After all the sound and fury of finally stripping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the captaincy and banishing the striker, Arsenal needed to make a different kind of statement on the pitch. And here it was as they gained the stirring victory over West Ham that lifted them above their rivals and into fourth in the Premier League and, with it, into the Champions League places.

As well as Arsenal played, and certainly it was the response demanded by their clearly-agitated manager Mikel Arteta after the Aubameyang episode, it was a little tough on West Ham especially with the contentious dismissal of Vladimir Coufal as they chased the game.

Coufal’s first booking was questionable – with Kieran Tierney exaggerating the contact as he clutched his face after the West Ham defender put his arm across his opponent’s chest – and the second even more so especially as, with it, his side suffered the double-jeopardy of conceding a penalty. Coufal won the ball in a tackle on Alexandre Lacazette, Aubameyang’s successor as Arsenal captain, who rolled over and over, with referee Anthony Taylor presumably deeming the challenge amounted to excessive force. And even though Lukasz Fabianski superbly saved Lacazette’s penalty the damage was done.

There would be no way back for West Ham who slip to fifth and with injuries hitting them hard. It is just one league win in six, albeit against Chelsea, and the truth is that a back-four that includes Craig Dawson, Issa Diop and Arthur Masuaku is not going to compete for a Champions League place. David Moyes, in his 600th game as a Premier League manager, a mark only achieved by three others, has to lobby for new signings in the January transfer window and it will be a significant test of West Ham’s ambitions.

Not that Arsenal, unburdened by the demands of playing in Europe, did not deserve to win. They created the better chances, they showed far more intensity and were already in front, through Gabriel Martinelli’s accomplished finish, before Coufal was dismissed. And yet it was a raw, fraught atmosphere throughout and the tension was clear in the behaviour of Arteta and his backroom staff. At one point set-piece coach Nico Javer was ordered to calm down by Taylor while Arteta escaped punishment after pushing Martinelli back onto the pitch to go down injured late on. In the final few minutes, they were something of a nervous wreck before substitute Emile Smith Rowe sealed it with another fine goal.

The stakes were high. And tensions were also. It felt almost febrile. Maybe the impending fear of attendances being limited and games called off due to the new Covid variant gave it an ‘end-of-days’ feel. Maybe also the prize made it even more overwrought. Either way both sides were ‘up for it’, as they say, and no quarter was given with players sprawled on the turf, penalties demanded and arms flailing. Possession was turned over and both teams pressed until the other squeaked.

It was not until close to half-time that meaningful chances were created. Both came from Arsenal with Bukayo Saka weaving his way into the area, quickly exchanging passes with Martin Odegaard and teeing up Granit Xhaka whose side-footed shot was superbly blocked by Dawson. The rebound fell to Tierney and, from 22 yards, he drove the ball with Fabianski brilliantly tipping it onto the crossbar.

The former Arsenal goalkeeper then dived low to repel Lacazette’s bouncing shot with Dawson just doing enough to force Martinelli to sidefoot the rebound past the post when it looked like he was certain to open the scoring.

The Brazilian would not be denied and West Ham were at fault, allowing Lacazette to collect a pass, turn and slip the ball through to Martinelli whose first touch took him way from Coufal as he proved too fast for him and Dawson before calmly bending his shot around Fabianski. Arteta’s unbridled celebration showed how much it meant.

West Ham almost found an immediate response with Jarrod Bowen’s shot from the area’s edge clipping off Gabriel. It appeared set to beat Aaron Ramsdale but he did well to adjust to push the ball away for a corner. Bowen held his head. He knew that was close.

It remained open. It remained end-to-end and then came the controversy with the penalty. Coufal’s challenge was strong but he clearly took the ball with Lacazette going over and yet, after a pause, Taylor pointed to the spot and compounded it with a second yellow and then a red card. Maybe Coufal could have made a cleaner contact, made he could have got more of the ball – and in fairness this was a point made by Moyes – but even if it was a penalty was it worth a caution as well?

After Fabianski’s save could there be a twist? West Ham continued to press but were undone when substitute Said Benrahma was crowded off the ball and Saka broke, feeding Smith Rowe. He cut inside and coolly rolled a low shot from the area’s edge past Fabianski who was left rooted.

There were floods of relief from Arsenal who, remarkably, now have the best home record in the Premier League this season, with 22 points gained and losing only once. More importantly they are also in the top-four, even if they have played more matches than Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. As a glimpse of life after Aubameyang, as it surely now has to be, this was deeply encouraging.