Ahead of a busy April for Arsenal, this is just what Mikel Arteta would have wanted: a win, top spot in the Premier League and a rare rest for many of his players.
It was a straight-forward night for the Gunners, who never really looked flustered on their way to a routine 2-0 win.
Luton, who are in the middle of an injury crisis that saw them without 11 players for this game, tried their best to put up a fight.
But once Martin Odegaard opened the scoring midway through the first-half, this was only going to end one way.
Arteta gets to rotate ahead of a busy month
Arteta was always going to make changes for this game, but few predicted it would be this many.
In total, there were five changes from the team who drew at the Etihad on Sunday and clearly Arteta had one eye on a packed April.
Arsenal will have eight games this month - and that could rise to nine if they get past Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Luton at home always felt like a game where players could be rested and so it proved, with Bukayo Saka even left out of the squad completely. In the end, it worked well for Arteta, with Arsenal cruising to a comfortable win on a night when they were rarely troubled.
Given the Gunners faded at the end of last season, and made fewer changes than any other team in the League, nights like this could prove decisive this time around.
Smith Rowe catches eye in rare start
It has not been an easy season for Emile Smith Rowe.
Injuries have, once again, disrupted the midfielder and when fit he has still found chances to shine hard to come by. He was handed one here against Luton and the 23-year-old took full advantage of it.
Smith Rowe was bright and sharp, particularly out of position, and he had a big hand in both of Arsenal’s opening goals.
For the first, he won the ball in midfield before setting Odegaard and Kai Havertz on their way. For the second, Smith Rowe made a smart run in behind and, when Leandro Trossard picked him out, his cut-back was turned home by Luton defender Daiki Hashioka.
It has been a tough season for Smith Rowe, but he will hope this could be the start of a happy end to it. On the evidence of this performance, it feels like he could have an impact during the run-in.
Odegaard runs the show in new-look midfield
Given the changes he made, Arteta needed someone to knit everything together - and Odegaard did the honours. The Norwegian excelled in the middle of the park and opened the scoring with a well-taken goal.
It all started with Smith Rowe winning the ball but, once given it, Odegaard combined superbly with Havertz and finished first time into the bottom corner.
That was just what Arsenal needed after an opening 20 minutes where they had lacked a bit of cohesion. Odegaard grew into the game and that helped the Gunners settle.
His connection with Smith Rowe was promising and on more than one occasion they combined well.
