Arsenal Football Newsletter
April has come and gone and with it, on this evidence, the crippling tension that has so often hung over Arsenal this season.
Mikel Arteta's side cut loose in emphatic fashion, putting three past Fulham before half-time and cruising to a 3-0 win from there. Viktor Gyokeres scored a brace and got the assist for Bukayo Saka's finish too.
Arteta has never quite been able to crack April - it is by far the worst month for his managerial statistics.
May, though, has been a far happier time and the month has begun in perfect fashion this time too. Arsenal now sit six points clear of Manchester City, who do still have two games in hand.
This was the Gunners’ best performance in a long, long time and unsurprisingly it came with Saka back on the pitch, Eberechi Eze up to full fitness again and the likes of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Riccardo Calafiori bringing far more unpredictability.
Confidence counts for a lot at this time of the season and Arsenal suddenly have plenty of it.
Perfect tune-up for Atletico
The half-time whistle was greeted with the kind of roar and unbridled release of joy you would normally expect to be reserved for a goal.
Arsenal had been sensational. Gyokeres' hold-up play was on another level to what it has been for much of the season and it allowed the hosts to be far more forward-thinking.
Fulham were blown away and it left Arteta with a big decision at half time. Keep the foot to the floor in a title race that could be decided by goal difference or ease up ahead of Atletico Madrid's visit on Tuesday night?
Dream team: Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres
That Champions League semi-final second leg won the battle. Saka was replaced at the intrerval, protecting him after his recent Achilles injury.
Declan Rice and Gyokeres, who had a chance to complete his hat-trick before that, were withdrawn 20 minutes into the second period and Eze then followed them off.
Arsenal cruised through the second 45 minutes in first gear, exerting no huge physical or emotional effort.
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Arteta could not make 11 changes to his starting lineup, like Diego Simeone did for Atletico on Saturday, but this was the next best thing.
Saka transforms Arsenal attack
For all the talk of how Arteta can get more out of Arsenal in the final third and the tactical tweaks required, simply having his best player available proved effective enough.
Saka made his first start since the Carabao Cup final defeat and looked near enough straight back to his best. He was unplayable.
The winger was only on the pitch for 45 minutes but got a goal, an assist, and created four chances. Across the whole match, no other player created more than two.
Saka and Gyokeres have not had a relationship on the pitch that has looked hugely natural for much of the season but this was a hugely encouraging evening.
Saka sat Raul Jimenez down with a lovely chop and then fired the ball across the face of goal, a cross that was read by the Sweden international to tap in. The striker returned the favour when flicking a pass inside for Saka to hammer in at the near post.
Arsenal have just three league matches remaining and potentially two in the Champions League. They need Saka starting each and every one of them. In this form, he can fire them to major silverware.
Lewis-Skelly grabs his chance
What a time this was for Arteta to hand Lewis-Skelly his first start in midfield.
The 19-year-old has barely featured in the Premier League this season but at the biggest moment of the campaign, in he came.
Arteta was rewarded with a brilliant performance. Lewis-Skelly's composure in tight areas - whether it be turning out of trouble or winning a free-kick - brought so much more security to Arsenal's play in midfield.
In the first-half, Lewis-Skelly won six of his seven duels and was fouled three times. He also created a chance for Leandro Trossard.
It was particularly impressive that Lewis-Skelly was able to play the full 90 minutes and look sharp even in the closing stages, considering the limited football he has had in recent months.
There are legitimate questions to ask of Arteta as to why he has been so reluctant to play Lewis-Skelly in midfield up to this point, to the extent Martin Zubimendi has been run into the ground this season.
On this evidence, Lewis-Skelly's first start in the engine room for Arsenal will certainly not be his last.