Wait. Is this a twist? Is this a sting, a surge, a volte-face? Or is it just how it feels to play Chelsea, opponents so poor they seemed at times to be indulging in a kind of protest activity, non-sport, football as an act of extended standing around waiting for it to be over.
It is a measure of Manchester City’s dominance that the last week has brought a peculiar feeling that Arsenal’s season is already over, despite still being top of the table. Here Arsenal went three points clear of Liverpool and four clear of City (who have two games in hand) with a performance that felt, if nothing else, like a kind of liberation.
