It was the sort of night where Arsenal might well have wished to escape the scene of the crime as quickly as possible.
Few if any players had impressed in the 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United, the manager was taking pelters on social media and the rest of the club staff would have wanted nothing more than to get back to London as soon as possible.
But Edu was not so keen to disappear into the night. A quarter of an hour or perhaps more before the team bus was due to depart Arsenal's technical director made his way out of the player's entrance at Bramall Lane to be surrounded by dozens of supporters who had made the lengthy journey up to Yorkshire.
No doubt he felt it was the least he could do to stop and thank them for their supporter. One after another after another.
And so when Unai Emery made his way to the team bus after a draining night of media engagements there was still one man that kept Arsenal waiting. Edu was still posing for selfies with supporters and chatting with an enraptured throng.
It was of course a moment of minimal importance in the passage of a season. It will not define his success as a technical director. It was only 15 minutes. But it spoke volumes of a man who is determined to represent Arsenal in the right way.
On a night of what felt like unrelenting frustration and negativity for those who had made the trip across the country Edu's presence and willingness to engage with them surely offered a silver lining on the black cloud of the defeat at Bramall Lane.
