If George Graham had been watching, he could have been forgiven for shedding a tear or two as Arsenal's once-proud defensive fortress was reduced to rubble.

Manchester United, counter-attacking in remorseless waves, pounded ceaselessly against Arsenal's patched-up defences. Those rocks of the Graham era have been replaced by sand castles, and as United poured forward, the Gunners crumbled into dust.

If Arsene Wenger needed any evidence that Arsenal's frailties at the back have now reached a critical point, it was at Old Trafford in abundance.

To put it simply, a team can have any number of world-class strikers - and Arsenal have four - but if they do not have the same quality in defence, they will get nowhere, and nowhere fast.

As for United, Alex Ferguson has been around for far too long to worry too much about those who said United had gone off the boil, that David Beckham and Paul Scholes were off-form, that Dwight Yorke was not the force of the past.

Without exception, United's players were excellent as they matched the 6-1 thrashing of the Gunners way back in 1952.

Igor Stepanovs will wake up sweating over the next few nights with the spectre of Yorke haunting his dreams. The Trinidad and Tobago striker did nothing less than humiliate Arsenal's uncertain centre-back in scoring his hat-trick, while Gilles Grimandi gave a complete definition of the phrase "makeshift defender".

Ferguson, whose psychological warfare with Wenger has been an on-going and interesting feature of the last few years of the Premiership, almost resisted the chance to crow, but did allow himself to declare Arsenal's title campaign as being "finished".

Ferguson insisted this was not United's best performance of the season - "but the best result" - and there were periods in the first half when Arsenal looked a potent attacking force.

The only trouble for the Gunners was that virtually every time they went forward, United counter-attacked, steamed forward and scored.

Possession may be nine-tenths of the law, but not at Old Trafford. The statistics may have shown Arsenal had the lion's share of the ball - but United had the lion's share of the goals.

There were plenty of plus points too for England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, not least Beckham rediscovering his passing range and Scholes back to his busy, darting best.

Less spectacular, though of no less importance for England, was Wes Brown's continuing emergence as perhaps the most accomplished central defender in England, save his partner at the back Jaap Stam.

As for Wenger, he admitted Arsenal had defended "like a youth club team". The Frenchman was sorely tempted to substitute Stepanovs at half-time to spare him further embarrassment, but opted to leave him on so the Latvian could try to salvage some pride.

It was less than three years ago that Arsenal threatened to end United's overwhelming domestic dominance. But that double in 1998 was built on the house that George built. The old "famous five" are ageing, injured or departed, and United have taken full advantage to put more than a few miles between themselves and their nearest rivals.