Arsenal 3 Tottenham 0:  Arsenal convincingly won the first north London derby at the Emirates Stadium even without injured skipper Thierry Henry.

Gilberto, standing in as captain, scored in each half from the penalty spot after Emmanuel Adebayor, leading the attack in the Henry's absence, opened the scoring.

Adebayor ran straight to the dug-out after breaking the deadlock and celebrated with Henry, who earlier in the day denied a rift with boss Arsene Wenger after a neck injury prevented him from playing.

France striker Henry was in the tunnel prior to kick-off, offering words of encouragement to his team-mates before taking his seat.

Even without their talisman, Arsenal looked purposeful early on and had a tame penalty appeal turned down by referee Graham Poll when Freddie Ljungberg went over in the area following a challenge from Michael Dawson.

The hosts were ahead in the 20th minute when Kolo Toure surged forward and played the ball over the top and Adebayor was played onside by Spurs full-back Pascal Chimbonda.

The Togo striker calmly slotted past Paul Robinson then ran over to the bench and embraced Henry.

Ljungberg had the chance to double the lead two minutes later but volleyed over from a tight angle, while Didier Zokora needed to make a timely challenge on Cesc Fabregas from a similar position.

Arsenal were 2-0 ahead from Gilberto's penalty after Chimbonda was adjudged to have brought down Tomas Rosicky in the 41st minute but television replays showed the decision was harsh.

Gilberto then put the results beyond doubt with 20 minutes remaining, this time sending Robinson the wrong way with a spot-kick, after Jenas hauled down Van Persie in the area.  PA