TOP GUNNER AUBAMEYANG OUT BUT ARSENAL STILL HAVE TOO MUCH FIREPOWER FOR SAINTS

Arsenal 3 Southampton 0

HE can’t find a net with a ball these days, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has no problem locating his foot with a bullet. Even when the games are easy, like this one, there is no let-up in Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s house of madness.

Arsenal don’t do conventional. They don’t do easy sailing, they do not do neat, linear graphs of progress and, it would seem, they don’t do sensible captaincy either. ‘I think we have been very consistent, that we have certain non-negotiables in the team that we have set ourselves as a club,’ said Arteta.

‘Certainly, it’s not an easy situation, a situation that we want our club captain to be in.’

When asked if Aubameyang would remain captain, Arteta said: ‘Let’s talk about the game guys. I try to explain what it was and I did it frankly, I’m not going to say anything else.

For all they don’t do, they did win here. And they won well. They faced compliant, freefalling opposition but they won well, even without the man who wears the armband.

What does the future hold for Aubameyang? Even without him, Arsenal flipped a switch and became rather irresistible, as is their habit against lesser lights.

In a sudden burst, they went from relying on Aaron Ramsdale to introducing fire.

Alexandre Lacazette, another striker heading towards the exit, opened the scoring after a nine-pass move, and Martin Odegaard made it 2-0 with a third goal in three games.

Gabriel headed in for 3-0 in the second half and by the close Arsenal had hit the post twice. They might have lost, which would have been a third in succession, but in the end it was big in their favour.