Despite their 2-1 defeat away at Brighton, Arsenal were in control for large portions of the game at the AMEX Stadium.
In possession, the sheer volume of attacking players worked especially well in creating goal-scoring chances which should have been taken. Particularly in the first half, the combinations between Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette work well carve the Seagulls open.
Since arriving at Arsenal in December, however, the way Mikel Arteta has tightened the Gunners defence, from a structural point of view, has been one of the highlights of his time in charge.
One of the main contributors to this change has been the urgency Arsenal defend with under him and without the voices of thousands of fans drowning out his voice, his barking off instructions were much clearer to hear from the press box.
More the case in the first half, the Spaniard could be heard orchestrating the press as the Gunners tried to hunt down their opposition.
Just as was the case in possession, it appeared the left flank were much better equip to meet these demands than those on the right due to the support further down the pitch. Saka was always willing to push forward as Aubameyang joined the first line of attack with Lacazette who was the main trigger for the press.
During this period, the trio were effective and received shouts of "Good! Good! Good!" from Arteta on the touchline after he had screamed at them to chase after the ball.
In the summer heat, however, this wasn't kept up for the entire game and Lacazette became visibly annoyed by the fact he was left to press on his own at times. The inability to sustain that intensity was prevalent early in Arteta's reign and may be difficult to fully capture with games being played so frequently for the remainder of the 2019/20 campaign.
Considering how Arsenal lost their sense of control in the game, Arteta admitted he faces an uphill battle to lift spirits before Southampton away.
"When you lose two games in a row the hardest thing is to lift the players up and believe again in what we're doing," he said in his post-match press conference.
"The context of the last game against City and this one is completely different and I'm more upset today because I know the accident that happened against City but the accident today was provoked by us and it's unacceptable.
