Arsenal climb to third place as Danny Welbeck goal beats Norwich

Time for change was the slightly distant call at the Emirates. But not yet it seems. In front of a grouchy but hardly volatile home crowd Arsenal completed a very Arsenal-ish April afternoon. An underwhelming 1-0 victory represents a significant step towards a place in the top four at the end of the season, this late-Arsène Wenger team sinking into that familiar low-pressure end-game like a comfortable old armchair.

Danny Welbeck scored the only goal and was the home team’s most purposeful presence. Not that there was much competition, as Arsenal provided a reprise of that striking ability to look drained and heavy-legged even while, on the face of it, putting on another show of nimble, fluent-passing football.

For Norwich the future looks more bleak. They competed feistily here but defeat leaves them second bottom and needing to win at least one of their final two home fixtures, against Manchester United and Watford. Afterwards, Alex Neil, the Norwich manager, dwelt ruefully on pair of fine first-half saves from Petr Cech.

Before kick-off the atmosphere inside the Emirates was more a low-level anxiety than anything more bellicose. There was a loud cheer for the return to the bench of Santi Cazorla, a classy, waspish influence who has been badly missed since his injury against the same opponents in November. Otherwise Arsenal lined up in the usual 4-2-3-1, with Olivier Giroud given another chance to continue his haggard The Revenant-style quest for a first league goal since January.

A point for Sunderland and three for Newcastle earlier in the day had increased the sense Norwich really did need to get something from this game. The hard-running Nathan Redmond came in on the right and had the game’s first chance on six minutes, taking Martin Olsson’s cross and shooting low, only for Cech to save well with his legs. Ivo Pinto was drafted in at right-back and it was down his flank that Arsenal’s first twitch of life came, Alex Iwobi shuttling through but shanking a left-footed shot wide.

The promise of protests had circled this game with various entities, including Red Action and the scary-sounding Black Scarf Movement, calling for a show of dissent. “Time For Change” is the mantra, the object of protest that sense of a luxury vessel simply drifting. Get rid of certain players; start getting to the last eight not the last 16 of the Champions League; stop being overly pleased about making a profit: as ultimatums go it’s a fairly slow-burn affair, and no doubt fans of Charlton, Aston Villa and Leeds will all come out in sympathy some day soon.

Not that the discontent of the Reds and the Blacks should be undervalued. It is simply a novel kind of protest, a reflection perhaps of the wider weirdness of modern football, a broader alienation.

The demo duly came on 12 minutes, marking one for every year Arsenal have been deprived of the Premier League title. There were around 300 banners held, accompanied by a mix of booing, jeering and applause as Wenger stood in his rectangle pretending to watch the football, but looking a little sad and thin and brave. There were chants of “We love you Arsenal”, followed by “One Arsène Wenger”. It was a slightly meandering, slightly inconclusive Arsenal demonstration. Or in other words, an Arsenal demonstration.

After which nothing much continued to happen. Giroud had a shot blocked. Redmond had another good chance on the right, Cech again saving well. And overall Norwich looked slightly more threatening in a scoreless first half, with Jonny Howson beavering to good effect in central midfield.

As the second half kicked off, Arsenal looked in need of an injection of urgency, fear, desperation – anything really. Redmond again wandered unimpeded down the right and flashed a cross through the six-yard area. Per Mertesacker departed with what looked like a hamstring pull. Little was seen of Aaron Ramsey or Mesut Özil running beyond the last line of defence. Giroud looked horribly short on confidence.

There were huge cheers as Wenger made an early change for once. With 55 minutes gone Welbeck came on for Iwobi and changed the game almost immediately. He was assisted by Giroud, who produced a lovely cushioned header, under no pressure from Sébastien Bassong, giving Welbeck the time to pivot and smash the ball into the corner. It was Welbeck’s fifth goal since his return in February, and much-needed, not least taking the sting out of the second stage of the Wenger-not-quite-out protests.

Dieumerci Mbokani almost got on the end of another low Redmond cross, but was blocked by Gabriel Paulista. And Arsenal hung on a little at times as Norwich pressed energetically to the end.

Wenger was magnanimous enough about the protests, repeating his view that you can’t please all the people all the time. More significantly, perhaps, he was also open about his team’s inability to vary the pattern of attack. “We lost in the first game of the season against a team [West Ham] that sat very deep, didn’t come out and after that all the teams came here and sat very deep and we did not find a way to score the goals,” he said. “We have not solved that problem against teams who sit deep.” For all the protests, downloadable placards and diffuse dissatisfaction, it is this lack of drive – a dwindling away into a neat, lightweight, overfamiliar team – that is perhaps the wider story of Arsenal’s season.