Mikel Arteta and Bukayo Saka were overjoyed after Eddie Nketiah made a promising start to his spell deputising for the injured Gabriel Jesus in Arsenal's 3-1 win over West Ham.
The Premier League leaders returned to top-flight action on Boxing Day following the World Cup, aiming to pick up where they left off prior to the tournament.
Many had written off their title chances as a result of Jesus sustaining a knee injury in Qatar that will rule him out for three months.
But Monday's win will ensure they are seven points clear at the summit at least until Manchester City play Leeds United on Wednesday.
Nketiah more than played his part in the victory, scoring Arsenal's third goal as they came from behind in the second half.
Saka, who netted the Gunners' equaliser, was thrilled for his fellow Arsenal youth product after silencing the doubters.
Asked about Arsenal spreading the goals around the team, Saka told Prime Video: "That's definitely important.
"Obviously Gabby [Jesus] is going to be a big miss, but you could see I'm so happy for Eddie.
"I feel like we all believed in him, that's all he needs, us to just keep supporting him. He got his goal and that will give him a lot of confidence, so we just need to keep encouraging him.
"Of course, then we've got me, Gabby [Gabriel Martinelli], Granit [Xhaka], Martin [Odegaard], even the centre-backs are chipping in on the goals, so everyone is going to be so important."
Nketiah's goal was greeted by jubilant celebrations, with the delight in Saka's voice after the game very much present in those scenes.
Arteta was just as elated and hopes this goal on what was his first Premier League start of the season helps Nketiah kick on.
"I just gave him a big hug because he deserved that, he totally earned it with the way he played," Arteta added.
"It was a very typical Eddie Nketiah goal. He showed his strength, quality and timing, the composure of the finish. For me, it was an outstanding performance from him.
"You could feel in the last few games he'd been trying but didn't score, even in friendlies, but he has the capacity to do that. We see it every day in training, and that will give him confidence.
"He showed it last year, at the end of last season when we played him more consistently... when you look at his numbers, they are really, really good. I am really pleased to see what he's done today."
But while Jesus will seemingly be missing from the pitch until at least February, Saka credited the Brazilian for having a strong off-field influence.
The same has been said of Oleksandr Zinchenko, who also joined Arsenal from Manchester City in pre-season, and Arteta is adamant the pair have brought more than just quality on the pitch.
"They've been in probably the most successful team the Premier League has seen for many, many years," he said.
"They have the belief in their team-mates and what we are doing, that we are able to play to those standards, and these guys have brought this confidence to the team."
Women's Champions League roundup: Real Madrid snatch first leg lead
A late goal from Melanie Leupolz gave Real Madrid a 2-1 first-leg aggregate advantage over Sporting CP in their Champions League qualifier.
The away side took the lead after just 11 minutes as Athenea del Castillo capitalised on a poor mistake from Sporting keeper Hannah Seabert and slotted the ball into an empty net.
Despite Madrid's dominance, they were pegged back on the stroke of half-time after a foul by keeper Misa Rodriguez in the box, with Andreia Bravo making no mistake from the spot.
Madrid continued to dominate in the second half, with Alba Redondo going close, but it looked as if Sporting would hang for a draw to take to Madrid next week.
But that was before Leupolz headed the ball into the net in injury-time after Olga Carmona's cross could only be parried out.
Meanwhile, Galatasaray squandered a two-goal advantage to draw their home-leg encounter with Slavia Prague.
A second-half brace from Andrea Staskova looked to have given the Turkish side a healthy lead to take to the Czech Republic, but Slavia Prague responded late on, with Benan Altintas scoring an own goal 15 minutes from time, before Kristina Kosikova's 98th minute equaliser.
St Polten, meanwhile, hold a healthy first leg lead after defeating Musa 3-0 at home.
The first half produced no goals, but the Austrian side showed their class in the second half, with Kamila Dubcova, Melike Pekel and Izabela Krizaj all getting on the scoresheet.
Colorado Rapids v Toronto FC: Armas calls on hosts to heed 'wakeup call'
Chris Armas says the Colorado Rapids' comprehensive defeat to Sporting Kansas City must serve as a wakeup call as they prepare to resume their playoff push against Toronto FC.
Colorado won their first two games upon returning to MLS play after the Leagues Cup break, but they were brought crashing back to earth with a 4-1 defeat in Kansas City in midweek.
Armas' men remain in a positive position, sitting fourth in the Western Conference standings with a game in hand on some of the teams around them, but he knows they need to ensure Wednesday's performance was a one-off.
"It's probably a wakeup call to all of us, what these games are going to look like," Armas said. "Everyone's fighting for something.
"Everyone's got something to play for and in our league, everyone is capable. A positive is we're on 47 points, we've earned every one of those points.
"We're in a good spot for the playoffs, we've put ourselves probably a win or two away from the playoffs.
"We're going to get home and regroup quickly, then get right back where we've been all year."
Toronto, meanwhile, are occupying a wild-card spot in the East after losing 2-0 to the Columbus Crew in their last match.
"We should have taken something out of the first half, that's clear, then in the second half we had to capitalise on the moments we had," coach John Herdman said afterwards.
"For us, the lads were in the fight, there was a good spirit and they were tactically disciplined and committed.
"We need that from every single player to get into the playoffs, we need every player to play above their level."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Colorado Rapids – Djordje Mihailovic
Mihailovic has 22 goal involvements in MLS play this season (10 goals, 12 assists), the most of any Colorado player. He has not scored in any of their last four regular-season home games, though, so he will be desperate to get back among the goals here.
Toronto FC – Deandre Kerr
Kerr has scored two of Toronto's last three goals in MLS play. He has five goal involvements (three goals, two assists) in just 10 league starts this year.
MATCH PREDICTION – COLORADO RAPIDS WIN
Toronto have earned just 15 points from 45 available on their travels in MLS play this season, winning four, drawing three and losing eight.
They face a daunting task at Dicks' Sporting Goods Park, where Colorado have a record of nine wins, three draws and two defeats in regular-season action this season.
The Rapids are also unbeaten in their last nine league games on their own turf, winning seven and drawing two, and they are favoured to maintain that form here.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Colorado Rapids- 57.8%
Toronto FC – 20.3%
Draw – 21.9%
Brest 2-1 Sturm Graz: Hosts making winning start on European bow
Abdallah Sima's second-half goal secured Brest their first-ever win in a European competition in a 2-1 victory over 10-man Sturm Graz on Thursday.
The French side made their Champions League bow, with goals in either half enough to overcome an own goal on the stroke of half-time.
Hugo Magnetti scored Brest's maiden European goal just 23 minutes in, expertly controlling it on his chest before volleying into the bottom corner to break the deadlock.
However, Sturm Graz equalised just before the break, with Edimilson Fernandes inadvertently sending the ball into his own net.
Brest adopted a more aggressive approach following the interval, and they were rewarded when Sima restored the French side's advantage by skilfully evading his marker to score in the 56th minute.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men with just two minutes remaining of the 90 when Dimitri Lavalee received his second booking after a late tackle on Magnetti. Jonas Martin then had two late chances to snatch a third but was denied by Kjell Scherpen.
Data Debrief: Making an entrance
Brest’s win over Sturm Graz was just the second by a team making their debut in major European competition across the last 21 attempts (D4 L15), with Zrinjski Mostar in last season's UEFA Conference League the only other victor in that time.
Magnetti netted on what was his first-ever start in European competition, becoming the first player to net a team's first-ever goal in the Champions League from outside the area since Demba Ba for Istanbul Basaksehir against Manchester United in November 2020.
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