Arsenal 3 Everton 1: Quincy Owusu-Abeyie twists defences like his name does tongues; Arturo Lupoli has a lupine appetite for goals. These youngsters are already worthy of Arsenal's name.
A strong team from Everton, who occupy third place in the top league, were well beaten last night in a consummate display that challenges the Premiership's claims to being the best league in the world.
The young Gunners had provided the only upside in a turbulent time for Arsenal, securing the club's only win in the past six outings.
Everton's manager, David Moyes, who makes much of his depleted squad of only 17 outfield players, would relish the resources at Arsene Wenger's disposal. The Arsenal manager put out a team containing nine players aged 21 or younger and still gave his first team a chasing.
These pups were not, however, completely immune from the malaise that has been in evidence at Highbury since the club's first league defeat in 50 matches, and their start to the game was scrappy.
Kevin Kilbane was brought down rashly, 20 yards from goal. Thomas Gravesen struck the ball cleanly and powerfully and, via a deflection off Jermaine Pennant's heel, it slipped under the Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.
The goal did not set this Arsenal side back for long. An injury to Ryan Smith saw the introduction of Owusu-Abeyie, the former Ajax youth-team forward, who brought greater incision to the left flank, forcing a fine save from the former Arsenal goalkeeper Richard Wright.
The Dutch teenager would soon be celebrating an equaliser, picking up another Pennant through ball, evading Tony Hibbert and Joseph Yobo and bending his shot round Wright.
Arsenal's ambition occasionally exposed the back four, anchored by the occasionally shaky Philippe Senderos, who has still not recovered completely from his year out of the game with injury. He was nowhere to be seen when James McFadden played Alessandro Pistone into space on the edge of the area. The Italian curled his low shot, only for it to rebound off a post and to be recovered on the goal-line by Johan Djourou.
It was a costly miss. Owusu-Abeyie picked the ball up in the centre of the pitch and advanced with the sort of close control that was too much even for as experienced a campaigner as Gravesen. With his passage to goal blocked, the forward slipped it to Robin van Persie, whose square ball across the six-yard box to Lupoli produced a routine Arsenal goal.
Everton's frustrations were clear. Kilbane, booked for an earlier challenge, was perhaps lucky to remain on the pitch when he fell heavily on top of Mathieu Flamini.
With eight minutes left van Persie struck a free-kick he had won himself that required a diving stop from Wright. It was merely delaying the inevitable.
Van Persie's back-heel set up Flamini for a run, Owusu-Abeyie was on hand to centre for Lupoli's second goal. This was a mouth-watering peek into the future.
ARSENAL: Almunia, Hoyte, Djourou, Senderos, Karbassiyoon, Pennant, Edu (Larsson 65), Flamini, Smith (Owusu-Abeyie 20), Lupoli (Cregg 89), Van Persie. Subs Not Used: Fowler, Jordan. Booked: Edu. Goals: Owusu-Abeyie 25, Lupoli 52, 85.
EVERTON: Wright, Hibbert, Yobo, Stubbs, Pistone, Watson (Osman 71), Gravesen, Cahill, Kilbane, McFadden, Bent (Chadwick 16). Subs Not Used: Weir, Naysmith, Turner. Booked: Kilbane. Goals: Gravesen 8.
Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).
