Leeds United 1 Arsenal 4: The holders stride again. Against the club that has marching as its anthem, Arsenal took their first calm, at times casual steps towards a defence of the FA Cup.
A third consecutive Cup triumph thus remains on the agenda for Arsene Wenger's supremely confident side, an achievement emulating Blackburn Rovers, who were the last such history-makers in the 1880s. Given that 118 years separate Rovers' hat-trick from a possible Arsenal repeat, the degree of difficulty is significant. But an omen may be derived from the scoreline yesterday if people are clutching at threes. This was the third time in a row Arsenal have won 4-1 at Elland Road.
Once again the scoreline did not reflect the ease of the victory. As in November here Arsenal could have scored several more, though Leeds could argue, not very persuasively, that two goals in the last three minutes from two of Arsenal's substitutes, Robert Pires and Kolo Toure, distorted the margin of victory.
They did not. Three wasted chances in the first 20 minutes of the second half from Edu, Sol Campbell and Kanu kept Leeds in contention.
"Their commitment was outstanding," said Wenger of a Leeds team which must now rally itself for the trip to St James' Park on Wednesday night. Then it is Tottenham here on Saturday - second-bottom of the Premiership versus third-bottom. That commitment was believed to have continued in the tunnel at half-time when Alan Smith and Edu are said to have been involved in a confrontation.
Typically, no one in authority saw anything. "Our priority is the league and the players know that," said the Leeds caretaker Eddie Gray, concentrating solely on football. "Newcastle is an important game. We have got to try to be positive about it."
It cannot be easy. Consistently losing creates its own demoralising momentum and even after Mark Viduka opened the scoring with a freakish goal that owed more to Jens Lehmann's eccentricity than his own skill, Leeds still played with 10 men behind the ball, inviting Arsenal on.
It was a needless invitation. "Some of our passing today was brilliant," said Wenger, "and the goals we scored were brilliant. You can see the players enjoy playing together."
That was visible certainly, although it would be a strange footballer who did not relish passing a ball to Thierry Henry. Once again the Frenchman was devastating and his thoughtfulness carried on after the whistle when he offered his shirt to James Milner, a boy who turned 18 yesterday.
It should be regarded as a treasure by Milner simply for the sumptuous volley with which Henry equalised in it but its value increased when Wenger revealed that Henry was going to be left out to accommodate Jeremie Aliadiere, only for Aliadiere to fall ill.
Lehmann had given Leeds early belief with his hash of Campbell's eighth-minute back-pass, allowing Viduka to charge it down, the rebound flying high into the net. The trouble for Leeds scoring so early was that they then had to defend their lead for 82 minutes. For a side that has conceded 40 goals in the Premiership - one more than Wolves - this was clearly an ambition unlikely to be fulfilled.
It took Arsenal as many as 18 minutes to respond, during which time Lehmann fumbled an Ian Harte corner and Milner robbed Martin Keown and had a useful shot. But when Campbell rolled a short pass forward to Kanu the Arsenal centre half set in motion a beautiful goal. From Kanu the ball was relayed swiftly to Freddie Ljungberg on the right wing and Henry met his first-time cross with a volley that was both smooth and fierce.
Seven minutes later Henry was at the centre of a move of comparable fluency. This time Patrick Vieira initiated it with a clipped pass with the outside of his right foot. The Arsenal captain found Henry lurking on the left wing, where Henry had already sized up the situation developing in the Leeds penalty area.
Henry drilled in a centre that Edu met on the run at full stretch. The Brazilian's touch diverted the ball past Paul Robinson, whose momentum was taking him the other way.
As in the Premiership the two were now heading in the opposite direction. It felt like a case of how many even then and Edu should have made it 3-1 five minutes after half-time, Matthew Kilgallon clearing off the goal line.
Less than 60 seconds later Campbell was given a free header seven yards out but powered it over and though Keown made an important intervention with Viduka waiting soon after, when Kanu was teed up in the 64th minute he took his time before shooting too close to Robinson.
Arsenal floated for a while then but when Pires came on he drilled an Henry pass low beyond Robinson and in injury time Pires flighted a feather-light cross to the far post, where Toure gleefully whacked it in.
Three years and 15 ties undefeated, Arsenal stroll on in the FA Cup. "We love to win no matter the competition," said Wenger. "We just love to win."
LEEDS UTD: Robinson; Richardson, Duberry, Kilgallon, Harte, Bakke (Sakho 70), Smith, Batty, Matteo, Milner (Lennon 84), Viduka. Subs Not Used: Carson, Johnson, Olembe. Booked: Bakke, Smith. Goal: Viduka 8.
ARSENAL: Lehmann; Lauren, Keown, Campbell, Cole, Ljungberg (Toure 81), Vieira, Silva, Edu (Parlour 80), Kanu (Pires 81), Henry. Subs Not Used: Shaaban, Bentley. Booked: Silva. Goals: Henry 26, Edu 33, Pires 87, Toure 90.
Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).
