Kai Havertz’s time at Arsenal has sparked into life - and how fitting the Vitality Stadium was the scene for it.
It was here around a year ago that William Saliba announced his arrival at Arsenal as the Gunners cruised to a 3-0 victory.
The Frenchman scored the third and his goal promoted the travelling fans to sing his name to the tune of ‘Tequila’ by The Champs.
On and on they went, singing long into the afternoon and all the way back to north London.
There was more than a hint of deja vu as history repeated itself on Saturday.
The Gunners won convincingly again, except this time it was 4-0 and another new player, Havertz, scoring the third and being welcomed into the Arsenal family.
His finish was nothing like the stunning curler that Saliba scored last season, as instead he slotted home a penalty after Bukayo Saka had given him the ball.
Nonetheless, it was a big moment for Havertz - who before this had failed to score or assist in his first nine games since moving to Arsenal from Chelsea for £65million.
His goal prompted wild scenes, far more than the 3-0 score deserved. The Arsenal players mobbed the German, hugging and bundling on top of him.
Havertz then made his way over to the away fans, who were a sea of limbs. As they calmed down, a song broke out and Havertz’s name was belted out to the tune of ‘Waka Waka’ by Shakira.
It was just as catchy as Saliba’s chant and, for the remaining 30 minutes or so, the fans continued to spontaneously burst into song. They did so again at the full-time whistle too.
After a tough start, this is just what Havertz needed. The monkey is off his back and you could almost see his shoulders visibility lift after the goal.
There is a long way to go for him, however at least now there is a sense he has a building block to start from.
Havertz’s goal capped off a comfortable afternoon for Arsenal, who were two goals to the good by half-time.
Saka tapped home a header from close range after Gabriel Jesus had the hit post, while Martin Odegaard scored a penalty.
The Gunners won the spot-kick after Eddie Nketiah was brought down following good play from the striker and Oleksandr Zinchenko out left.
Ahead of a big week for Arsenal, where they travel to Lens in the Champions League and host Manchester City in the Premier League, this was the perfect warm-up, with the only downer being Saka limping off with 15 minutes to play.
Arsenal and Arteta will hope he recovers quickly ahead of two crunch games.
