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Arsenal completely dismantled an out-of-sorts Norwich City, thumping them 4-0 at the Emirates to jump to seventh place in the Premier League.
A brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang either side of half-time, combined with goals from Granit Xhaka and debutant Cedric Soares steered the Gunners to an authoritative success.
Arsenal stuck with their team that beat Sheffield United and outplayed Norwich who did gift the Gunners two goals. The win was Arsenal's third consecutive victory in all competitions after a disastrous start to the league post lockdown, while it was also the joint-biggest win for Mikel Arteta as Arsenal boss.
On that note, we take a look at the major talking points from Arsenal's well-deserved victory over Norwich.
#1 Arteta's change in dynamic works for Arsenal
Following the win over Southampton in the Premier League, Mikel Arteta decided to alter his team's structure heading into the game against Norwich City.
He fielded a three-man backline just as he did in the 2-1 win against Sheffield United, aiming to stretch the Norwich backline and play around the spaces they left in the middle-third of the pitch.
That was exactly what happened, as Arsenal began the game at a frenetic pace, with the likes of Xhaka and Dani Ceballos playing the runners in with ease. Ceballos, finding himself in acres of space, lobbed the ball beautifully for Alexandre Lacazette to head straight to Tim Krul.
This shape allowed Arsenal to pervade the channels and put crosses in by outnumbering the yellow shirts on the flanks. It also offered a sense of stability to the backline, with three centre-halves manning the defensive third.
#2 Arsenal win the midfield battle early on
The primary reason behind the speed and urgency in the game was due to the porosity in midfield.
Arsenal did give away a few chances, despite being on the frontfoot. An instance of the same was when Arsenal's pressing system switched off when Ben Godfrey let fly from distance, only for his thunderous strike to be denied by the post.
The Gunners otherwise, shifted gears quite comfortably. The likes of Ceballos, Xhaka and an ever-so-willing Alexandre Lacazette outnumbered the Norwich midfield, courtesy of quick exchanges, progressive movement and the space created by the wing-backs on either flank.
It certainly did pay off, as Arsenal created chance after chance before finally breaching Krul's goal.
#3 Norwich only have themselves to blame, again
Two quick-fire goals from Arsenal changed the complexion of the game, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Granit Xhaka finding the back of the net.
Daniel Farke set his Norwich City side up in a compact manner, urging them to soak in the pressure and cutting the Gunners open on the counter. They were doing alright before Tim Krul decided to fake an onrushing Aubameyang but eventually made a fool out of himself.
The Canaries committed similar, unacceptable errors in their FA Cup loss to Manchester United. And they only had themselves to blame tonight for Xhaka's goal as well.
When Aubameyang was played in down the left-hand side, only Max Aarons was there around him. The youngster had no one in support, which in turn allowed the Gabonese to drift inside before picking out Xhaka. As for Norwich, absolutely no one tracked the midfielder or closed him down.
Norwich were on top of their game in the second-half as well but gifted Aubameyang another goal with a blind cross-pass across their defence.
#4 Norwich enter the game through change in formation
Norwich had to react after a demotivating first-half, and Farke decided to switch to a back three.
That certainly allowed the likes of Cantwell to drift into small pockets of space, drop deep and orchestrate the play. It worked wonders, with the hosts maintaining over 60% possession in the opening 20 minutes of the second-half.
Three changes were made as well, with Onel Hernandez, Josip Drmic and young Adam Idah coming on. It was a statement of intent from Farke who brought in three direct attack-minded players.
Idah threatened straightaway, forcing Emiliano Martinez into a save very early on. Hernadez ran at the Arsenal defence as well, often shifting to his favoured right foot before shooting.
Just when it looked like they were reassembling and gaining confidence, Aubameyang was played in by Norwich for the third goal.
#5 Dani Ceballos ran the show for Arsenal
He scored a winner in extra time against the Blades but bettered that performance against Norwich.
Dani Ceballos was the architect-in-chief for Arsenal. He brought everyone around him into play, linked up extremely well with Reiss Nelson and Alexandre Lacazette and played his teammates through on goal delightfully.
There were a couple of through balls played between the legs of Norwich players, while his awareness and cross-field switches were a treat to watch too.
Without the ball, Ceballos proved why he is so highly rated as a complete midfielder. The Real Madrid loanee won every duel, recovered possession and was defensively aware of what was around him.
Should he continue to show his quality consistently, there's no doubt that he would be one of the first names on the Arsenal team sheet.
