Cast your mind back to the last few days of Arsene Wenger's reign at Arsenal, to Unai Emery's time in charge at the Emirates or even to the embryonic phases of Mikel Arteta's spell in Islington and you will remember a club in need of a lick of paint.

Indeed, the team was full of toxic figures, they were not a strong group who held a unique bond and tended to bottle things. Simply put, they would not have beaten Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.

However, this younger, more vibrant team are different. They do not know when they are beaten and that has really shone through in 2023.

Eddie Nketiah popped up with a remarkable last-minute winner against Manchester United several weeks ago before Jorginho popped up with the goods, via Emi Martinez's head, to rescue things against Aston Villa.

But nothing would feel better than the euphoria of Reiss Nelson's simply astonishing last kick of the game against the Cherries.

Arsenal were behind after just nine seconds, and then found themselves 2-0 down in the second period. Their title hopes were looking as though they were about to take a huge dent.

Yet, step forward Thomas Partey, Ben White and most importantly, Nelson.

The latter was a game-changing substitute having replaced Emile Smith Rowe - who himself entered the fray from the bench following an injury to Leandro Trossard - but the former Feyenoord loanee assisted White's goal and then struck the decisive blow.

He picked the ball up on the edge of the area following Martin Odegaard's corner in the 97th minute of the match and chested it down onto his left foot before rifling the ball past Neto. Pandemonium was sparked inside the Emirates.

Odegaard and Gabriel fell to the floor. William Saliba went off in search of executing the corner flag, Granit Xhaka was at top speed to catch Nelson, Jorginho was on the pitch and was swiftly followed by what felt like the entirety of the club's backroom staff.

That said, there was one man in amongst that celebration who seemed to celebrate that goal rather normally by his high standards.

Who was Arsenal's best player vs Bournemouth?

That man just so happened to be Oleksandr Zinchenko. The Ukrainian has become a cult hero since arriving in north London and seems to celebrate every goal like it's a last-minute winner.

There have been plenty of occasions this term where the left-back is seen screaming at the top of his lungs towards the Emirates faithful and of course, Nelson's last-gasp effort on Saturday warranted the same reaction.

He was straight over towards the North Bank part of the ground, bellowing towards the supporters. It is hard to think this is a man who hasn't even been at the club for a year but he just gets it. His passion is remarkable and because of that, he has become adored this term.

But Zinchenko is no mere passion merchant. For the vast majority of the game, he lets his football do the talking and is living proof that Manchester City will probably never sell a player to Arsenal again.

If anyone embodies the turnaround this season, it is the left-back. He has belief like no other player, driving and urging his team to standards we haven't seen since the Invincibles.

He pops up in areas you'd never dream of appearing if you are a full-back, with such an attitude seen just a few days ago in the win over Everton.

Operating in the right-hand channel where Odegaard is usually so influential, it was the Ukraine international's delightful pass into Bukayo Sako that ensured the scoring was opened.

It was from the right-hand side again that he scored in that comeback victory against Villa and on Sunday, it was his calm head that helped see Arsenal over the line.

In fact, it's not beyond the realms of fantasy to suggest he was their true hero on Saturday. Without him, the corner from which Arsenal scored may not have happened.

Late into injury time, the 26-year-old decided to take a shot which subsequently took an almighty deflection and flashed just wide of the post. It took some cojones - as Troy Deeney would say - to take the effort on so late in the piece. It could have flown over the bar and that would have been that. But his belief is like no other.

Described as a "pickpocket" by Forbes' Mark Joyella, Zinchenko was seemingly the master of winning back possession and retaining it for his team.

During the course of the 98 minutes that played out, the 5 foot 9 defender won four tackles and all six of his ground duels, via Sofascore.

He also won five out of his six aerial battles as a marker of what turned out to be a flawless display down the left-hand side of the pitch.

Boasting 118 touches, four key passes, and completing 100% of his dribble attempts, it was the complete performance from a man who only seems to be getting better.

Indeed, he is the tempo setter, the driving force behind Arsenal's title charge and he is doing it all from 'left-back'.

Of course, Nelson deserves all of the praise in the world for his enormous performance this weekend, but let us not forget Zinchenko either. He has raised the levels in this team to unparalleled levels.