Seventy-three seconds was all it took for Yaya Sanogo.
Well, 18 months, 19 appearances and 73 seconds, but when his first Arsenal goal finally arrived, it was wonderfully timed.
It was a strike to pierce the pressure and soothe anxieties at the Emirates Stadium. Sanogo slid into the corner to be engulfed by supporters and teammates, while Arsene Wenger punched the air.
Alexis Sanchez scored the second, his 13th in 20 games for the north London club, and he continues to defy the argument that players need time to adjust in England.
Sanchez has been an unqualified success.
Indeed where would Arsenal’s season be without him?
But it was Sanogo who provided the settler they needed after three games without a win and a defeat at home to Manchester United, which triggered familiar complaints about Wenger’s principled style.
Injuries were compounding inconsistent form but up stepped Sanogo, signed in the summer of 2013, but marginalised after a misfiring start to his career at the club.
His goal provided the platform for victory which sends Wenger into the knock-out stage of the Champions League for the 15th consecutive season.
This is his antidote to those supporters who demand a different style of management.
It was not all great news as Wenger’s team secured their qualification.
Captain Mikel Arteta hobbled off after a heavy tackle, midway through the second half, and the squad can really do without more injuries.
With Danny Welbeck not fit and Olivier Giroud not registered, Sanogo was selected up front.
Lukas Podolski might have wondered what he had to do to get in the team, but Sanogo was preferred for his strength and ability to hold up the ball and bring others into the game.
The match had barely begun when he brought the ball down with his back to goal, on the edge of the Borussia Dortmund penalty area.
He held off the challenge of Matthias Ginter and rolled a pass to Santi Cazorla, who slipped the ball back to him.
In front of goal, Sanogo made no mistake.
He was a fraction offside but the flag stayed down.
The Emirates sighed with relief and sang: ‘He scores when he wants’.
Wenger’s team had opened with the same intensity and movement they did against Manchester United on Saturday.
The big difference, of course, was the goal.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexis Sanchez zipped around on the flanks pulling the yellow shirts of Dortmund out of line and allowed Aaron Ramsey to slide Sanogo clear again.
This time, with a little more time to think, his finish was less decisive and allowed Ginter time to recover and make a block.
Klopp’s team had been too quick and powerful for Arsenal in Dortmund in the opening game of this campaign, but they were slow to find any rhythm and found it difficult to get out of their own half.
They too have seen confidence eaten away by injuries and poor domestic form and languish third from bottom in the Bundesliga table, a fact overlooked by those who have decided Klopp should replace Wenger at the Emirates.
It took Dortmund until midway through the first half before they got a foothold in the game and tested Arsenal’s fragile defensive unit.
Even then it was not a severe test and Klopp cut an agitated figure on the touchline.
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