Emile Smith Rowe gets Arsenal rockin’ and rolling on his return

One of the Emirates Stadium’s favourite ditties, to the tune of the Status Quo classic Rockin’ All Over the World, finishes by acclaiming “Saka and Emile Smith Rowe”. One of those players has done considerably more of the song’s heavy lifting over the past two years so, on a night that never really veered from the procedural, it was heartening to see the balance shift just a little. Defeating a limited, depleted Luton gave little cause for overexcitement but it did suggest the Arsenal faithful are not flogging an entirely dead horse by hailing two lavish homegrown talents in the same breath.

Smith Rowe’s descent from decisive sure thing to bit-part enigma has been a tough watch and owes, more than anything, to a dispiriting run of injuries. Last season he returned from groin surgery to discover Arsenal, for whom he had been a ray of light in two years of relative tedium, had kicked on without him. Arteta, never the keenest of rotators, has deployed him sparingly. Before this, his third top-flight start of the season, Smith Rowe had played 20 minutes of Premier League football since January.

Related: Martin Ødegaard fires Arsenal back to top of table with victory over Luton

So it was a boon to see him make a difference in a match that will linger in few memories but brought Arsenal three points closer to a prize that looks ever more attainable. Smith Rowe set their opening goal in train with his tenacity; he laid on the second with laudable composure and, for a 23-year-old who patently thrives on feeling loved, it will do no harm to have played a tangible part in shifting the tenor of a low-key evening.

In steering Arsenal to a featureless but potentially transformative point at Manchester City, Arteta had shown that, if any deities governing the title race frowned on his principles, he certainly had others. There seemed far less need for stylistic backsliding against an injury-ravaged Luton, who were missing half of the side that was edged out at Kenilworth Road four months ago. That match, decided dramatically by Declan Rice’s header, was another that may be termed pivotal if Arsenal go the distance but there was little outwards prospect of an equivalent ding-dong this time.

Yet perhaps that feeling was belied by the fact Luton, for all their struggles, have an exceptional knack of staying in games. It was lessened slightly, too, when the teamsheets revealed a patchwork element to both teams. Arteta’s use of deputies was largely dictated by the fixture schedule, Bayern Munich’s visit next week feeling more appropriate for the “A” team, but it risked rendering standard levels of rat-a-tat Emirates Stadium cohesion difficult to attain.

For almost 24 minutes Arsenal came nowhere near them, struggling for rhythm in an atmosphere that paled into somnolence by this venue’s recent standards. Reiss Nelson’s commitment to Arsenal, which contractually extends to another three years after this season, cannot be faulted but his right-sided incursions could never generate the roar that usually greets Bukayo Saka’s early sorties on home turf. Nelson was starting a league fixture for the first time since July 2020: a similar boat to Smith Rowe to some extent, although Nelson has never quite established himself as his colleague once did.

Arsenal’s deputies laboured but then, with Luton entitled to feel quietly content, Smith Rowe turned up the heat by snapping at Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu’s heels and winning possession. It was the intensity Arteta swears by and led, seconds later, to a thumping finish from Martin Ødegaard. In the December meeting Ødegaard had been outshone by Ross Barkley, who could tell Smith Rowe something about unfulfilled greatness; the Luton midfielder was tidy again, suggesting he would comfortably start in a top‑half team, but Ødegaard showed again that he is the best, most consistent playmaker in the division by some distance.

Maybe Smith Rowe will, one day, hint again that he can approach those heights. Shortly after Ødegaard’s goal he was in his own penalty area, jabbing an Andros Townsend cross away from interested parties. Then, appearing on the end of a snappy move, he drew a smart save from Thomas Kaminski. Soon after that came the moment to remember his night by: a surge to the byline and poised, deliberate centre that Daiki Hashioka inadvertently turned into his own goal.

That was about that, although Smith Rowe earned his manager’s approval again by stretching to prevent a long pass reaching Barkley. During a highlight‑free second half there was no coruscating flourish to tell Arteta that the times of rare promise, the days when he put Tottenham to the sword and looked a class above anyone on show against Aston Villa, are back just yet. But there was a drive, a purpose and an end product to Smith Rowe’s work that may yet earn greater rewards. “Sometimes you need a second to change the history of a football club,” Arteta said on Tuesday. Perhaps he will be minded to offer Smith Rowe a few more of them now.