English FA Premiership/ Manchester Utd 0 Arsenal 1: When Arsenal are passing the ball as well as this and have the bit between their teeth, there can be few more exhilarating sights in English football.

Such a display earned them their first Premiership win of the season at Old Trafford yesterday and went a long way to undermining Alex Ferguson's bullish belief that Manchester United should be considered Chelsea's more robust challengers. Arsenal were better from A to Z.

A defeat for Arsene Wenger's team would have left them 13 points adrift and made it legitimate to eliminate them from the title race while the players are still tanned from their summer holidays.

Instead, the more pertinent questions at the end of a thoroughly deserved Arsenal victory concerned the durability of Ferguson's malfunctioning team. Four successive wins had boosted the belief of the fans, but their supporters are entitled to be alarmed by their recklessness at the first serious hurdle. They were not quite outclassed, but it was not far off, and it was disconcerting to hear Ferguson use fatigue as an excuse so early in the season.

Citing exhaustion is nearly always a cop out and particularly when Arsenal had been involved in a Champions League tie in Germany four days earlier. Wenger's players looked fresh and athletic, slick and full of running. The victory also incorporated a squandered penalty, Tomasz Kuszczak saving from Gilberto Silva, and they carved out enough chances for it to feel slightly incongruous that they had to wait until four minutes from the end for the game's decisive moment.

They played with movement, grace and a sense of togetherness epitomised by the manner in which Emmanuel Adebayor, the match-winner, tirelessly ran the line in attack. Gangly and awkward, Adebayor has flattered to deceive too many times but on this occasion the tall, loping striker seemed hell-bent on dismissing the myth that Arsenal without Thierry Henry are incapable of reaching their highest peaks.

Cesc Fabregas was the outstanding midfielder, closely followed by Tomas Rosicky and Freddie Ljungberg.

Gilberto gave a cultured demonstration of how to fill in between midfield and defence, a role that seemed beyond the hapless John O'Shea.

The Arsenal full backs attacked with greater penetration than United's wingers. They came to Old Trafford without a win in their opening four Premiership games and supposedly devoid of confidence. Yet they played as though they did not believe anything could possibly go wrong.

Undeniably, they were helped on their way by a United side that made mistakes in telling areas of the pitch. O'Shea was not alone on that count. Adebayor's goal originated from Cristiano Ronaldo losing the ball to Fabregas. Ferguson was surely bluffing when he identified Ronaldo as the home team's best player because it's difficult to remember him enduring such a dismal afternoon.

Equally, Wayne Rooney has seldom been such a peripheral figure. At one stage Louis Saha tried to encourage him with a ruffle of the hair. Rooney did not respond and soon afterwards he was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

It must have jarred Ferguson seeing so many players guilty of irresponsible passing. One mix-up between Ronaldo and Wes Brown left Adebayor bearing down on goal. Soon afterwards it was O'Shea's turn to wave an apologetic arm when a pass intended for Rio Ferdinand sent Julio Baptista hurtling towards the penalty area.

Arsenal could not keep spurning these opportunities and when Ronaldo ran into trouble for the final time it was one aberration too many. Fabregas advanced towards goal, waiting and waiting until the perfect moment to release the ball. His pass was exquisitely weighted and Adebayor stole in to poke his shot beneath Kuszczak.

Kuszczak, deputising for Edwin van der Sar, had earlier conceded a penalty by upending Adebayor after another slick Arsenal attack. Gilberto's penalty was struck weakly enough for the Polish international, diving to his right, to atone for his error.

For the remainder of the match Arsenal, even with two right-footed players patrolling their left flank, looked sharper and more imaginative with the ball.

Within a minute of Kuszczak's penalty save the goalkeeper was turning an Adebayor header against his post. Soon afterwards Rosicky had conjured another fine save from Kuszczak.

Ferguson will reflect on the chance for Ronaldo just before half-time when he blasted the ball straight into Jens Lehmann's face. Solskjaer, typically, came close to salvaging a draw a minute after Adebayor's goal. That, however, would have been a travesty.

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