Gabriel Jesus' injury was to doom Arsenal; he's back, Leandro Trossard is excelling and Gunners believe

The Gunners were 3-0 victors on Sunday at Fulham with another impressive display

LONDON -- This was supposed to be the run of games that broke Arsenal's title challenge. Without Gabriel Jesus, the propane on Mikel Arteta's wildfire, for two and a half months it seemed inevitable that the Gunners would slip back into Manchester City's chasing pack.

Instead, he returned to find Arsenal much where he left them, five points clear at the summit, playing the best football in the Premier League, more than capable of scoring without their transformative No. 9. Not that they have not needed and will not need Jesus, a player who links together disparate parts of a team as well as anyone in the league. Instead, what we have learned over the last 15 games is that Arsenal can cope without their most important player. Is there any setback that can blow this team off course?

Certainly, there were none that Fulham could offer. There were individuals in Marco Silva's side who struggled to make their mark -- Andreas Pereira was particularly wasteful -- and their cause might have been aided had they dropped their line a little deeper to neuter the threat of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka in behind. However, there was no great collective failure, just an opponent who was significantly superior from the outset. Arsenal passes zipped through the lines, Arteta's side looking to advance the ball quickly through the center of the pitch after weeks in which their attacks got bogged down by opposition doubling up on their wide forwards.