Arsenal's tendency to leave it late was again evident last night when three goals in the last seven minutes put a flattering look on their victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Highbury.

This game, of course, was the return fixture of the infamous encounter at Hillsborough in September when Paulo di Canio pushed the referee Paul Alcock, and on the undercard Martin Keown was sent off and Patrick Vieira fined £20,000 by the FA following an altercation in the tunnel.

Last night's re-match began in an altogether more serene climate. From the kick-off, Wednesday showed themselves to be rare visitors in their willingness to play the ball around rather than try to shackle Arsenal by man-marking tactically and physically.

Even with Vieira back after suspension to provide his customary defensive cover in midfield, the home side found their hands full in the first half as Wednesday's sweet one-touch passing movements posed a persistent threat to the well-being of Arsenal's back four, minus Nigel Winterburn for the night with a throat infection.

Even so it was Arsenal who should have gone ahead on 14 minutes when Emerson Thome cleared Nicolas Anelka's shot off the line after Pavel Srnicek had spilled Tony Adams' wonderful flick, the ball fell loose and Keown's clearance only squirted across to the unmarked Petter Rudi. However, the gangly Norwegian appeared so taken aback by his good fortune that he could only skew his shot wide.

Arsenal's problem, uncharacteristically, was rooted in an inability to hold on to the ball. Anelka and Dennis Bergkamp were giving away possession too easily while in central midfield Ray Parlour, a revelation against tough-tackling Derby on Saturday, looked less at ease against a fleet-footed middle four.

However, the Rudi let-off seemed to wake Arsenal up and on the half hour Bergkamp suddenly sprang to life, beating two defenders for pace then forcing his way past Danny Sonner into the right of the Wednesday area. The resultant shot, though hit hard, was close enough to Srnicek to allow him to push the ball away at full stretch.

With Parlour moved inside to cover for the absence of the recovering Emmanuel Petit, the rightwing berth had been handed to Fredrik Ljungberg, who had a pretty good game in that position against Derby.

Now, though, he was up against the cannier presence of the England full-back Andy Hinchcliffe and at half-time was withdrawn in favour of the recently-signed Kaba Diawara, who took up a wide left role with Marc Overmars switching to the other flank.

The Frenchman's arrival so nearly brought a goal just eight minutes into the second half. Bergkamp broke into the left of the Wednesday area and backheeled to Anelka. He found Diawara 12 yards out but the unlucky player hit the post - for the third time in his five-game stay at Highbury.

Arsenal had also gone close five minutes earlier when a move down the right ended with Vieira feeding Bergkamp on the left of the area and the Dutchman curling a shot which crept just wide.

As Arsene Wenger searched for that elusive goal, he withdrew Anelka on 62 minutes and brought on Saturday's hero Kanu while at the same time pushing up Overmars to form the same sort of four-man attack which had finally broken Derby's resistance.

But Arsenal remained frustrated. On 66 minutes Diawara unleashed a goalbound shot from the left of the area, but Srnicek dived full length to save.

On 70 minutes Arsenal brought on Petit, back sooner than expected following an ankle injury. It was their last throw of the dice.

When their breakthrough finally came seven minutes from the end it was ironically straight forward as substitute Petit caught Wednesday napping with a quick free-kick that allowed Bergkamp to run through unchallenged and even Srnicek could not stop a close range drive which brought the Dutchman his 11th goal of the season.

Three minutes later Kanu made victory secure when repeating Saturday's FA Cup feat against Derby by blasting high into the net after Overmars found him with a low cross from the left.

Bergkamp then added insult, scoring his second for a decisive 3-0 advantage.

"My players never know when to give up," said Arsene Wenger afterwards. "They looked tired at times, but in the end it was determination and our technical level which made the difference."ARSENAL: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Adams, Vivas, Ljungberg (Diawara 46), Vieira, Parlour (Petit 69), Overmars, Bergkamp, Anelka (Kanu 63). Subs not used: Manninger, Grimandi. Goals: Bergkamp 83, Kanu 86, Bergkamp 88.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY: Srnicek, Atherton, Walker, Thome, Hinchcliffe, Rudi, Alexandersson, Sonner, Jonk, Carbone, Booth. Subs not used: Newsome, Clarke, Humphreys, Briscoe, Stefanovic. Booked: Jonk.

Referee: D Elleray (Harrow-on-the-Hill).