It may have only been 45 minutes for our German forward, it may have been a bit of a dead-rubber game and, heck, it may have been a clearly inferior opponent in bottom-of-the-Champions-League-table Kairat Almaty, but the one overriding thought that is clear this morning is Arsenal have missed Kai Havertz.
The directness – and his involvement – in the first goal was there within two minutes. His composed finish in that first half showed us even more how much we have missed him.
But domestically, when we've struggled, huffed and puffed for weeks, it does feel like a 'spark' is needed, for which Kai might have shown us he can deliver, albeit in a competition in which results-wise we've been flawless.
Arsenal did the job last night. There were good goals for some of the attacking players, but there was also some profligacy on show, so if I'm taking one real positive from an attacking point of view from yesterday, it is that I hope/believe the addition of Havertz into this attack will bolster the morale and confidence in this Arsenal team.
The question Arteta must wrangle with this morning – and will probably do so until kick-off on Saturday against Leeds – may well be “how much game time can I give a guy who has had the best part of a year out?”
I think he has to get some form of minutes now. We need that injection and my hope is that last night's game was used as the test-bed environment to start to up Havertz's game time.
At a critical inflection point in the season, in which Arsenal need to start getting three points on the board on a regular basis in the league, the ending of the Champions League league phase has hopefully provided the blueprint on how we do so.
Find more from Chris Howard at Suburban Goonersand the Same Old Arsenal Podcast
