Stop those preparations for a procession down the King's Road. If Arsenal stuttered on Saturday, they were back to somewhere near their smooth best last night, although Derby's determination meant this victory was never straightforward.

A characteristic mixture of discipline and delight carried Arsene Wenger's team through with Dennis Bergkamp's neat goal early in the second half decisive after Rory Delap had equalised Emmanuel Petit's strike.

Having exploited the absence of one greedy striker, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, to gain a point at Leeds on the opening day, Derby must have hoped to take similar advantage of the transition at Highbury from the sulker to the Suker.

Nicholas Anelka's most direct replacement, Davor Suker, was still unavailable because of his lack of match fitness, although like Derby's defender Igor Stimac, he was on international duty with Croatia last night in a friendly against Macedonia preparing for the rigours of the Premiership.

Wenger persevered with Bergkamp and Nwankwo Kanu up front, giving his Stg£10 million signing Thierry Henry his first start in midfield after losing Marc Overmars and Freddie Ljungberg to injury.

After Jim Smith had said in the match programme that he has a "sneaking feeling" Arsenal will win the title, Derby must have expected the worst, and indeed within a quarter of an hour the Londoners had created two chances. First Patrick Vieira's volley from the edge of the area forced Mart Poom into a low save then Henry wasted a glorious opportunity, curling his shot wide.

Not surprisingly, Bergkamp's subtle touch had sent Dixon scampering down the right flank, and the Dutchman's influence continued to grow. After forcing Poom into one save, he flashed a shot wide from a cross by Henry, whose finishing was again exposed in the 21st minute. Set free on the right of the area by Vieira, he allowed Poom to save at the near post.

The overworked goalkeeper kept Derby in the match again minutes later as Arsenal, unaffected by the loss of Ray Parlour through injury, continued to pile forward. This time a deflection off the referee fell into the path of the impressive Kanu, whose shot was dangerously heading for the bottom corner.

Derby had only just recovered from that effort when Kanu's brilliance bamboozled them again. This time the Nigerian cut inside his marker with an exquisite touch to shoot into the side netting.

Finally, Arsenal's relentless pressure was rewarded when, five minutes before the break, Emmanuel Petit found the time to set himself before curling a glorious 25-yard shot beyond Poom's right hand.

Perhaps relaxing after taking the lead, Arsenal allowed Derby an undeserved equaliser seconds before half-time. Martin Keown dispossessed Francesco Baiano but succeeded only in finding Rory Delap, who sent a ferocious shot into the far corner of Alex Manninger's net.

Within two minutes of the restart Arsenal had regained the lead. Petit was the architect with a precise ball into the penalty area. Derby thought they had caught Bergkamp offside but the flag stayed down and the Dutchman turned neatly before firing past the stranded Poom.

Derby's frustration showed in the 55th minute when Spencer Prior joined his team-mates Darryl Powell and Horatio Carbonari in the book for a tackle on Henry, who had played on as Stefan Schnoor lay grounded after a challenge by Kanu.

That seemed to inspire Derby, with Carbonari forcing Manninger to tip over a fierce 20-yard freekick but despite their determination, typified by Johnson, they were able to create little from open play against a defiant Arsenal back four still without Tony Adams.

Derby County: Poom, Carbonari (Harper 80), Schnoor (Borbokis 58), Powell, Johnson, Delap, Laursen, Prior, Beck (Burton 80), Baiano, Eranio. Subs Not Used: Hoult, Elliott. Booked: Powell, Carbonari, Prior, Borbokis. Goal: Delap 45.

Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Winterburn, Vieira, Keown, Bergkamp, Henry (Boa Morte 85), Parlour (Silvinho 22), Petit, Upson, Kanu (Luzhny 76). Subs Not Used: Grimandi, Lukic. Booked: Henry, Keown. Goals: Petit 40, Bergkamp 47.

Referee: S Lodge (Barnsley).