The three most expensive players in Arsenal’s history started together for the first time since last season’s FA Cup final.
And yet, the main takeaway from this match was how important those academy graduates Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka have become to this club. Without those two, Arsenal fade.
Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe cost a combined £174.5million, with each commanding a club-record fee when they were signed in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Arsenal had gone 45 consecutive games without naming all three on the same team-sheet.