Like high-speed trains passing each other in the winter rain, Norwich City and Arsenal are two sides moving quickly in opposite directions. The contrast in quality, imagination and execution was there for all to see at Carrow Road, where a depleted Norwich looked as doomed to relegation as at any point of this turbulent season. 

Arsenal, by contrast, strengthened their hold on fourth place with their most commanding display of the campaign. Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were the standout players of the game, buzzing around the opposition half, creating chances and generally shining a light on the numerous deficiencies and weaknesses in this Norwich team. 

Saka scored two, joining Kieran Tierney, Alexandre Lacazette and Emile Smith Rowe on the scoresheet, and Odegaard assisted two on an afternoon that was rarely more taxing than a post-Christmas stroll for Mikel Arteta’s side. Norwich were jeered and mocked by their own supporters at times, such was their incompetence on the day, and Arsenal could have scored seven or eight if they had been more clinical. 

After going unbeaten throughout November, the dark days of December have been a source of considerable alarm for Dean Smith. The Norwich head coach is still getting to grips with this squad, and he was not helped here by various absentees, but the lack of any discernible plan was clearly a worry for the home supporters, who booed loudly at the end. “We have to be better than we were today,” said Smith. 

For Arsenal, this Boxing Day performance provided a reminder of how far they have come as a team in the past 12 months. A year ago, they started the day in 15th and with serious questions hanging over Arteta’s head. Now they are looking up the table for all the right reasons, with this young attack continuing to impress without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. In five games since he was stripped of the captaincy, Arsenal have scored 19 goals. 

It is also worth noting that Arsenal have won every game since Aubameyang’s ostracisation, with the team looking much more energetic and inventive without him. Odegaard, Saka and Lacazette all tore into Norwich here, exposing the opposition’s flaws with their speed of movement and thought. 

“We looked really sharp and committed,” said Arteta. “The amount of chances we created is pleasing. We go to every ground to try to impose our game, and today was a really good example of that.”