”. Get away!

Arsenal played a canny second half although the bar was rattled from a right wing cross and Ramsdale didn’t deal cleanly with balls into the box. Mitrovic was totally neutralised except for a fine second half header which smacked the bar and Ramsdale saved from De Cordova Reed. However, Arsenal created the better second half chances, the best of which fell to Jesús who returned 20 minutes from the end to huge relief and excitement. He brilliantly span a defender on the left, fed Vieira who passed the ball back but Leno blocked Jesús’s shot. He threw himself on the floor in frustration. But, in that moment you remembered just how exciting Jesús makes our attack and how hard he works.  Partey produced a couple of filthy pieces of control and strolled through the game like the world’s best holding midfielder, which he may well be and the team exerted complete control despite numerous changes. 

Full Time: Fulham 0 Arsenal 3 

It was a superb performance which showcased just how good we are becoming. We made three or four relatively small mistakes in ninety minutes and they stood out like sore thumbs because the quality of our passing, covering and movement is so excellent. We are particularly good at increasing the tempo to warp speed, catching defences on the hop rendering them unable to cope. Picking a MOTM is an invidious if enjoyable job. Trossard was very effective, Ødegaard quite brilliant in his control of the game, Partey is a sublime monster and Saliba takes your breath away. I think my choice would just be Ødegaard, the metronome of the team but the introduction of Trossard has simply been a triumph of enlightened team-building and we now have so many options with players returning.

These are heady times. Champions League qualification is effectively assured with a dozen games to go but we want, we crave and we deserve the title. 

Fulham is a nice club, a good club and who knows, the next time we play them may be the Community Shield in August! Wouldn’t that be nice?