Arsenal respond like a heavy weight has lifted

Arsenal 4 - Crystal Palace 1: An emphatic first win of the New Year does not definitively prove there is a bright future for Arsenal without Alexis Sanchez but manager Arsene Wenger confirmed his players had been destabilised by the uncertainty over the Chilean’s transfer to Manchester United.

This first post-Sanchez era display, in which Arsenal’s players seemed unshackled in scoring four goals in the opening 22 minutes, suggested a level of toxicity had been removed from the club’s dressing room.

But after revealing the club was ultimately powerless to prevent their star player from leaving, Wenger admitted later that only time would tell if he had made the right decision in bringing in Henrikh Mkhitaryan in exchange.