Not for the first time this season, Unai Emery made the first move an hour before the match had begun. If the Arsenal head coach has shown one thing since arriving in north London, it is that he is not afraid to make bold decisions, and here was another one: Mesut Ozil had been dropped to the bench, and Arsenal were going to play with a back three.

It was only the second time that Emery has so drastically changed his shape this season. The first was away to Qarabag in the Europa League, and the experiment was abandoned after 45 minutes, seemingly written off as an error that would not be repeated.

Yet here we were again, against an energetic and organised Bournemouth side that would provide far more of a test than Qarabag. This was a risk, then, but it led to great reward for Emery and Arsenal, who scored two goals that provided obvious vindication for the reshuffle.

Both of their strikes, an spectacular own goal from Jefferson Lerma and a poacher’s finish from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, were the result of Emery's new shape. Both were created by Alex Iwobi and Sead Kolasinac, the two players who benefited most clearly from the change of system.