Despite earning all three points against Manchester United, Arsenal certainly didn’t find it easy at Old Trafford.
Riccardo Calafiori put Arsenal 1-0 up in the first half owing to a poor mistake by Altay Bayindir – a goalkeeper who is clearly inferior to David Raya.
And although Arsenal surrendered a lot of chances after taking the lead, their excellent backline was ultimately able to keep another clean sheet.
At the other end of the pitch, Viktor Gyokeres endured a mixed Arsenal debut.
There were some positives on show, but it’s also clear that the Swedish striker will take some time to get up to full speed.
And in that vein, Arsenal looked slightly off the pace across the park, which was probably a surprise to Mikel Arteta.
Nicklas Bendtner picks Martin Odegaard as one of Arsenal’s only positives
That being said, former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner delivered a pretty scathing assessment of his old team’s display when appearing on Stadium Astro after full-time.
Despite Arsenal winning 1-0 – a result which pleased Bendtner as a fan, the Dane wasn’t impressed with large parts of the Gunners’ display, ultimately concluding that only four players deserved credit.
Martin Odegaard during Arsenal vs Manchester United.
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
READ MORE: Riccardo Calafiori hopes Arsenal have now found ‘the secret’ to winning trophies this season
Bendtner explained: “I don’t think they were impressive at all, I think it comes down to Raya, the two centre-halves played a great match, Odegaard – lots and lots of energy.
“I think they are the four I would highlight, apart from that I don’t think Arsenal really gave it enough, they gave the ball away and in the second half they got completely run over.
“They should be happy with 1-0, I think United did a great job, put a lot of pressure on, and at the end of the day, a draw would have probably been fair but as a fan, I’m happy obviously that we nicked 1-0.
“I don’t remember seeing them play this bad, they didn’t keep the ball, they didn’t run for each other – they had a lot of energy, trying to get the ball back but I don’t think they succeeded as a team.”
Martin Zubimendi deserves plaudits for his Arsenal debut
Despite not being mentioned by Bendtner, Martin Zubimendi was also impressive on his full Arsenal debut.
Rio Ferdinand was impressed by Zubimendi in the middle, a player who he thought would be hugely beneficial to Declan Rice long-term.
And it was clear from the off at Old Trafford that Zubimendi is a winner – he’s the definition of an Arteta player.
The Spaniard has equal measures of skill, composure and dogged determination – there’s already similarities between how Zubimendi and Gabriel Magalhaes approach games.
And although Arsenal weren’t at their best, as Bendtner was happy to point out, there’s clearly fight in Arteta’s team, explaining why winning the Premier League remains a realistic proposition this term.