It became more baffling as this game wore on how it had taken until late October for Arsenal to field Alexandre Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil at the same time.
The trio did not just make their first start together in this demolition of Everton. Until Sunday, they had not spent a single minute on the pitch as the attacking triumvirate manager Arsene Wenger surely envisaged in August, at least until the late dash to replace Sanchez with Thomas Lemar.
Of course, Everton were complicit in defeat — to the extent Ronald Koeman faces heightened pressure to retain his job — but this was nevertheless a hugely impressive performance from a team who had scored just one Premier League goal on the road all season before this.
Lacazette’s mobility and movement stretched Everton’s defence to create space for Sanchez and Ozil to cause havoc. Ozil, in particular, excelled.
It was apt that the trio combined for the two goals after Nacho Monreal had cancelled out Wayne Rooney’s 12th-minute opener, the striker turning back the clock 15 years at the same end of this famous old ground where he scored his first League goal against the same opposition.
Lacazette helped Arsenal’s transition on the counter-attack quickly before finding Sanchez on the left wing. He cut inside on his right foot and delivered a pinpoint cross which Ozil steered past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Idrissa Gana Gueye’s 68th-minute dismissal following a second yellow card for a late tackle on Granit Xhaka only exposed Everton further and, six minutes later, Sanchez released Ozil who found Lacazette in the box and the £52.7million club-record signing beat Pickford in clinical fashion.
As Aaron Ramsey and Sanchez scored either side of Oumar Niasse’s consolation, Arsenal looked almost unidentifiable from the team who had struggled for cohesion and confidence on their travels. There were more shots on target (10) before half-time in this game than any other Premier League match all season and when it was relayed to Wenger by a staff member in the tunnel ahead of his media commitments that his team had 28 efforts on goal, he smiled in approval.
Sanchez’s late return from the Confederations Cup, in addition to Ozil’s injury problems, have restricted Wenger’s ability to select his holy trinity at times but there have still been occasions when he has looked to shoehorn Danny Welbeck or Alex Iwobi into the team.
Surely here at Goodison Park he has seen the light. Lacazette, Sanchez and Ozil are among the most devastating forward lines in the division when they play like this and more game-time together should only see them improve.
The question then becomes: how long will it last? There has been a suspicion Wenger has been rotating Ozil and Sanchez with greater frequency, perhaps to prepare the team for life without them.
That could come as soon as January, with speculation persisting that Sanchez could join Manchester City and Ozil continually linked to United or Inter Milan.
Wenger will hope being part of performances like this may convince at least one of them to sign a new contract. If not, Arsenal fans may just have to enjoy this while it lasts.