ARSENAL BARE THEIR TEETH AT LAST

OF all the mad moments in this weird and brilliant match, the craziest came just 30 seconds in. Petr Cech had almost made an alisson of himself and Unai Emery responded by clapping his approval and calling for more.

In the circumstances, it was rather like encouraging a reluctant old dog to repeatedly run across the M4 during rush hour. It seems like a matter of time before this new trick of playing out from the back goes horribly and cruelly wrong for Cech and the only wonder is that it did not happen here.

There is living dangerously and then there is living the arsenal way, which currently seems to involve the psychological torture of their 36-year- old goalkeeper who, for all his marvellous longevity at the top, is plainly uncomfortable playing to Emery’s brief.

It meant twice being perilously close to trouble inside the first 55 seconds and then duffing a pass straight to Harry arter in front of goal six minutes later. By then it was written all over Cech’s face — pure suffering, a legend who must know he has become a liability, in no small part because of the orders he is following.

But still Emery clapped, a thumbs up here, a nod there. He won’t change his style to suit his players; it will be his way or out, and so for Cech that will mean more trips across the highway.

Will he last much longer? at this rate, having also looked dicey against Manchester City, you have to be fearful for one of the finest keepers to play in the division, not least because arsenal have a £19.2million investment on their bench in Bernd Leno, who is known to be handy with his feet.

So, the end might be nigh, regardless of what support Emery offers publicly for now. Indeed, it is easy to be sympathetic when you are winning and, somehow, arsenal can lay claim to that status. But they won’t for long. Not like this. True, they have real talent and can configure exceptional attacks, but they surely cannot contend to be in the top four in May if their ups are pegged back by so many defensive downs.

This game was the ultra high definition, volume-up-loud showcase of all that.

They defended like incompetents, they attacked magnificently. For that point, look at the goals once Shkodran Mustafi had put them in front with a thumping header from a corner on 12 minutes.

The first equaliser, scored by Victor Camarasa in first- half stoppage time, came from a combination of Granit Xhaka giving away possession in midfield, Mesut Ozil failing to track Joe Bennett and Nacho Monreal not getting close enough to Camarasa.

Pierre-Emerick aubameyang put arsenal back in front just after the hour with a lovely curler from the edge of the area, following a slick routine between Ozil and alexandre Lacazette in the build-up, before Danny Ward levelled after being given a free header from a set-piece. Sublime to the stupid.

But all’s well that ends well and up popped Lacazette, starting a game with aubameyang for the first time and scoring a winner that was outstanding; a thing of beauty, with one touch to control and another to batter the ball past Neil Etheridge at his near post.

and that is arsenal — style and questionable substance. It might just be the legacy of arsene Wenger’s latter years, but it is down to Emery that Cech is playing too far from his comfort zone, and by extension it is down to Emery that Cardiff had 14 chances in this match, having previously failed to score in three games.

It is also down to Emery to find a way to make Ozil bust a gut. He moved him out wide here and the German looked lost, particularly in the first half. He doesn’t press hard enough to merit a No 10 spot, but he needs to be more active if he is to even keep that place on the right, lest he be a £350,000-aweek white elephant.

Those are all jobs that Emery needs to address, because the fact of the matter is that Cardiff might have taken a point or more, had they used their chances better or defended a touch tighter, particularly for Mustafi’s goal, which came from a Xhaka corner.

How odd to see a Neil Warnock team concede in such a basic manner. But otherwise Cardiff were excellent. They pressed, they did the rough things well and also a few pretty things that they do not usually get credit for.

Having followed Warnock’s instruction to target Cech, they almost pulled off a heist. arsenal and their goalkeeper will not always get away with it.