It was a thrilling game, full of goals and riddled with mistakes, and by the end of it Unai Emery must have breathed a sigh of relief as he clenched his fist to celebrate a second successive victory. After all the talk of a new era this was like watching the Arsenal of old as some terrific attacking football was undermined by familiar defensive frailties on an afternoon when Petr Cech strayed close to becoming a danger to his own team.

Cech, quite simply, is not comfortable enough with the ball at his feet to adapt to the style of play Emery is demanding from him and on another day Arsenal would have been punished for the mess their 36-year-old goalkeeper got himself in at times. To compound matters, the defenders in front of Cech did little to instil confidence against a Cardiff team who registered their first Premier League goals of the season and came close to snatching a point in the 90th minute.

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Now for the good news for Arsenal. Things are starting to click at the other end of the pitch, where Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette scored their first goals of the season and produced some lovely link-up play, in particular with the way they combined for Arsenal’s second. Shkodran Mustafi got Arsenal’s other goal with a thunderous header from a set piece, to set the tone for one of those games when the art of defending seemed to go out of the window.

Although Cardiff never pressed the self-destruct button in the same way that Arsenal did by repeatedly trying to play out from the back, Neil Warnock was left to rue the goals they conceded. Sol Bamba allowed Mustafi to get away from him for the first and gave Lacazette too much room to thump home the third. Although Aubameyang’s goal in between those two was a beautifully placed shot, Sean Morrison may well reflect that he could have done more to close the forward down.

Generally, though, there was plenty of encouragement for Cardiff to take from a match in which they twice came from behind to peg Arsenal back. Warnock told his players he “didn’t want to park the bus” and that approach came close to paying off as Danny Ward scored Cardiff’s second with an excellent header and Bobby Reid, his strike partner, stretched Arsenal with his pace.

Cardiff, though, were also helped by the sight of Cech panicking within 30 seconds of the kick-off as he got in a tangle dealing with a backpass. There was another awkward moment for him to endure before a calamitous error in the seventh minute when he passed the ball straight to Harry Arter. The Cardiff midfielder blazed profligately over the bar but Cech’s unease was obvious to everyone in the stadium. “We had to get the crowd going and that’s how we did it,” Warnock said.

Play Video 0:59 Cardiff's Neil Warnock after 3-2 loss to Arsenal: 'I don't want to park the bus' – video

Emery tried to encourage Cech in the moments afterwards but it is hard to escape the feeling that his tactics are an accident waiting to happen with the former Chelsea player in goal. “He has experience. He is intelligent. He is doing like we want to do, to adapt,” Arsenal’s manager said. “If you play every time long balls, you’ve lost your personality. We take in this moment in the match a little risk but, when you break their pressing, you can find space for attacking the opposition.”

Mustafi’s bullet header from Granit Xhaka’s corner five minutes later was just what Arsenal needed but they failed to build on that lead. Although Lacazette hit the post, Cardiff responded well to going behind and got their reward on the stroke of half-time. Xhaka carelessly gave away possession with a wayward pass and there was an alarming lack of conviction from the Arsenal defence when it came to dealing with Joe Bennett’s cross, leaving Victor Camarasa free to thump home at the far post.

Arsenal then restored their advantage with the goal of the game. Mesut Özil, returning to the starting lineup, threaded a pass into the feet of Lacazette, whose clever flick found Aubameyang. With Morrison retreating, Aubameyang shifted the ball on to his right foot and curled a splendid shot into the corner from 18 yards.

Arsenal being Arsenal there was always likely to be another twist and so it proved. Bennett’s free-kick picked out Morrison, who towered above Ramsey to nod across goal for the unmarked Ward to send a superb header in off the post. Arsenal, to their credit, responded again. Lucas Torreira, who impressed as a second-half substitute, released Lacazette and the Frenchman thrashed a rising shot inside the near post. Morrison then squandered an opportunity to equalise at the end, when he headed over after Cech had gone walkabout. It was that sort of day.