10 Things We Learned From The English Premier League Football Weekend (23-25 Sept 2017)
1. Pencil In St. Totteringham's Day
Arsenal laboured to a 2-0 win over West Brom in what was, in a word, an atypical performance - the second in as many weeks, ironically enough.
The Baggies failed to heed the warning fired by Alexis Sanchez and his dangerous set piece delivery; having narrowly missed a free kick attempt early in the first half, he assisted Alexandre Lacazette's opener with a devastating delivery, which Ben Foster could only palm out. This is why clubs - right-thinking ones, anyway - fork out extortionate fees for recognised, excellent strikers. Lacazette demonstrated his striker's instinct by sensing the opportunity and converting it. West Brom had several chances to make up the deficit - the best of which saw Nacho Monreal somehow contrive to not score an own goal with a sensational goal line clearance - but were unable to capitalise.
There was no trademark intricate shoelace pattern build-up play for Arsenal's second; a clumsy challenge on Aaron Ramsey allowed Lacazette to coolly dispatch the resultant penalty. For a side supposedly defined by a mental fragility, this was a performance of not inconsiderable steel.
If the old cliche rings true, and that good home form dictates the success of any given season - not strictly true, given Newcastle United's nervy St. James' Park showings last year - then ring the bells for St. Totteringham's Day.