Five Key Takeaways after Eze's stunner sees Arsenal move four points clear 

Here's Gooner Fanzine's superb print columnist Charlie Ashmore with his must-read post-match take after Arsenal beat Palace 

1  - The ability (and need) to grind out results

Was this a convincing performance?  No. Too many mistakes – misplaced passes in particular – littered the game for it to come close to being an exhibition of the team at its best. 

Is that a problem?  No.  Every team will have days when things don’t quite work and all those details which on good days are observed and completed just aren’t respected.  It’s not a case of not trying, it just happens and it typically happens against opposition who make life as difficult as Palace did. 

The difference between perennial runners up and champions is that champions find a way and we just keep doing that. 

However hard it seemed against Palace, they didn’t really trouble us in a goalscoring threat sense.  Like a number of our games, the tension comes from holding a narrow lead and the knowledge that a single moment can undo that but time and again, opponents find themselves huffing and puffing but creating nothing as door after door is closed on their attacking ambitions. 

It’s not necessarily pretty at the moment but it is admirable and it is giving us a potential trophy winning foundation as others falter – how many times in the past seasons have we seen rivals slip up and then we fail to take advantage?  Not this season and the other results of the weekend make this result as much of a statement win as beating Liverpool or City would be.

2 - A moment of sheer quality makes the difference

Make no mistake, this was a tough fixture for us. 

Look at what Palace have been doing all season. They are an extremely well managed side, organised to the nth degree and they had a clear plan for stopping us from playing to our strengths. 

On days like that what you need is something special – something out of the ordinary to break their will. 

Eze will have been delighted to get off the mark in the League even if less so that his first victims were the club who gave him so much (albeit that he had himself given them  plenty in return).   

It was an outstanding finish and one which exhibited superb technique. To maintain his balance with both feet off the ground, to control the direction of the shot and to deliver the power that he did each take a high level of skill and to combine them is something only few players can do. 

A wonderful matchwinner.

3 - The stats are impressive

In the last four games, we have had a 24 point swing in our favour against Liverpool – we have picked up 12 points out of 12 while they have dropped 12 out of 12Just 4 shots on target conceded in the same four games is elite level defence (and I seriously question whether Palace did in fact have one – which would make it three and would mean no shots on target conceded in the last three games)

Only three goals conceded so far has us on course to be the best defence everIn our last four games we are 10 points better off than in the same games last season which is the surest sign of all that we are determined not to make the same mistakes that have cost us in previous seasons

We are top of the League by every defensive metric – clean sheets, goals conceded, shots against, shots on target against and expected goals against - with 11 set piece goals the most by any team

We also have the best disciplinary record with no red cards and just nine yellow cards

4 - A word about our full backs

Just how good are they? 

Jurrien Timber is playing at an unbelievable level currently keeping the excellent Ben White out of the side. Riccardo Calafiori is also having a stunning season so far, meaning Myles Lewis-Skelly has been kept out of the side – it was interesting to see him brought on in midfield. 

Many think that is where he will end up as his career progresses – that he can play in both positions and make them both look like his natural position is remarkable, especially at his age. 

In a way it is unfair to single out the full backs as there is excellence throughout the squad - but my goodness the strength in those two positions is ridiculous.

5 - It’s never too early to believe

What is particularly impressive about our start to this season is that we have taken on a touch run of fixtures, while bedding in a significant number of new signings and coping with a number of injuries and yet we are producing our best results in like for like fixtures. 

When I hear Liverpool fans telling me they are having to transition and bed in new players, I laugh. 

Of our outfield players five out of the 12 with the most PL minutes are new.  Their positions range from centre half, to defensive midfield, to winger to attacking midfield and striker.  So every part of the team.  And yet the results keep coming.  We will get better in an attacking sense. 

There is no reason why we won’t maintain our elite defensive level. 

I have said it before and I will say it again, I think the team that presents the biggest danger to us this season is….us. 

If we maintain our focus if we continue to ignore anything which gets in our way (be it off-field noise or on filed distractions such as bad decisions or injuries) there is no reason for this not to be our season.  Believe.

Read Charlie Ashmore's column in every print issue of the Gooner Fanzine. Buy our new issue here