Arsène Wenger’s gift arrives wrapped in a majestic Arsenal first half | Barney Ronay
The Premier League does not do anniversary awards. But if it did, Arsenal could have designed this defeat of Chelsea as a perfect homage to their managerClose your eyes, Arsène. Now … Open them. Happy 20th anniversary! Yes, that’s right. It’s exactly what you’ve always wanted. For one perfect half at the Emirates Arsenal produced something sublime, 45 minutes that contained pretty much the full set of Wenger-isms entwined in a relentless performance of sinuous passing football.This was Wengerball in excelsis on a muggy, grey north London late afternoon, the footballing equivalent of one of those Evening-With-Ronnie-Corbett-style affairs, where some garlanded old ham gets to stand centre-stage and beam munificently while his favourite anecdotes, his most wonderful personal qualities are...