Olivier Giroud’s late winner was not enough to stop Gabriel and Lucas Perez from rowing with each other as they headed down the tunnel.

Arsene Wenger played down the incident between the Brazilian and the Spaniard, insisting it was all a storm in a teacup.

“I don’t know what it was about and I didn’t see it,” he said. “They have a South American temperament and Spanish so that can sometimes happen. I don’t believe that anything bad happened. They are two good friends – very close to each other. That is already forgotten now.”

Instead, he believes it showed the competitive spirit within the camp which inspired Giroud to mark being given his first Premier League start of the season with a significant goal to lay down something of a marker going forward.

“The fighters are always ready,” said Wenger. “The players who are always ready when they get their chance, will be there. And the players who feel sorry for themselves get their chance and they give you one more reason to justify why you didn’t select them

“We are not in an administration here, we are in a competition. You do not have your place like a seat that you buy with a season ticket.”

Certainly, West Brom manager Tony Pulis feels there is enough about Arsenal to make Chelsea nervous even going into the New Year with a nine-point lead.

“We’ve played against a top team today, good players,” he said. “But you look at the players who were not playing and not in the team today and then you look at Chelsea’s. Arsenal definitely have the stronger squad.”