This was the first time Arsenal had faced Birmingham City since their game in February last year, when a tackle by Martin Taylor broke Eduardo da Silva’s leg and shredded the confidence of Arsène Wenger’s team. It should have been a postscript sort of anniversary.

Neither Eduardo nor Taylor featured on Saturday and both clubs have evolved. But that draw at St Andrew’s is like a recurring nightmare.

“Frankly atrocious,” was Wenger’s assessment of the chant that greeted a tough, but legal, tackle on Theo Walcott by Liam Ridgewell. The travelling supporters had sung: “There’s only one Martin Taylor.”

“They will not be remembered for the quality of their taste with that kind of remark,” Wenger said. “Eduardo was here. I don’t know how he felt about the chants. I just put that in the ranks of stupidity.”

But if the Birmingham fans want to raise the spectre of a match that prompted pundits to point to Arsenal’s fragility in the face of adversity, then it is worth highlighting that Wenger’s side appear remarkably cheerful for a team who have already lost twice this season.

They have scored 27 times in eight Barclays Premier League matches and the goals arrive from the likeliest and unlikeliest sources. Robin van Persie scored his fourth of the league campaign after controlling — with a classy hop, skip and jump — a ball from Alexandre Song, while Thomas Vermaelen, the centre half, is joint top scorer and roamed the pitch as if intent on auditioning for a midfield or off-striker role as well. Fifteen Arsenal players have scored in all competitions this season.

“That’s fantastic. It shows first that everybody goes forward and when everybody scores, the team has a good collective base,” Wenger said. “On a longer term, some will score more than others, but to know that everybody can score is fantastic.”

Arsenal, more than any side, look capable of always scoring more than the opposition. A smaller team visiting a “big four” club used to state that regardless of the result, they could take consolation if they had managed to breach the opposition defence. Nobody says that after a trip to the Emirates Stadium. It is not beating the Arsenal defence that matters, but stifling their fluid attacks on goal.

Arsenal had taken a two-goal lead by the eighteenth minute, with Abou Diaby adding to Van Persie’s opener by connecting with Tomas Rosicky’s ball across the face of goal.

An error from Vito Mannoneallowed Lee Bowyer to reply for Birmingham seven minutes before half-time. The crowd became jittery, as if a one-goal cushion was something to be ashamed about, but, despite some impressive grafting from the visiting team, Arsenal sealed victory when Andrey Arshavin calmly placed a shot past the excellent Joe Hart.

“They’re a beautiful footballing team,” Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, said of Arsenal. He was being watched by Carson Yeung, the new owner, who must realise that the £40 million he has pledged for new signings is not enough to secure anything half as beautiful.

McLeish said he has a list of dream signings, but in the meantime he has to make sure Birmingham are not sucked so far down the table that even modest new targets are deterred by the prospect of joining.

How does he do that? He needs to coax improved performances from, in particular, James McFadden and Cameron Jerome. “I threw the gauntlet down to the strikers, the McFaddens of this world,” McLeish said. “Cameron’s had experience in the Premier League and he’s now got to show that he’s a Premier League striker.”

Wenger, meanwhile, expressed sympathy for the plight of Liverpool and Chelsea, who suffered defeats away from home on Saturday. “We were lucky to play at home,” Wenger said. “After the last international break we lost at Manchester City. It’s difficult away from home.”

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): V Mannone 6 — E Eboué 6 (sub: J Wilshere, 90min), T Vermaelen 7, W Gallas 6, K Gibbs 6 — A Diaby 7, A Song 7 — T Walcott 7 (sub: A Arshavin, 33 7), F Fàbregas 8, T Rosicky 6 (sub: B Sagna, 72) — R van Persie 8. Substitutes not used: M Almunia, A Ramsey, M Silvestre, A Traoré. Booked: Song. Next: West Ham United (a).

Birmingham City (4-1-4-1): J Hart 7 — S Carr 5, R Johnson 5, S Dann 5, L Ridgewell 6 — L Carsley 5 (sub: K Phillips, 79) — S Larsson 6, L Bowyer 6, B Ferguson 6, J McFadden 5 (sub: G McSheffrey, 71) — C Jerome 5 (sub: G O’Connor, 61 5). Substitutes not used: Maik Taylor, D Johnson, M Bent, J O’Shea. Booked: Hart, Ridgewell. Next: Sunderland (h).

Referee: L Probert Attendance: 60,082