Arsenal 3 Blackburn Rovers 0: Unless Chelsea encounter a banana skin the length of Red Square the best Arsenal can hope to achieve in the Premiership this season is an extension of Arsene Wenger's eight-year record of never finishing outside the top two.

The smoothness of Arsenal's progress to the knockout stage of the Champions League encourages the belief that they will make more of an impact on the tournament this time than hitherto, although it is just as well that most of their injured defenders should be back in action by the time European operations are resumed in earnest in February. So far Arsenal have conceded 10 goals in the Premiership and only two in the Champions League but recently, in the enforced absence of Ashley Cole, Gael Clichy and Philippe Senderos, they have looked more vulnerable defensively, a situation not helped by the loss of the shield in midfield once provided by Patrick Vieira.

Blackburn Rovers exploited these shortcomings at Highbury on Saturday and with better marksmanship would surely have run Wenger's side closer than they did. Though a 3-0 victory did not flatter Arsenal's attack it disguised the frequency with which Blackburn in general and Craig Bellamy in particular exposed their defence. "I never felt there were three goals between the sides," the Blackburn manager Mark Hughes reflected. "The difference was that the quality of Arsenal's finishing was excellent and we didn't quite match that."

Hughes was right about the incisiveness of Arsenal's attacking play although it was evident more in short bursts than any sustained pressure. Cesc Fabregas opened the scoring after four minutes with a cleanly struck shot after the ball had squirted out to him as Jose Antonio Reyes was tackled near the 18-yard line. Thierry Henry extended Arsenal's lead on the stroke of half-time after a beautifully weighted diagonal pass from Robert Pires had blown Blackburn's cover and Robin van Persie came off the bench to add a gloriously impudent third from the acutest of angles.

Henry's goal was his 100th in the Premiership at Highbury. He is now reaching significant tons with the boot much as another Arsenal player, Denis Compton, once did with a bat. "The records bear witness to his outstanding ability," Wenger glowed. "This is his back garden here and he feels completely at ease."

Just so long as Henry does not prefer a spot of lawn-mowing in Spain next season.

Yet for all Henry's class the most consistent performance came from the quick and inventive Bellamy, who throughout the match successfully sought space between Arsenal's midfield and their back four and, with steady support from Steven Reid, was usually the source of the numerous chances Blackburn created. In the first half Bellamy saw successive shots blocked by Jens Lehmann and Kolo Toure, in the second half his flying, twisting header had Lehmann beaten but clipped the wrong side of a post.

Much of Blackburn's threat stemmed from the ease with which they turned Arsenal on the right. With Cole and Clichy unfit Wenger is using Pascal Cygan as an emergency left-back. Cygan is shaky enough in the middle but as a full-back he is apt to give the entire defence a fit of the ague. Maybe it is just as well for Arsenal that Senderos, who was on the bench on Saturday, is getting back to match fitness. At least his presence will give Wenger more options while he waits for Cole and, in the longer term, Clichy to return.

At the muck-and-nettles level Robbie Savage is useful to have around but at Highbury, as at Stamford Bridge a month earlier, he was often lost amid the speed and skill bubbling around him. Blackburn's defence as a whole tended to respond leadenly whenever Arsenal upped the tempo and one always felt that, had Hughes's side started to find the net, the opposition would have found it more often.

Just when it seemed that Arsenal would play out time at 2-0 Van Persie, who had replaced Dennis Bergkamp in the 82nd minute, managed to turn between Savage and Michael Gray, who were about to close him down on the right, and after surviving Savage's

attempt to clip his heels struck a daring, almost outrageous shot beyond Brad Friedel and in off the far post. This was Van Persie's fourth goal against Blackburn in three games, including his two in last season's FA Cup semi-final. On a day when George Best was being remembered, with the minute's silence impeccably observed, it was a fitting conclusion.

Guardian Service