The first corner of the match was greeted with a clenched fist. Not by Sheffield United, who had won it thanks to an admirably adventurous start, but by Unai Emery. The Arsenal head coach was making a clear gesture to his players: be strong, be tough, stand tall.

On that occasion, after just a few minutes of action, they did so. The ball was cleared, Arsenal survived. Around half an hour later, though, the response to another left-wing corner was far less resolute and far more of what we have come to expect from Arsenal in these types of matches. Jack O’Connell was allowed to head the ball down, Lys Mousset was allowed to prod it into the net. It was hard to tell what was more galling for the visitors: the nature of the goal itself, or the sheer predictability of it all. Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United are a long way from being the old-school, up-and-at-them long-ball merchants that have so troubled Arsenal in the past, but the setting made it feel like a familiar challenge.

Ever since he arrived in north London last year, Emery has been desperate to return a competitive edge to Arsenal. He wants them to be more resilient in these matches. But the unfortunate reality for Emery is that the old failings still linger at Arsenal, even if this is largely a different set of players to those who flaked so often under Arsene Wenger.