Manchester City are only two points ahead, there are six games remaining, but we know we have seen this movie before
At the final whistle the Emirates Stadium was already half empty, the home crowd streaming out into the Sunday gloom.
Mikel Arteta could be seen striding across the turf to applaud the empty pink-red seats, or at least those who had remained in theirs right to the end of an afternoon that had kicked off to raucous club anthems, tongues of fire on the touchline, choreographed victory-vibes.
