Sometimes I write the headlines before I own a single thought on here. But coming out of the ground last night with Arsenal all but secured an automatic spot in the last 16 of the Champions League, that’s exactly what I felt, because we were never really troubled at all against a Zagreb team who did like to fall over a fair bit, I have to say.

My evening didn’t exactly start on the best footing, as I got stuck at Uxbridge tube station because of a signal failure in the area, which put me back an hour and a half and caused me to miss the first goal by Rice. I had to contend with seeing it on the monitors in the concourse at halftime, but it was a sign of how comfortable we were for most of the night that Havertz was given the free down of the box to deftly touch the ball into Rice’s path for the England midfielder to smash the ball home.

It was a pretty good finish, if truth be told, and I liken it to when you hit a golf ball with the sweet spot of the club; you just know you’ve struck it well and good things are going to happen. Good things did happen – it hit the back of the net.

And when you score so early, it means everyone can ease into the game. The players were stroking the ball around well, the fans were feeling chipper and despite the Zagreb weirdos chucking what looked like empty plastic water bottles at Arsenal players when they went to go and take corners, we looked pretty at ease.

There were some slightly concerning moments though. Kiwior had one where he dwelt on the ball, but we managed to get rid of it, then Timber did something similar a few minutes later. Thankfully that time it was Kiwior stepping in to save his defensive mate. But it did feel like there was a little bit of complacency that had crept in. We were fortunate that we were up against a not very good Zagreb team who didn’t really offer anything going forward. Another team with elite players might have punished us.

They didn’t, we were strong, we got in at halftime having squandered a few chances (Gabriel heading wide from a corner and Havertz also heading wide when unmarked wasn’t great) but you always felt we were good for at least one more in the second half.

And so it was to come to pass, with Havertz heading home from what I thought was an absolute peach of a cross from Martinelli. As Nigel – the guy who sits next to me – said “he forced Havertz to score it”.

As soon as the customary ‘not really properly celebrating because of VAR’ had been confirmed, it really was in cruise control from there on in. We brought Nwaneri and Oartey on for the booked Timber and the – frankly inconsequential – Sterling, which was just what the doctor needed because Nwaneri getting a solid 40 minutes in his belt surely means he’s got a good shout to start on Saturday at Wolves.

The kid had some good runs too. There’s an energy about him that the crowd – me included – love. He never gives up, he’s got a burst of pace about him that is a bit early-years Wilshere, plus he has a finish on him too. There’s was one moment where Odegaard played a ball in behind and it just went a bit too far. Most of us were clapping the effort and saying “unlucky” but Nwaneri chased down and kept it in play against the odds. That kind of tenacity is always going to be rewarded with a vociferous home crowd cheer and we all duly obliged as he then retained possession afterwards.

It’s just as well he’s back, really, because once again we saw the stark difference between the busted flush that is Sterling and the effervescence of Nwaneri. Sterling hasn’t got the pace any more and his trickery affords him the beating of probs key one man at best. The problem he has is that he tries to do two and three and usually it results in him checking back and squaring the ball to somebody like Odegaard. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier to see Nwaneri back on the pitch, because surely it means Sterling resumes his space on the bench from Saturday onwards.

We even had time for Odegaard to put the cherry on the cake by scoring late on too. The ball may have took a nick as Trossard played it in, but he’ll still claim it as an assist after two against Villa and a goal against the Scum and all of a sudden we’re seeing a Leo who has hit a bit of form. And just in time too. And if you think about it, all three of our main attackers have been doing the business of late. We had Trossard scoring against Tottenham, assisting at the weekend and then last night, Havertz and Martinelli scored at the weekend and Havertz last night, as well as Martinelli getting the assist from the cross too.

And we kept a clean sheet.

I suspect if we’d have been up against a better attack we might have been tested more, but a bit like how I think Odegaard scoring might do him the world of good in terms of confidence yesterday evening, I wonder if the return of scoring and assisting boots for our forward line will also be useful as well? I certainly hope so. We all still want another forward, I’ve laid my chips firmly on Sesko as the one I want, but it’s still good to know those players currently operating in our front three have also started to pick up some form. And just in the nick of time too.

They’ll all get themselves a day off tomorrow before it’s back in to training on Friday ahead of another must win away to Wolves, but those Arsenal players will sleep more soundly knowing they’ve had a good result yesterday and they are finding the back of the net again with a little more regularity. There’s also the bonus of knowing that unless something mental happens, we are all but qualified for the automatic spots for the next round of the competition and the last 16.

Right, that’s it from me, I’m calling time on today’s blog and I’ll be back tomorrow as we look ahead to a trip to the Black Country.