SOMETIMES, AMID THE SLEAZE, the hype, the one-eyed managers, the two-faced chairmen, the dopes and the dope tests, it is easy to forget that football can be beautiful. Arsenal provided a timely reminder and showed that they are more than an assortment of bulging eyeballs as they humiliated a Leeds United side that is drifting aimlessly towards relegation.

As a contest, this was more one-sided than your average game of Solitaire. Mark Viduka had set the tone for a calamitous day from a Leeds perspective by surging purposefully through the car park and out of Elland Road after being dropped for turning up late. It was the most demonstrative act this prince of lethargy had managed in recent weeks and he will be fined £130,000 for his fit of pique.

In his absence, Leeds looked every inch the worst side in the Barclaycard Premiership. Their tactic of ignoring Thierry Henry in the hope that he would go away was never likely to come off and Peter Reid, the hapless manager, has three games to save his job. Some believe even that is optimistic and the vultures may be picking over his bones at Fratton Park next week.

Arsenal’s victory over Leeds by the same scoreline in the corresponding fixture last season vented lots of premature waffle about them being the new Real Madrid and it would be parlous to read too much into a win against such modest opposition. Their failure on foreign fields is a lingering flaw and they will be better judged on their attempts to salvage their Champions League fate against Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday.

“It feels sometimes in Europe that we are playing with the handbrake on,” Dennis Bergkamp said. “We need to relax a bit. I think we have proved already in the league that we are a great team, but for us it is important to go a step farther and that step is Europe; I don’t feel we have done enough to be called a great team. We have not played to our potential.”

It was an astute appraisal of Arsenal’s fallibility. With Robert Pires, Fredrik Ljungberg and, most crucially, Henry, Arsenal should have the flair to worry anyone, but Bergkamp admitted that they become inhibited on the bigger stage. “We don’t really think of it as a psychological thing,” he said. “But on the night itself it seems we want to take fewer risks.”

On the domestic front, Arsenal remain a cut above. They would have had seven against Leeds but for some profligate finishing and Ray Parlour’s rear end getting in the way of a certain hat-trick for Henry. The Frenchman was all pace and swivelling hips and he ravaged Leeds after just eight minutes, latching on to Ashley Cole’s long ball, cantering away from Zoumana Camara and slotting a neat finish beyond Paul Robinson. That was effectively that: game over with the Bovril still warm.

The second goal was a counter-attacking delight. Bergkamp initiated it with a cute ball down the right, Ljungberg sprinted forward and his pass was met by Pires at the far post. Just after the half-hour, Bergkamp hit an upright and Henry’s follow-up was deflected in off the utterly outclassed Roque Júnior. Gilberto Silva made it four from close range shortly after the restart and, although Alan Smith pulled one back from Aaron Lennon’s cross, it was deeply embarrassing for the men in white. The vociferous support of the fans, ironic chants a forte, was remarkable given that they now have a team that is an insult to their loyalty.

“If I start looking over my shoulder with all this speculation about the future, I would not be able to look forward,” Reid said. As for Viduka, how Reid must wish he could have him back at his fully motivated best. “He was left out of the squad for disciplinary reasons and I don’t do things like that lightly,” Reid said. “A couple of times he has overstepped the disciplinary boundaries at this club.” At the moment, Viduka is being paid £65,000 a week to sulk.

There were no positives for Reid to take from a passionless, disjointed debacle. The defence, shorn of Dominic Matteo, was all at sea, the midfield anonymous apart from when David Batty clouted Cole in the face. Defeat by Arsenal was expected, but 4-0 defeats away to Leicester City and Everton speak volumes about their ability to survive at this level. Perhaps the club should consider going into administration now to avoid the ten-point penalty that they will receive if they do so when in the Nationwide League.

“Two years ago Leeds had a different team and that has changed,” Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said. “You are never at the top indefinitely. I am always worried. Everybody in every club is worried when it is going well that it does not become worse. The position is very fragile and you can go down quickly.” Leeds are doing just that. For Arsenal, after the ugly scenes at Old Trafford, the fine and the bans, the game is beautiful again.

Leeds United (4-4-2): P Robinson 4 — G Kelly 4, Z Camara 4, Roque Júnior 4, S Olembe 4 — J Pennant 4, D Batty 5, Seth Johnson 4, L Sakho 4 (sub: A Lennon, 61min 6) — A Smith 6, M Bridges 5 (sub: J Milner, 46 5). Substitutes not used: S Carson, I Harte, M Duberry. Booked: Batty, Olembe. NEXT: Portsmouth (a). FORM: LLLWLL

Arsenal (4-4-2): J Lehmann 6 — Lauren 6, K Touré 6, S Campbell 7, A Cole 7 — F Ljungberg 7 (sub: Edu, 70 5), R Parlour 7, Gilberto Silva 6, R Pires 8 — D Bergkamp 8 (sub: J Aliadière, 77), T Henry 8. Substitutes not used: G Stack, S Wiltord, P Cygan. NEXT: Tottenham Hotspur (h). FORM: WDWWWD Shots on target: (h) 6 (a) 13. Fouls: (h) 12 (a) 11. Offsides: (h) 5 (a) 4 Smith 64

Referee: M Dean 6. Attendance: 36,491