The first trickle of supporters heading for the exits started after fifteen minutes. Yes, fifteen minutes.
Just a few at first but then, ten minutes later, that steady stream of the disappeared grew heavier. Because by then three goals had turned to four goals and embarrassment had turned to humiliation and the stripping of dignity.
What a night this was. For Arsenal and a title challenge that now has the momentum of a speeding truck. Two points off the top of the Premier League and with the biggest goal tally in the top flight. What was all that talk about needing a number nine?
And also, for all the wrong reasons, for Sheffield United, a team so lacking in fibre, heart and application that it’s a miracle anybody is still turning up to watch them at all.
Chris Wilder’s team had conceded five goals in each of their three previous home games, twice to Brighton and once to Aston Villa. Way back at the start of the season when we thought everything was Paul Heckingbottom’s fault, they had conceded eight here to Newcastle.
So maybe we should have expected this. Maybe another hiding was where the smart money should have been. But this is the Premier League. It calls itself the best league in the world and, as such, is supposed to be competitive.
So, no, we never expect something like this. We always expect the underdog team to fight, run and be a nuisance, at least for a while. But this is not what this was like at Bramall Lane on a wet night that will long live in the memory.
So maybe we should have expected this. Maybe another hiding was where the smart money should have been. But this is the Premier League. It calls itself the best league in the world and, as such, is supposed to be competitive.
So, no, we never expect something like this. We always expect the underdog team to fight, run and be a nuisance, at least for a while. But this is not what this was like at Bramall Lane on a wet night that will long live in the memory.
Wilder put Ben Osborn on and took Oliver Norwood off as he changed his team’s formation. But the flow didn’t change.
Home goalkeeper Ivo Grbic saved from Martinelli and then Havertz but when Martinelli was pulled back in the 25th minute, that only allowed Havertz to run in to space and the German drove the fourth goal in to the corner.
Mutiny was now in the air in South Yorkshire and by the time the interval arrived this stadium was awash with empty seats. It was, in truth, admirable so many had stayed and they had witnessed the fifth goal in the 39th minute, Rice firing in from a Saka pass..
The second half was different. It was, by comparison, a non-event. White scored beautifully just before the hour but there were to be no more plunges of the Arsenal dagger. At the end Sheffield United’s players were clapped off by those still in the stadium. Football supporters really are remarkable at times.