LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Kai Havertz of Arsenal celebrates scoring his team's second goal ... [+]
Last season Newcastle United was a difficult opponent for Arsenal at the Emirates.
Set up to frustrate the Gunners by all means possible, the Magpies returned to the North East with a 0-0 draw.
It didn’t necessarily seem it at the time, but it ultimately proved to be one of several home struggles that were costly in Arsenal’s bid for the Premier League crown.
This year, however, light work was made of Newcastle United. The North Londoners were 2-0 up at halftime and cruising, adding a couple more goals on the hour to wrap the game up.
There are of course many differences from last year, firstly Arsenal is not the runaway leader and this time around there are two rivals in the form of Manchester City and Liverpool to contend with.
It should also be pointed out that Newcastle United is a shadow of the team it was in the last campaign, although they did take three points off the Gunners earlier in the season.
Nevertheless, that sense of momentum that a confident victory at home generates was clear to see.
"We are living the dream," Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard the television cameras postgame.
"We have all dreamed of being here. You see every week how competitive it is and that is where we want to be - we want to fight for trophies."
The Norwegian’s words might sound hyperbolic and given the repeated criticism about the Gunners' over-celebrating victories which ultimately proved inconsequential it would be easy to be snide.
It was perhaps with this in mind that when the cameras trained on manager Mikel Arteta, he was at pains to portray a far more sober figure to the energetic touchline cheerleader he has gained a reputation for being.
Amid the celebrations, he was quick to refer to a disappointing 0-1 defeat to Porto in the Champions League midweek.
"We are really happy, we have to continue to do the things that we are doing well," he said.
"There are still things that we can do better and we are bringing big players back from injury so that is a big boost.
"Against Porto, we were ourselves with the ball but not without the ball. It was a big lesson and you learn a lot from those moments.”
‘Coming back stronger’
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: Declan Rice of Arsenal before the Premier League match between ... [+]
It would be understandable if Arteta were self-conscious given the aftermath of Arsenal’s victory over title rivals Liverpool was dominated by discussions of his and the team’s celebrations.
As pictures flashed on the TV screens of captain Odegaard playfully grabbing the club photographer’s camera in the postgame melee to take a picture he was lambasted by TV pundit Jamie Carragher "Just get down the tunnel,” he snapped before hastily qualifying his remark.
“You've won a game, three points, you've been brilliant. Back in the title race, get down the tunnel. I'm serious, honestly,” he added.
Bizarrely the fallout from this episode continued in the days afterwards when Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones suggested the raucous scenes had been somehow stolen from the Reds and cautioned against Arsenal getting too high at this stage.
“The gaffer, the way he fist pumps the crowd, that’s kind of our thing. If they want to be stealing our stuff, it shows we’re on the right path if they’re copying us. They can have their moment and stuff, but there’s a long way to go,” he told the BBC.
In the end, his manager, Jurgen Klopp, felt the need to clarify the situation and it was telling he sided firmly with the Gunners.
"I heard the discussions – that Mikel [Arteta] over-celebrated the [Arsenal] win against us. That definitely did not come from me,” he said.
"Everybody can do whatever. I didn’t invent fist-pumps and I don't have the copyright on it and I don't want it. You do what you do for yourself and your people. What the outside world thinks about it – I couldn't give a s**t, to be honest. And you can write that exactly like that.
"This is for us and nobody else. Who likes it, likes it, and who doesn't like it, doesn't like it. You can make what you want of my celebrations.”
The intense analysis of these brief moments is unfair but it’s also a by-product of how rarely we see moments when we see how players and managers really feel.
Soccer is a game where so much takes place where the cameras aren’t, unlike other sports where the dressing rooms aren’t filmed every word a player utters is funneled through a mass of public relations experts. The Premier League is a fiercely stage-managed spectacle.
What that means is huge amounts of meaning are derived from those minutes when we see actual emotion from the players.
It should be highlighted too that whilst Arsenal’s celebrations are mentioned frequently, a lesser discussed topic is its player’s response to failure.
In the past three years, the club has suffered brutal disappointments and come back in better shape, as Odegaard pointed out: "The year before we missed the Champions League and came back stronger. Last season we missed a title and now is the time to show we have learned - every time we play we are so excited.”
Criticism will remain until the side does claim a major trophy, but, until then, we should probably be less judgemental on how the team celebrates its wins.
