A year ago, Arsenal went into Boxing Day in 15th place and were flirting with a relegation scrap.
Twelve months later, Mikel Arteta’s men are fourth, hunting down a Champions League place and are bang in form after five straight wins in all competitions.
In truth, it was barely a test against a depleted Norwich City side where even the loud and loyal Carrow Road faithful appear to be resigned to their fate.
Norwich were woeful, they waved the white flag in the second half and were booed off at the final whistle. Sadly, it looks as if changing manager and bringing in Dean Smith has not made enough of a difference.
But Arsenal now look to be a team on the up, full of young players and potential with improvements to come when they will inevitably face more difficult days and opponents.
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Bukayo Saka is at the heart of Arsenal’s bright future and he was outstanding again at Carrow Road with two goals and a performance that will give Norwich’s on-loan full-back Brandon Williams nightmares.
Kieran Tierney, Alexandre Lacazette and Emile Smith-Rowe were also on target, Martin Odegaard provided two assists and Granit Xhaka was excellent alongside Thomas Partey as their midfield base.
Ben White slotted in seamlessly at right-back as Takehiro Tomiyasu became the fourth right back to test positive for Covid after Cedric Soares, Calum Chambers and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. That position has become something of a curse.
They kept another clean sheet, another goal rush boosted their goal difference and, from a few weeks ago when it was hard to believe they could finish in the top four, they now look a genuine bet to get into the Champions League for the first time since 2016.
Arteta has found a nice balance, a winning formula and some much-needed consistency to see them through on a wet, drizzly and chilly afternoon where weaker Arsenal teams have slipped up in the past.
It is an exciting 2022 ahead for Arteta and his team and there is enough depth to cope with potentially losing Partey to the African Nations Cup while Smith-Rowe has lost his starting berth to Odegaard who has been excellent in the past month.
Odegaard provided the assist for Arsenal’s first on just six minutes after Tierney, Gabriel Martinelli and Lacazette combined nicely before Saka was given too much space to cut inside the box and shot low past Norwich keeper Angus Gunn.
Gunn was making his first Premier League appearance since October 2019 when he let in nine goals when Leicester thrashed Southampton. He was viewed as a big prospect but desperately needs to get some confidence back with Tim Krul now out with Covid.
Arsenal could have easily scored more goals before finally making it 2-0 a minute before half time as they completely dominated. Przemyslaw Placheta was sloppy in midfield, Martinelli closed down and Odegaard sent Tierney scampering down the left.
Tierney hit a terrific low shot which flew past Gunn and went in off the far post.
Norwich tried to summon some fight but Arsenal’s third after 67 minutes meant there was no way back. Lacazette’s pass set up Saka who turned Williams again and then fired into the far corner in a carbon copy of the first.
It got worse for Norwich in the closing stages. Ozan Kabak brought down Lacazette who stepped up to convert the penalty.
Then Arsenal got a fifth in injury time when Nicolas Pepe’s cross found fellow substitute Smith-Rowe and his goal survived a lengthy VAR check to compound Norwich’s agony.
