It was rather like the touch we used to know. Remember his bouncer, the one where he would squish the ball between turf and boot and in one motion trick a keeper to ground as a shot spun just high enough to beat him? He could kill with his grace back then, when he was less ornamental.
How marvellous to see it again on Tuesday. To see those instincts for the perfect strike, the sense of timing, the ingenuity of the act, and maybe it was the last time.
None of which is to suggest his rescue of Gunnersaurus was anything less than noble. That’s because on a human level in a ropey time, a loyal supporter of the club can now stay in a role for which he once missed his brother’s wedding, apparently.
Mesut Ozil has offered to pay salary of Jerry Quy, who wears the Gunnersaurus outfit
So above all else, Ozil has helped a guy out and undone an act of indecency by the club.
But we can still squint eyes and countenance the other possibility in all of this, which is that maybe the old trickster has also just dropped Arsenal on the deck and the ball is currently climbing out of their reach.
A diabolical genius, if ever there was one, and a man who is quite possibly determined to get whatever giggles he can out of the club in his final 10 months.
If it is the last finish he produces on this long goodbye, then it was a very good one.
It came after Arsenal football club axed the lovable mascot as part of cost-cutting measures
