Walcott was not finished there as minutes later he received Gervinho’s pass and dummied his right foot shot much in the way his idol Thierry Henry did on so many occasions, his left footed curler look destined for the back of the net but for an amazing last ditch flying clearance from Russell Martin

Arsenal made it five straight wins on the trot in the league and eight undefeated in all competitions. Robin van Persie has scored ten goals in his last five league outings. However you display the stats, Arsenal’s form is simply outstanding right now. I had wondered how quickly the team could find its pre international fluidity. The truth is that it didn’t take any time at all. Barely two minutes had gone on the clock and Arsenal could have been 2-0 up. 

Theo Walcott had been freed down the right and with his confidence high, Theo had the presence of mind to look up and cut back to van Persie who was on the move inside the box but Robin could not get the required connection on the cross. Seconds later Gervinho wriggled his way into space and found Walcott in the box but his side footed shot was blocked.

Walcott was not finished there as minutes later he received Gervinho’s pass and dummied his right foot shot much in the way his idol Thierry Henry did on so many occasions, his left footed curler look destined for the back of the net but for an amazing last ditch flying clearance from Russell Martin who found himself in the right place at the right time on no less than three occasions.

Arsenal’s continued to create and subsequently miss chances. van Persie could have scored an early hat trick, Gervinho and Walcott were all guilty of failing to finish off moves until Per Mertesacker failed to deal with a routine long ball down the center, the flight of the ball seemed perfect for a cushioned header back to Szczesny but instead the experienced German delayed and Morison barged his way through to finish under the advancing Szczesny. There was certainly a case for the forward using illegal means to get past Mertesacker but he will need to deal with those situations much quicker in future.

While previous Arsenal sides may have dropped their heads, the goal conceded seemed to anger the team. We attacked with even greater purpose after that, Even Thomas Vermaelen joined the attacking play, often finding Theo Walcott with some great cross field passes.

Less than ten minutes later, Arsenal were level. Gervinho and van Persie worked the ball to Walcott on the right, a less confident Theo may have buried his head down and run into the fullback but Theo has had an uninterrupted run of games and his form is very much linked with that. He waited for Tierney to commit himself and just eased the ball around him one side and ran around the other, his low whipped cross was missed by Gervinho but a waiting van Persie was on hand to tap in from close range. The Theo/van Persie combination strikes yet again.

We did not ease off the gas and Gervinho had to efforts saved either side of the break. Ramsey who could have scored a hat trick if his team mates looked for one more pass at times during the game, got a chance of his own when Theo zipped down the right and crossed perfectly to the near post but Ramsey could not turn the ball in from a tight angle.

A minute later van Persie reminded everyone that being a gifted finisher wasn’t his only strength. He wriggled through a challenge on the edge of the box and his sliced reverse pass was reminiscent of Bergkamp in his prime, Gervinho’s superb diagonal run was found and he made the correct decision to waltz around Ruddy in goal but his finish let him down allowing Ruddy to save a shot that he shouldn’t have been able to.

It was quite amazing that the game was level at that point. Norwich were gifted a goal while Arsenal could have scored six by that point. On the hour mark Arsenal’s dominance finally counted. Russell Martin was caught on the half way line trying to bring the ball out and Alex Song picked up the pieces and strode forward, the pass to the left for Gervinho was the obvious choice but he instead opted to switch it right for van Persie, his usually assured first touch on his left foot let him down and the ball drifted on his right side going away from goal but van Persie being the exceptional talent that he is, produced a sumptuous right footed scoop over Ruddy. The ball ran away from his left foot but he found the solution.

It was the type of finish we expect from Messi on his stronger side but to finish like that on your weaker side at such a vital time in the game just shows what a player we have on our hands.

I really thought that Thomas Vermaelen came into his own after that. He attacked every cross with aggression and assurance. Everything thrown at us was repelled.

Grant Holt came on for the home side and tried to con the referee by sticking his leg into one of our defenders and falling over. Credit must go to Phil Dowd for not being conned. I gave him plenty of stick for his awful display against Newcastle last season but he had a good game yesterday.

It just shows how influential the referee can be. We deserved nothing but victory but a wrong blow of the whistle could have changed the whole outcome of the game.To avoid those situations we will have to be more clinical in front of goal, I guess that will come. Gervinho often being the most wasteful, yet he was a threat whenever in possession of the ball. His finishing and composure will improve with the more games he plays.

We held on and took home three much needed post international three points. The resurgence continues.

Man of the match: Theo Walcott