There have been enough false dawns where Nicolas Pepe is concerned that it will always feels premature to view any moment as the one where he announced his arrival at Arsenal.
If in retrospect this does prove to be Pepe's 'big bang' then it will not be one soon forgotten by the Emirates Stadium.
His delicate cross to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang broke Newcastle's hard-won deadlock early in the second period. Moments later he was on hand to ensure Bukayo Saka's brilliant dart down the left did not go to waste, converting smartly from the edge of the six yard box.
Arsenal have always been insistent that the £72million they paid for Pepe shouldn't define expectations but when you are among the 20 most expensive players in your sport's history there will be an expectation that in decisive moments you make decisive contributions. Indisputably the Ivorian did that again today.
Pepe 'moments' are now a monthly occurence. Early in December he struck at a vital moment against West Ham. A few weeks' later he relished in torturing Luke Shaw, scoring and doing so much more in what should have been a momentous victory over Manchester United.
It came amid a six game run that remains his longest stretch of starts since his £72million move but it didn't presage a run of goals that would offer an irresistible case to Mikel Arteta. Instead Gabriel Martinelli hit a hot streak that meant on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's return from suspension Pepe was the natural fall guy.
Even Arteta noted before the visit of Newcastle that what Pepe needed most was a run of 12 or 15 games "which is a massive thing for a player in those positions which are more difficult on the pitch to make an impact in games."
Yet when Pepe's end product was so inconsistent how could Arteta justify giving him that, particularly with Martinelli making such a convincing case as an alternative?
Pepe might point to a number of mitigating circumstances, not least the inconsistency of the partnerships around him. A litany of right-backs have been deployed behind him, some (Calum Chambers) favoured for their defensive acumen whilst others (Ainsley Maitland-Niles) were repurposed as options who could add ballast in midfield.
This was just the third time he has shared the pitch with Hector Bellerin but already there are signs of an effective partnership emerging when Arsenal are on the attack, one that unleashes the best version of each player.
For Bellerin that means driving to the byline with abandon, freeing Pepe to cut onto his deadly left foot. The 24-year-old has been doing plenty of that so far this season but there is a dramatic difference when he has a dangerous, dynamic right-back on his outside.
Too often Pepe has cut inside to find few options around him - moving into traffic he has put himself in a position where there are few options for him beyond hitting and hoping. His pre-Newcastle shot map shows just as much, too often he has been hitting and hoping from range. He may have a wicked left foot but simple mathematics is not on his side when he continually lets fly from way out.
There were flashes of that same wastefulness in good positions in an infuriating first half for Arsenal. Twice in the first half he drifted infield opened his body and let fly at goal. These efforts were spectacular, the latter sending Martin Dubravka diving for his crossbar just in case.
Recent history has taught us Pepe certainly can hit them from there - Vitoria Guimaraes would attest as much - but it is not an effective strategy for making a consistent impact on the scoresheet.
Not least because Pepe can do so much more. Cutting infield need not lead to a wild strike on goal. With Allan Saint-Maximin and Danny Rose blocking his path in the 54th minute we instead saw the arrowing delivery that he often deploys from corners, this time his lofted delivery finding that most precious of commodities in a Newcastle penalty area, space that was not occupied by a defender.
It was perhaps the first attack where there was little Newcastle could do little to defend and it did not ask too much of Aubameyang.
The goal to go with Pepe's two assists - he would wrap up the rout with a smart pass to Alexandre Lacazette when others might have curled an effort at the far post - was something we have seen before with Pepe, an intelligent run in front of a retreating defence to pick up a cutback from the full-back.
The first of these goals comes from today's win, the second from the 2-0 victory over Manchester United on New Year's Day. With both teams clad in black you would do well to tell them apart.
That is the Pepe Arteta will want to see, not the one letting fly whenever he gets a sight of goal. Certainly his head coach was impressed with the progress that he made even if the message remains the same, that these performances must come on a regular basis.
"We just need consistency from him," Arteta said. "For wide players and talented players up front in this league it isn't easy because this is the most difficult thing to do - to create things - but (there are) certain things with Nico that he needs to maintain game by game.
"He knows that, he's trying, the way he applied himself defensively as well in a few moments was top drawer - things that he wasn't doing in the past - and when he does that, after the rewards in the other box come and he made the difference today."
That consistency might be coming. At the very least Pepe's flashes of brilliance are happening with encouraging regularity, not yet week in, week out but on three occasions since Unai Emery's departure he has been Arsenal's match-winner.
This may not be the day that everything came together for Pepe but at the very least it is a step in the right direction for a player of beguiling promise.
