Ozil winner brings

happy and silence all but his most rabid detractors. Yet Arsenal’s pursuit of that trophy-less prize looks flimsy this time, their chances of remaining a Champions League club slight. Wenger knows it and admitted he would have conceded the chase was over if his side had lost on Teesside.

With that in mind, this was an important win, their first three points on the road since January, but in the wider scheme of things, it felt largely pointless because, if Wenger stays, he will still defy rather than quell the rebellion.

Victory over a Middlesbrough team without a league win since before Christmas will not silence any critics for long. Boro give the impression relegation will not be a disaster. They are a team under Steve Agnew, given a short-term contract following the departure of Aitor Karanka last month, who have slipped quietly into the drop zone and appear to be heading back to the Championship with a shrug. Arsenal win games like this.

“It was a committed game we needed to win,” said Wenger. “We need to win every game to have a chance of finishing in the top four and that started tonight. The win will make the team a bit more serene, it will give us a bit more confidence. We had a bit of luck but overall I thought we were more solid defensively. We switched to the back three to cope with a direct game and I think it worked well in the first half. It shows that, even at