Odegaard's masterclass puts Jesus' absence in distant memory as Gunners gun down West Ham 

The story of how Arsenal dealt with the loss of Gabriel Jesus, how the centre forward’s injury forged or broke their unlikely title chase, will not be written in one night.

For now, all we can say is that one team’s obstacle can also be one man’s opportunity, and on a cold, crisp evening Eddie Nketiah took his chance. 

From being the butt of the crowd’s frustrations in the first half, the understudy played a fine game and scored a lovely goal to warm the cockles of Arsène Wenger, who was watching in person for the first time since he left the club in 2018.

By the end, the absence of Jesus had been forgotten and the fans were serenading their spiritual father, watching on in the gods.

Such a lofty vantage is now the privilege of the team he bequeathed. Arsenal now have a seven-point lead and at times they played football worthy of it here: slick and balanced, dominant in possession and territory, and lubricated by the midfield mastery of Martin Odegaard, whose light grip on the reins of the game and subtle craft in tight spaces was a sheer pleasure to watch. It was a performance to delight a purveyor of champagne football.

“He picked the right moment,” Mikel Arteta said of Wenger’s return. “I thought the performance today was at the level he deserved.”

Six weeks is a long time for a team to lie dormant but with less than five minutes played Arsenal had already shaken off the rust.

William Saliba stepped authoritatively in front of Michail Antonio, Odegaard slipped a clever reverse pass to Nketiah, who back-heeled it to Bukayo Saka and the winger lashed the ball in, high at the near post. But Nketiah was offside from the faintest brush off Saka’s heel in the build-up.

Arsenal were dominant in the early stages, Odegaard controlling their best moves with the sleight of a puppeteer. He played a lovely pass to Granit Xhaka, who stepped across Craig Dawson before striking a low shot which was held easily enough by Lukasz Fabianski. Then Saka’s far-post knockdown set up Odegaard, who couldn’t finish from a tight angle.

West Ham United had posed a threat on the break and against the run of play they won a penalty. Vladimir Coufal played a long ball forward and Antonio nudged it into the path of Jarrod Bowen.

Saliba got himself into an awkward position behind Bowen, with not as much cover as he had hoped, and rashly lunged into a tackle. The contact was slight, but enough to knock Bowen off his stride, and the decision was fair. Saïd Benrahma fired the spot kick down the middle.

Arsenal came straight back and having got on the end of a pass into the box, Nketiah tried to flick the ball over a defender and tee up Saka, but his pass was underhit.

A penalty snatched away, just before half-time, added to the nervous tension in the stands.

Odegaard struck a curling shot from outside the area and Aaron Cresswell, in its path, had his arms framing his face at awkward angles, like a figure in a Cubist portrait. Michael Oliver pointed to the spot but the defender had blocked the ball with his head and the penalty award was overturned.

Then Ramsdale’s quick release turned a defensive corner into an attacking launchpad: his clever roll-out released Nketiah, who was suddenly leading a two-on-two, with Saka to his right.

He couldn’t quite thread the pass through to him, and the chance was lost. Arsenal were piling on the pressure, and Saka’s far-post knockdown set up Odegaard , who couldn’t finish from a tight angle.

But West Ham had posed a threat on the break, and against the run of play they won a penalty. Vladimir Coufal played a long ball forward, Antonio flicked it into the path of Bowen and Saliba – such an impressive figure in the first part of the season – got himself in a tangle, not sure whether to commit or stand off.

In the end he found himself behind Bowen, with not as much cover behind him as he’d hoped, and made the rash decision to dive into a lunging tackle.

The contact was slight, but enough to knock Bowen off his stride, and the decision was fair. Saïd Benrahma fired the spot-kick down the middle.

Nketiah was finding himself the butt of the crowd’s frustrations. Having got on the end of a pass into the box, he tried to flick the ball over a defender and tee up Saka, but his pass was underhit, allowing a defender to swoop in and eliciting groans from the stands.

Just before half-time, Arsenal thought they had a lifeline. Odegaard struck a curling shot from outside the area, and Aaron Cresswell had his arms up at awkward angles. Michael Oliver pointed to the spot, but the defender had blocked the ball with his head, and the decision was overturned.

But Arsenal kept up the pressure after the interval. Thomas Partey forced Fabianski into a sprawling stop. With a dash of good fortune, the home side got the swift equaliser they were looking for. Odegaard’s shot lacked venom but became a deadly pass when controlled by Saka, who was being played onside by Coufal, standing a yard too deep.

The winger passed the ball into the corner of the net with minimal fuss.

Arsenal sensed the momentum shift and turned up their intent and aggression. Within minutes, they were rewarded. Declan Rice was outmuscled by Saka. He passed to Xhaka, who had Gabriel Martinelli steaming up on his outside and slipped him a pass which allowed him to coast past Coufal.

Fabianski had left a gap at his near post and Martinelli found it with a low, hard shot which beat the goalkeeper’s outstretched foot. Wenger clapped and got to his feet. There was a hearty cheer when he appeared on the screen, followed by a chant of “There’s only one Arsène Wenger.”

Arsenal were being carried along by the atmosphere now and they soon gave themselves a measure of security with a lovely third.

Ben White stepped inside Benrahma and passed to Odegaard, who conveyed the ball to Nketiah with a finely angled glance.

The striker spun around the outside of Thilo Kehrer, a Bergkamp-esque move of artistry and economy, taking the defender out of the game without a touch, letting the ball do the work. His finish was superb, the shot rifled into the corner.

It was a move reminiscent of the frictionless beauty of Wenger’s finest work and, in the stands, the architect of Arsenal’s modern era smiled. The team that was his life’s project is in good hands.-THE TIMES