It took the combined efforts of two burly security men to bring William Gallas’s celebratory walk down the side of the East Stand touchline to a premature conclusion, but, given the abuse that he suffered on returning to his former club, he could be forgiven for milking every moment. If anything, the France defender’s mood will have improved further on returning to the dressing-room and hearing Arsène Wenger’s assessment of what he considered to be an outstanding individual performance.

Unusually for him, the Arsenal manager was guilty of overstatement. Gallas has endured some torrid times in the past fortnight, but this was a relatively comfortable afternoon, with the added height of Johan Djourou alongside him enabling Arsenal to deal with Chelsea’s misfiring forward line with ease.

Where Gallas did shine was in his show of character, keeping calm in the midst of extreme provocation to give composure and confidence to his less experienced team-mates. It appears to have taken the loss of the captain’s armband for him to begin leading by example.

“William was outstanding today,” Wenger said. “Absolutely amazing. He came out of that period with a lot of credit and his commitment is fantastic. He was outstanding today, just as he was against Dynamo Kiev. He shows he is a real fighter. Instead of giving up, he’s a fighter.”

Even the match-winner, Robin van Persie, who was believed to have been criticised by Gallas in that infamous interview, had praise for the former captain. “There’s no problem at all,” the Holland forward said. “He’s a respected colleague and a very good player. It’s not my day, it’s our day.”

Van Persie’s words are worth examining further as Wenger struggles to work out how a side who have beaten Manchester United and Chelsea in the past month could concede five goals without reply in the intervening matches against Aston Villa and Manchester City. This was a team performance, which has not always been the case for Arsenal this season. “It was as well a test of character,” Wenger said. “We came here with a needed level of confidence, but we showed from the start we have character. We were unlucky to be 1-0 down at half-time and our confidence showed in the second half.

“I’m very, very happy tonight. We’ve beaten Manchester United in a convincing way and Chelsea. Seven points \ is still far, but not impossible. I have an intelligent team, a talented one, but we want to come back tomorrow with humility.

“It is true that we have more regrets, but as well it shows we have the level needed to be there. It’s down to our desire to win now in the coming months. We’ve learnt we need that kind of focus in every game. It’s part of a learning process. You have to learn to win when you’re not completely on the edge.”

Arsenal have an early opportunity to demonstrate their desire when Wigan Athletic visit the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.