Arsenal are building a wall around their precious trophy with ugly bricks. While the stylists and aesthetes among us can moan about such details, a quick glance at the league table will be sufficient for Mikel Arteta to rest easy during the international break.

There are certainly things for him to improve. Masses of them. And we can all share the disappointment that the sum of such gifted parts is often quite underwhelming. There's a relentlessness about that conversation.

But Arsenal are relentless in other ways, too. Which is to say they are finding ways to win, with this their ninth in ten games and arguably the least convincing of an unconvincing bunch.

If Manchester City weren't facing up to the possibility of an apocalyptic punishment, those performances would likely cause greater concern but it's a tangential argument. A purist's debate. And by extension it is pointless against the single factor that matters most – scoring more than the other lot.

In this case, grimy as it was, that crowning role fell to Martin Odegaard, who nudged the winner over the line in the 72nd minute after benefiting from a favourable rebound after Konstantinos Tzolakis had saved from Noni Madueke.

The latter is surfing ever faster on the wave of his current form and impressed throughout this match, but his wing play and the resilience of Arteta's back four warranted isolated praise.

For all of Arsenal's grumbles about the officiating, including a bizarre penalty claim for Kai Havertz in the first half, they were poor, even if most sides would trade an arm for four straight clean sheets and a healthy lead in the table.

For the majority of the first 45 minutes, this game was shaped by Hull, who hadn't won since August. They had drawn five of their previous seven games and given up winning positions in four of them, but Sergej Jakirovic is doing good work. Here, he had Arteta baffled for long stretches and elements of his blueprint will have been noted by future opposition.

Jakirovic's intentions had been clear, both on the team sheet and the pitch. He kept with his default setting for a back five, but switched from a 5-4-1 to 5-3-2 and introduced Mohamed-Ali Cho to partner Oli McBurnie in attack.

It was the first time this season that Hull's manager has used a front two and dovetailed with his midweek warning that camping on the edge of their area would lead nowhere but trouble. Instead, the aim was to squeeze, suffocate and chase the champions at every turn. That worked for an hour for Leeds and it did likewise for Hull.

Inside the first 70 seconds, they had forced a corner. A moment later, John Egan outjumped Gabriel Magalhaes and headed into the side netting.

Soon enough, David Raya was forced into a save by Regan Slater. In landing a shot on target, Hull had achieved a greater threat after 18 minutes than Liverpool delivered in the entire 90 at Anfield last weekend.

It was strong stuff. And ballsy. Arsenal had space to exploit at the other end but that was contingent on having the composure to pick the right pass. For an awfully long time, that eluded them.

Christos Tzolis and Havertz each offered the limpest of protests for early penalties and Declan Rice belatedly caused some threat with a half-volley. For a while, that was as good as it got, before a third penalty appeal arrived. This one was contentious.

The offence traced to a clear shirt-pull by Nobel Mendy on Havertz, with referee Farai Hallam subsequently called to the screen to check if it merited a foul. Returning to the field and engaging his microphone, he confirmed it did but added that Havertz was in an offside position. The verdict: a Hull free-kick.

A word on Hallam – he was the referee who also overruled the VAR on his Premier League debut last season. It's good to see an official who backs his own judgment, so fair play, but was he in the right?

Such is the mess engulfing the laws on offside, an argument could be put forward that, according to the regulations, the foul must take precedence over the offside as Havertz wasn't yet challenging for the ball. A counterpoint: it's an absurd law that is far too subjective.

None of which helped Arsenal, of course. Not for the first time, they were struggling to utilise their creative talents, with Rice and Odegaard swamped in the middle and their supply lines to Tzolis almost non-existent. Madueke created his own threats, but with limited support. When Havertz had a decent opening late in the half, he took one touch too many and allowed Mendy to challenge. It was bleak.

Kicking his heels on the bench was Viktor Gyokeres, who had one of his finest Arsenal performances at Slavia Prague on Wednesday. His reward for a goal and an assist was one of those soul-crushing demotions for Premier League business, and he wasn't introduced here for more than an hour.

By then, Arsenal had asserted some control. Tzolis was drawing countless fouls, including one from Lewie Coyle that ought to have drawn a second yellow card as Hull's pressure strayed closer to brute force. Their grip on a point was loosening.

First, Madueke drew a save from Tzolakis and then he forced another after skipping around Elliot Stroud and pulling the trigger. This one proved decisive because the save rebounded to Odegaard. He poached the winner.

Madueke then ought to have killed the match, but opted to round Tzolakis instead of taking on the shot when through. The keeper won that battle; Arsenal won the game. Ultimately, not much else mattered.