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Let’s get it straight. Arsenal did not deserve to beat West Ham United at Upton Park because they didn’t play well enough. It is perhaps the very first time this season this was the case, but that will be no consolation – and the really strange thing is that the team which failed in this London derby is the same side which annihilated CSKA Moscow a few days earlier.

Whether this is due primarily to fatigue or the success of West Ham’s game plan, or a combination of the two, it is difficult to say – but it has to be acknowledged that Alan Pardew, like many other Premiership managers, has sent out a team to pack the midfield and compete ferociously in order to frustrate Arsenal and disturb their normally silky rhythm, and it has worked.

Of course, Arsenal created chances, something they are able to do even when they are below their best, and arguably Van Persie and Rosicky in particular should have scored. They can also point with justification to the penalty which Rob Styles unaccountably failed to give when Hleb was clearly brought down by Spector, who was already on a yellow card – something which would undoubtedly have turned the game their way. But West Ham, with equal justification, can argue that Zamora and Benayoun spurned good chances and Harewood might have had another.

Unfortunately, West Ham’s successful strategy, Arsenal’s shortcomings on the day, Rob Styles’ inconsistency, Marlon Harewood’s late goal and the understandable exuberance of Alan Pardew’s celebrations proved too much for Arsene Wenger and the scenes which followed, both in the technical area and on the pitch after the final whistle, reflect no credit whatsoever on those principally concerned.

There is no doubt that the Gunners play the finest football in the Premiership, but they have to learn to cope properly with the legitimate tactics which lesser teams use to counter their strengths. Hopefully, this setback and the shameful events which accompanied it can be turned to the same constructive purposes as those unforgettable scenes at Old Trafford after Van Nistelrooy’s penalty miss, and provide the springboard for an Arsenal revival.