In a week when they have got little right, Arsenal at least found an appropriate way to lose. Bernd Leno could console himself that, in fumbling Richarlison’s cross over the line with 14 minutes left, he had not scored their most harmful own goal of the last five days but his error compounded a miserable night. Arsenal began with the cries of protesting fans wafting through the north London sky; they finished in the knowledge that the only way to leaven a summer of harsh reckonings will come through winning the Europa League next month.
That is, as recent actions have made perfectly clear, not the kind of continental competition for which the club’s owners feel it is fit. The Kroenkes might have hoped to see Mikel Arteta’s players lighten the mood; in fairness they did not deserve to lose and may not have done had VAR not made a futile bid for the headlines by denying them a penalty early in the second half. But Arsenal’s hierarchy cannot hide behind their team: it will no longer wash and the several thousand supporters who expressed their displeasure outside the Emirates either side of kick-off made the point emphatically.
