English FA Premiership/ Arsenal 3 Sheffield Utd 0: Arsenal's delayed first victory at the Emirates Stadium should make them feel more comfortable in their new home although for a long time on Saturday they continued to perform as if the removals van had gone missing and the gas and electricity were still not connected.

In the end Sheffield United were beaten convincingly enough but Arsene Wenger's side need to do a bit more if they are to convince themselves and their supporters that this season will not turn out to be another pursuit of a Champions League place rather than the championship itself.

Having passed and moved so well in defeating Manchester United six days earlier Arsenal were expected to enjoy a gentle spot of house-warming against opponents who are finding it hard to meet the extra demands of the Premiership. Instead they spent more than an hour banging their heads against the nine-man wall that Sheffield United had assembled to mark Neil Warnock's 1,000th match as a manager.

Eventually Thierry Henry, who had missed the win at Old Trafford with a foot injury and now found he could barely make a move without getting his toes trodden on, was granted the room to create two goals and score another, all in the space of 16 minutes during the last half-hour. Yet overall, by his own high standards, it was one of Henry's lesser performances.

With Henry playing further forward than usual and running into culs-de-sac Arsenal became increasingly reliant on an accurate service from the wings plus the support from the back regularly provided by Kolo Toure and Johan Djourou.

Freddie Ljungberg and Tomas Rosicky, backed by Emmanuel Eboue and William Gallas, did pose a consistent threat on the flanks but United closed down space in the approaches to goal and restricted Arsenal to sporadic scoring opportunities before half-time, the best of these falling to Henry, who met Toure's centre at the far post with a close-range header which Ian Bennett did exceptionally well to keep out.

With two points from six matches and only two goals scored, United are already starting to put down slender roots at the bottom. Saturday's one moment of optimism turned out to be a false dawn. Shortly before half-time Mikele Leigertwood drove a shot past Jens Lehmann only to discover that Rob Hulse had already been penalised for a dangerous head-high scissors kick.

Alan Wiley's decision was correct but, as Wenger observed: "It was a lucky moment for us." Once Henry had begun to move deeper and seek opportunities to run at tiring defenders Arsenal became more of a recognisable attacking force. After 65 minutes Henry's dink over the defence was met by Cesc Fabregas and then, as the ball dropped, by Gallas who volleyed his first goal for Arsenal since leaving Chelsea.Four minutes later Henry's innocuous low cross was deflected wearily into his own net by Phil Jagielka, and Henry himself completed the scoring nine minutes from the end with a free header from Eboue's precise centre.

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