When the spotlight at Arsenal falls on Jack Wilshere, it’s one of the most stirring sights in English football. For one night, a big Champions League night at that, this impish figure with the responsibility of wearing Arsenal’s No 10 shirt was at his tantalising best.

His lobbed curler over Marseille keeper Steve Mandanda, after just 29 seconds, was executed in jaw-dropping slow-motion.

Everybody knew what he was about to do, but it just seemed to take an age for the ball to ripple the back of Mandanda’s net. It was a beaut and the quickest Champions League strike by an Englishman. He will never tire of watching it and neither will Arsenal’s fans.

Wilshere roamed the Emirates pitch as if he owned the stadium, full of swagger and self-assurance. The extra fitness work is paying off.

Those shuttle runs, which he performs with such determination after training these days, are elevating his game to another level.

Here was the result: two goals — the first a peach — and the acclaim of Arsenal’s supporters when he was substituted 15 minutes from time. There is a lot of love for him here. ‘I liked his first goal and he is starting to think, “If Ramsey can do it, so can I”,’ admitted Arsene Wenger.

The temptation to swoon was not resisted by Arsenal’s fans and they sang ‘Super Jack’ during this smouldering performance. By the time he was replaced by Theo Walcott he had scored his second, finishing off a superb team goal after Mesut Ozil’s delicious set-up with the outside of his left boot.

Ozil’s missed penalty in the 38th minute, almost forgotten as the Arsenal Appreciation Society welcomed some new members, raised some other issues. More on them later. After this it seems so crazy to say it, but the best team in the group so far could still go out of the Champions League on December 11 in Naples.

Football can be so cruel and yet the Europa League draw awaits Arsenal if they lose 3-0 in the Stadio San Paolo against Napoli and Borussia Dortmund beat Marseille.

At this moment it feels like it would be a travesty, particularly when they have travelled to the Westfalenstadion and beaten Dortmund.

‘It’s unbelievable to have 12 points and not be sure of getting out of the group,’ added Wenger. ‘It is not an easy situation – it is a tricky situation because you can think, ‘Okay, let’s just not lose big’ but I think that would be a mistake.

‘It would be dangerous to go to Napoli without being assertive. We will have to play a full strength team, we will take no risks.

‘Having said that, Marseille will play the last game at home to Dortmund — they haven’t lost [that game] yet. They will have to turn up. They will be under pressure to at least take some points from this group stage. ‘We have a big programme coming up before we go to Naples so I have to use my squad without dropping points in the league.’

The Arsenal boss praised his side’s patience after their flying start. He said: ‘We were in control of the game overall and I never really felt that we were under threat. ‘Sometimes we were missing the cutting edge to finish the game off early on, but we were so much in control that we felt that would come. It came a little bit late for my taste, but it came.’

Rotation is a frustration for Wenger, an inconvenience when Arsenal appear to be in control of every area of the game. On Tuesday Wilshere was holding the Champions League torch, shining it in the direction of the draw for the second round on December 16. His opening goal was class, cutting in from the right with a swivel of those snake-hips to leave Marseille defender Lucas Mendes on his backside.

With Mandanda exposed the temptation was too much and Wilshere curled his effort beyond him with a ping off his left foot. It had them in raptures here. Breathe it all in Arsenal fans, because surely their team cannot keep up this ceaseless attacking football for a full season.

If they do then they will be champions of England or Europe, or even both. They are operating on another level at this moment.

Every pass has purpose. Every move is part of a bigger picture. It’s all so intricate as they stretch teams, making Marseille visit every area of the pitch before they could return to the south of France. Elie Baup’s team were made to cover every blade of grass.

For long periods this was an exhibition as Arsenal teased and tormented Mario Lemina and Alaixys Romao in the centre of Marseille’s midfield.

They were pulled all over the place, frequently leaving their stations as Tomas Rosicky, Ramsey and Wilshere launched their ceaseless attacks.

Still, there is also a whole lot more to come from Ozil. His touch deserted him in the first half, losing possession when the smart money said he would being the ball down and slip it beyond Mandanda. At the moment he is a superstar name without the superstar game to go with it.

His miss from penalty spot felt predictable, long before Mandanda palmed his token effort away to his right. It had been given, ridiculously, when Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz was convinced that Ramsey had been fouled inside the area by Nicolas N’Koulou.

‘His run to the ball was short, but it’s the way he takes them,’ added Wenger of Ozil. There were was a brief moment when the Germany star flickered, shaken into life in the second half when he read Ramsey’s pass into the area. He wriggled free to give Wilshere an easy chance to slide the ball beyond Mandanda from close range.

That was Marseille done for the night. They were counting down the minutes after that, happy to escape the Emirates without a hiding. By then Wilshere had left the field to thunderous acclaim when he was replaced by Walcott 15 minutes from time. After a performance like this, he was undoubtedly Arsenal’s leading light.

—Daily Mail