The moment of the game came when Aaron Ramsey scored and refused to celebrate. Even more heart-warming was when the entire Cardiff City Stadium rose as one and applauded their former star, while also acknowledging the classy display from Arsenal, who just kept their wonderful run of form, with a 3-0 result in Wales.
Former Cardiff midfielder Ramsey was at his brilliant goalscoring best yet again, grabbing a sumptuous brace to help Arsenal increase their lead at the top of the table to seven points.
Much was expected from Cardiff after their impressive 2-2 draw against Manchester United last weekend, but Arsenal just oozed class and quality on the day, underlining those title credentials yet again in emphatic fashion, with Mathieu Flamini getting a rare goal for himself as well.
Arsene Wenger named the same starting lineup that won 2-0 against Southampton, with Cardiff making a change, bringing in the more solid Kim Bo-Kyung into the starting XI, with Malky Mackay maybe hoping the South Korean could conjure another goal or two like he did against Manchester United last weekend.
From minute one to minute 48, it was all Arsenal really as the away side put their foot on the pedal and left Cardiff way, way somewhere in the horizon, left in the trailing dust to figure out a way back.
Jack Wilshere, who scored the fastest goal scored by an Englishman in the Champions League on Tuesday, when he glided a brilliant strike in the first minute against Marseille, nearly had another goal for himself inside 75 seconds at the Cardiff City Stadium.
A one-touch pass here and a one-touch give-back there and Wilshere found himself with the ball outside the box, cut-in to his left foot with a drop of the shoulder, before curling a brilliant strike towards the top corner.
Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall was well and truly beaten, but the ball decided time had not come yet to renew its relationship with the net, instead striking the top of the crossbar and the post.
Arsenal dominated possession by a mile in the first half, also winning the 50-50 balls, and should have taken the lead and also finished Cardiff off much before the first goal even came.
Olivier Giroud squandered a chance in unbelievable circumstances. Wilshere played a through ball to the Arsenal striker, who left one-on-one decided to switch off thinking he was offside. Giroud was mistaken, thinking Ozil had touched the ball through on its way from Wilshere's foot, but the referee's assistant kept his flag down, and by the time Giroud realised he was onside, which was an age, the chance had gone with the Cardiff defence coming back to snuff the shot out.
The goal would come though a minute before the half hour and via a former Cardiff favourite. Kieran Gibbs found Mesut Ozil on the left channel, with the German playmaker then finding a perfectly weighted cross through to Ramsey inside the box. The Welshman made full use of the pace on the cross, making a good contact and wonderfully gliding it into the top corner.
What followed was class all around as Ramsey refused to celebrate the goal, even refraining from taking his own teammates' congratulations, and it was not just the away end that was celebrating the goal, with the entire Cardiff City stadium standing up in applause of their national hero.
Arsenal would have gone 2-0 up within minutes of the restart, but for the brilliant intervention of Ben Turner, who was in the right place at the right time to block a goal-bound Giroud shot off the line.
Cardiff's best chances in the game came via Fraizer Campbell, who first, in the opening half, headed just wide off a cross from the right, before a Kim flick-on early in the second, found Campbell's head only for Wojciech Szczesny, with little to do in the entire game, to make an outstanding save.
The home side cranked up the pressure in the second 45, giving the Arsenal defence something to think about.
It always felt like Arsenal just had to flick that we-attack-and-it's-game-over switch, however, and the second goal would come, and it did on 86 minutes. Ozil, so effective, so vital to this season's top-of-the-table Gunners, grabbed his second assist of the day, sliding in a precise pass through to the onrushing substitute Mathieu Flamini, who did not break stride before thumping the ball past Marshall with his right foot.
Ramsey scored his eighth Premier League goal of the season off a lightning counter-attack soon after. The Welshman started the counter, before playing in Theo Walcott, on for Ozil in the final moments, with the Arsenal forward then taking his time before picking out Ramsey, who much like Flamini, smashed the ball into the back of the net - no celebrations followed, of course with chants of "there is only one Aaron Ramsey" reverberating around the stadium.
Game, set, match and a seven-point lead for Arsenal, and now over to the chasing pack on Sunday.
Results: Aston Villa 0-0 Sunderland; Norwich 1-0 Crystal Palace; Everton 4-0 Stoke; West Ham 3-0 Fulham; Cardiff 0-3 Arsenal.
