Arsenal failed to impress but Arteta has cleared the trickiest first hurdle of title contenders

There was a thought at times in the second part of last season, when the set-piece goals dried up, that Arsenal had become over-reliant on them.

- Jonathan Wilson

And perhaps that was true, but they're a useful weapon to have. Some games are won by overwhelming opponents through superior technical ability and some games are won by organisation and hard work, by finding a way to score and a way to keep their opponent out. Arsenal's 1-0 win at Old Trafford on Sunday was definitely one of the latter.

It's not that Arsenal were fortunate or that they somehow didn't deserve to win, if that is a concept with any meaning; rather it was the thought that against a more coherent or incisive side than United, they will need to play rather better. Winning without playing well, though, has not often been the Arsenal way recently; in that sense, there was perhaps encouragement to be drawn from the hard-earned nature of the three points.