Atmosphere and confidence back with a bang at Old Trafford

What a difference a few weeks can make. After the 1-4 horror show, I never thought I’d be able to write this so soon: “Manuel Pellegrini’s now lost more league games this season than David Moyes”. (And Manny hasn’t got an Ed Woodward to blame.)

Other entirely unexpected lines that are possible today: “Jones did very well in all the positions he ended up in”; “Smalling’s saved the day”; “the opposition can’t match our intensity or tempo”.

The end result is familiar enough for Wenger, though: Arsenal slink away from OT having totally failed to do themselves justice again. Gunners: “Meet the new Red boss, same as the old boss,” as the song almost goes.