Arsenal continued their march towards a record unbeaten streak with an impressive 4-1 rout of Everton at Goodison Park.
The champions, buoyed by news of Patrick Vieira's Real Madrid u-turn, owed much to the Frenchman's young replacement Cesc Fabregas who pulled all the midfield strings early on and slotted seamlessly into the Gunners fold.
Thierry Henry continued his dismal Euro 2004 form, but Fabregas teamed up with Dennis Bergkamp and Jose Antonio Reyes to ensure the visitors made short work of an injury plagued Everton side.
Freddie Ljungberg had two chances to open the scoring in the first ten minutes only to be denied by Nigel Martyn's agility off the line.
Everton's best chance came after 21 minutes. James McFadden profited from a Pascal Cygan mistake to burst through - the Scot twisted and turned before eventually being denied by the legs of Jens Lehmann.
After 23 minutes the Gunners broke quickly from an Everton throw in. Reyes turned Alan Stubbs inside out, but when a last-gasp tackle broke to Henry he slid in Bergkamp who fired a low shot past Martyn for the opener.
Thomas Gravesen threatened from several free-kicks but the tiring Toffees resorted to long-ball tactics as Arsenal's extra fitness started to tell.
Kevin Kilbane flashed a header over from six yards shortly after the half-hour mark, but the Gunners doubled their lead after 39 minutes.
Lauren's cross from the right was missed by Reyes but when Ljungberg curled a left footed cross into the six-yard box, the young Spaniard headed home for the champions' second.
The second half proved much the same. Devoid of ideas Everton threw on Duncan Ferguson and Marcus Bent, but Fabregas continued to control play.
Nine minutes in, Joseph Yobo's loose ball allowed Bergkamp to pick out Henry, who crossed for Ljungberg to tap in the third.
After this, Everton started to pick up and Ferguson's presence caused momentary panic in the Arsenal defence, but he sliced a volley high and wide after a mix-up between Kolo Toure and Cygan on the hour.
Lee Carsley pulled one back for Everton in the 64th minute, smashing the ball into an empty net after Gravesen's looping ball had eluded goalkeeper Lehmann.
But when Arsenal broke again with Henry, Martyn could only parry his shot to Ashley Cole. The England full-back hit the bar from eight yards before late substitute Robert Pires fired home the rebound to make it four with eight minutes to go.
On a glorious afternoon for the Gunners, the only black spot was an injury to World Cup winner Gilberto Silva with 20 minutes to go. The Brazilian clashed with Ferguson and was stretchered off as a concerned Arsene Wenger looked on. His replacement was another teenager, former Marseille star Mathieu Flamini, making his Premiership debut.
Ferguson had a late header for Everton and in the final minute a tussle in the box with Toure saw the big Scot go down.
Everton will have to play a lot better if they are to avoid the same fate come May.