This time nobody could bear to see the back of Granit Xhaka. “We want you to stay,” sang the Emirates Stadium crowd as he walked off 15 minutes from time, the serenade lengthy and heartfelt. They knew that would not be possible and, in the near future, the object of their affection will sign for Bayer Leverkusen; a better redemption arc would be hard to find, though, and the contrast with that bitter, acrimonious trudge from the same pitch in October 2019 must surely have run through Xhaka’s mind.
The fairytale sign-off had already come. Xhaka had never scored twice in a game for Arsenal but managed that within 14 minutes to his own mixture of delight and amusement. When a loose ball bounced his way in front of goal shortly after the half-hour, the likely outcome seemed too good to be true. It was a glorious chance for Xhaka to leave with an improbable hat-trick but he fluffed the effort and, where such a mishap would once have met jeers, the chuckles were generous. Arsenal’s supporters learned to embrace their midfielder in the end, warts and all.
It will not be lost on them that Xhaka’s rehabilitation has occurred in tandem with that of their club. Handed a microphone on the pitch afterwards, Mikel Arteta waited for the songs hailing his revolution to quieten and thanked the faithful for their patience. “We know our destination is to bring success, joy and trophies to this club, but in the meantime please enjoy the journey,” he told them.
Having swallowed the disappointment of failing to sweep all before them this time, they played several of the hits that propelled them to title contention for so long.
Once Xhaka’s scoring farewell had been ticked off the obvious remaining cherry was a goal for Bukayo Saka, whose new contract was confirmed on Tuesday. There is no other 21-year-old in the division with such a suite of skills and he showed it by converting the sublime third in a rout, capping a four-man move with a whipped finish beyond José Sá. The game was won by half-time and Arsenal could enjoy themselves thoroughly.
Poker-faced to the last, Arteta would not directly feed the hunger for parting tributes to Xhaka. “Do you know that? It’s news to me,” he said when the imminent transfer was raised. Somebody should probably show him the valedictory post Xhaka had published on social media earlier in the weekend.
But he recalled how, a year ago, he had told the player: “There’s a question mark on you.” Back then he urged Xhaka, who lost 4kg between his manager’s challenge and the start of pre-season, to deliver more and was rewarded by the best year of his career. “Well deserved, he had an incredible season,” he said of the fans’ ovation.
The opener came after Xhaka took up the kind of position he has occupied frequently since August, making a late run and planting his head on Gabriel Jesus’s cross from the right byline. The net rippled, via the flailing hand of Sá, and the scorer saluted his public. It was two almost instantly, a one-two between Saka and Martin Ødegaard not quite coming off but seeing the ball deflect kindly for Xhaka, again lurking with intent, to sidefoot in.
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Wolves’ appetite to make it a contest evaporated immediately and Saka, who had taken his customary early whack and would depart in discomfort after an hour, capitalised fully. He checked inside Max Kilman before finishing emphatically with his left foot; Thomas Partey, Leandro Trossard and Ødegaard had all been involved in working the ball to his favoured inside-right area.
After half-time Ødegaard impishly ran through the full array of party tricks and Jesus, with a carbon copy of Xhaka’s first, powered in a header from Trossard’s delivery. Jakub Kiwior was an unlikely candidate to round things off but, after some characteristically slipshod Wolves defending, his first-time shot squirmed through Sá. Arsenal could have added more but this was a fine way to rinse out the taste of a grim previous fortnight.
There was little for Julen Lopetegui, whose future at Wolves is in doubt, to enjoy in watching his disjointed clump of individuals be swept aside. He pointed out their objective of safety had already been reached but was tight-lipped about his own prospects. “I have a contract, I am always positive,” he said. “When we have a problem I want to solve this problem.”
Arteta’s concerns are different. “I need to get away, I need a few days with my family,” he said. “To visualise and feel what is going to be the way and how we’re going to get these players to a different level again.” Xhaka will not be one of them, but what was for so long a white-knuckle ride ended as a joyful carnival parade.
