Arsenal vs Valencia: Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are the stabilisers to this makeshift Gunners side

The difference between the two teams, and the difference between Arsenal having a good season and a bad one, was spelled out by Valencia manager Marcelino in his post-match press conference at the Emirates.

“They have two very good strikers,” Marcelin said of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. “I don’t know how many millions of Euros they cost. If you make even the slightest mistake at this level, players like them take advantage of that.”

Marcelino had just seen his team take the lead with a crucial early away goal only to be picked off by Lacazette and Aubameyang. Not for the first time this season they made up for the flaws of the rest of this team with a performance of incisive combinations, speed and selflessness. Aubameyang raced through to lay on the first for Lacazette, who then nodded in the second at the far post, which Neto should have kept out. That would have left the tie in the balance but Aubameyang sweeping in the third at the end made for a 3-1 scoreline that gives Arsenal the edge going to Spain next week.

And Marcelino insisted that it was finishing, more than anything else, that made the difference on the pitch. Valencia striker Rodrigo was barely in the game and the one goal that they did score was from holding midfielder Mouctar Diakhaby at the back post from a set-piece.

It made you wonder how good Valencia could have been if they had the same strikeforce that Arsenal have. “Maybe we could have been better in the area,” Marcelino sighed. “It was an even game. They had a lot of creativity, we knew they would. But we adapted well to how the game played out and the small details have determined the result. We didn’t get things right, but that doesn’t mean that we are out.”

Emery did want to say that his side had been fortunate to have won the game like this. “It is difficult to talk about fair and unfair” he said. “There are many things to consider, many circumstances in the game. It was a difficult game to predict, it was difficult to create clear chances.”

But the beauty of having Lacazette and Aubameyang is that you do not need to create too many chances. Because they make so many for themselves and each other with their speed, combinations and ruthlessness. They have effectively been Arsenal’s stablisers this season, their insurance policy, meaning that a dysfunctional team still trying to find its way can win games and compete regardless. They have meant that all the other problems – no real midfield, no role for Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi – can be papered over. They have kept Arsenal on the brink of the top four and they might take Arsenal all the way to Baku too. And so whatever people say about Arsene Wenger’s legacy, those two signings at the end of his time have made his successor’s job that bit easier.