Josh Kroenke's fan-made Arsenal mural outside the Emirates Stadium has been vandalised. The painting has been up outside the stadium for many months prior to this latest defacing - .

Arsenal managed to win what was a feisty London derby against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon in what would be fairly described as a flat Emirates Stadium atmosphere.

. He said: “Today was one of the best that I’ve seen.

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“That’s what we have to do consistently, I said it in the press conference, that depends on us, nobody else. There are things that we cannot control – that one for sure we can control, so let’s make the most out of it.”

Two months on, the Gunners were beaten in the League Cup semi-final by eventual winners Newcastle United and a poor run of results means Liverpool have opened what many believe is an unassailable lead at the top of the table. Naturally, the mood has dipped considerably.

Even a 9-3 aggregate win in the UEFA Champions League last-16 was not enough to raise the mood too much, especially considering the reward is a trip to the Bernabeu to face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals. I am sure that the atmosphere inside the ground for the first leg might be one of the best witnessed, but it again strikes me as something quite situational.

Arteta made reference to the noise and attendance levels inside the ground for the 2-2 draw with PSV following the 7-1 away win in Eindhoven. He was asked about the “phoney war” feeling inside the Emirates Stadium that night.

“Well, it's obvious that with the result that we had from the first leg that it wasn't going to be full, but there we had to continue and do the work in the manner that we wanted to finish the competition,” he said in the post-match press conference. “Unfortunately, we haven't managed to win the game, but we decided to make a lot of rotation as well.”

No reference was made to the flatness of the crowd on Sunday afternoon as his side saw out a 1-0 win over Chelsea. The game itself was an aggressive one with Wesley Fofana in particular escaping serious punishment for numerous challenges worthy of more than what he got.

I spotted David Raya really trying in the second half to get some response from the crowd. William Saliba produced a brilliant sliding challenge on Pedro Neto in the same half defending deep and jumped up from the tackle to fist-pump and roar at the home end.

While there was some response from both it dissipated quickly. The sense is that there is a real gutting feeling that this was meant to be the year but instead, it has been anything but.

The frustrations of the January transfer window only furthered that disillusion. Perhaps highlighted further that while leaving the ground on Sunday afternoon and walking along Hornsey Road, the murals which have been painted anonymously under the railway bridge had seen one defaced.

As shown in the image, Josh Kroenke’s mural had seen red paint splattered over the image. Although it was evident this had not happened on the day of the game, it was a recent vandalism of the image.

The energy directed toward the ownership seems a little short-sighted. In January, they sanctioned a £40million-plus bid for Ollie Watkins, a valuation that not only the ownership believed was a fair representation for the player in January; football.london understands it was Aston Villa coming forward with the market opportunity prior to Jhon Duran’s sale to Saudi Arabia.

For what Arsenal have dealt with this season in terms of injuries and misfortune, particularly regarding in-game decisions across the campaign, the fact they still sit second is in itself impressive. Other clubs who have had injuries crisis like Tottenham and Manchester United sit firmly in the bottom half.

While after losing one major player in Rodri, Manchester City have fallen away entirely. Currently sitting fifth but would drop to sixth if Newcastle win their game in hand.

Understandably, the summer transfer window is massive and will show the hand of those making the decisions. The potential appointment of Andrea Berta is certainly a turn away from the expected norm of the club’s approach to executive personnel.

It should give encouragement of what is to come. Actions will always speak louder than words in the world of football and for Arsenal, the signing of a top-level striker will quickly see the ownership fall back in with the good graces of most and hopefully improve the atmosphere inside the ground.