Terrace Talk: Sumptuous Arsenal display had crowd cooing

The Gunners signed off with a sumptuous first-half of mesmerising football against the Baggies, thereby guaranteeing that they’ll be wearing their flip-flops for a few weeks longer this summer, not having to don their boots and psyche themselves up so soon, for such an influential Champions League qualifier.

Having grown accustomed to negotiating this life-or-death crapshoot, after scraping over the line into the top four in recent seasons, it will be interesting to see whether a 3rd-placed finish has a positive impact on our next campaign.

Prior to bringing the Premier League curtain down with the sort of beautiful football that had the crowd appreciatively billing and cooing, the previous three home games without a single Arsenal goal amounted to the driest spell on home turf since 2011. If the season had petered out with a similarly lamentable display, instead of this sparkling first-half performance, I’m not sure many Gooners would’ve lingered on after the final whistle, for the now obligatory “lap of appreciation”.