Borussia Dortmund 0 Arsenal 1: Five things we learned as Aaron Ramsey’s meteoric rise shows no sign of slowing

An animated Arsene Wenger issues instructions from the sideline (Getty Images)

Aaron Ramsey’s technique is no surprise now, but the sharpness of his instinct impresses.

This was his 11th goal of the season and owed much to his remarkable knack of being in the right place at the right time. Olivier Giroud had barely won a header all night when he got to Mesut Ozil’s cross, yet Ramsey burst forward to head the knock-back in.

Wenger has learnt his German lessons

This brilliant result owed a lot to Arsenal’s last big night in Germany. Back in March they went to Bayern Munich for a dead second leg. Wenger rebalanced his team, with Aaron Ramsey in midfield and Laurent Koscielny at centre-back. They have barely looked back, still not losing an away game – this was the best result of the lot though.

Flamini absence means overtime for Arteta

No one could have missed Mathieu Flamini tonight more than Mikel Arteta. He was the only midfield enforcer and had to make all of Flamini’s tackles for him. This earned Arteta a booking in the first half and he spent the rest of the game trying to shut down Dortmund and Henrikh Mkhitaryan while not getting a second yellow card.

You can’t concede a goal if you’ve got the ball

Borussia Dortmund swarm around any mistake or opening – as they did for both goals at Arsenal last month. Tonight, though, Arsenal’s midfield had five excellent passers and they kept the ball with a patience, precision and maturity that minimised the gaps Dortmund had. There is no better defensive weapon than possession.

Recent results have shown credentials for real

Arsenal are starting to look like they are for real. After a gentle start to the season, this autumn was the time when, playing better teams, they would make clear if they had the character to make an impact. Having beaten Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund in five days – and kept clean sheets – they are looking the part.