Graphic: Bill Edgar's tactical analysis

As Emmanuel Adebayor completed his hat-trick, Arsène Wenger became nostalgic. The finish from his tall striker from Togo reminded him of the style of Thierry Henry. There were pessimists who thought any reference to Henry so early in the season would be uttered in the context of how much Arsenal were missing him. But so imperious have Arsenal been that Henry’s name can be uttered without any accompanying gulps of yearning.

“It’s funny,” Wenger said, “I thought about Thierry today because when he [Adebayor] scored the third goal I thought ‘that’s a Thierry goal’. There was a defender in front of him, he just opened his foot. There are signs there that he showed a similarity. He’s not the same player as Thierry but this kind of goal; Thierry scored as well. But overall they are different players because Adebayor is more a guy who uses his strength, his power and is good in the air.

“I always felt that, from the first day he played for us, he gives us a different option, one that is suited to the British game because when they pin you in your half you can play the long ball and still have a good chance for him to win the ball, or the second ball.”

In summary then, Adebayor is very much like Henry and sometimes more useful. Why stop there? Robin van Persie, Wenger said, “is a bit [Dennis] Bergkamp”.

Wenger did not need to inflict Van Persie upon Derby, however. The visiting team were too busy living up to their own expectations. They anticipated defeat. Even if you gave Billy Davies, the manager, a time machine he would not be able to asses the game, start again and change anything. “I don’t think I would change anything tactically,” he said. “It’s the difference between £50 million and £10 million and the difference in quality.”

Davies is not the first manager to arrive in the top flight knowing which games are the ones that he can realistically gain points from, but he is unusual in his admission that defensive tactics are useless against the best clubs away from home.

Adebayor scored the first hat-trick at the Emirates Stadium courtesy of beating the offside trap, a composed penalty and an Henry impersonation.

“I’m very happy to be part of history,” Adebayor said. “My last hat-trick was 2½ years ago for Monaco against Bastia. It is easier when we score the first goal - it is like deliverance for us.”

The first goal, a 25-yard strike from Abou Diaby, was probably the pick of the bunch, closely followed by Cesc Fàbregas’s shot from the edge of the area. Fàbregas has all of a sudden added scoring for fun to his extensive repertoire. This was his seventh of the season – and his ball to unleash Adebayor in the 25th minute was his seventh assist.

“They are riddled with class players who are going to hurt you,” Kenny Miller, Derby’s new striker, said.

In fact Arsenal are so good, there is no point in feeling depressed when they humiliate you. “I honestly don’t think there’s any need for any spirits to be down,” Davies said. “The confidence is not down, I’ll come back to the training ground on Monday, be as bubbly and as buoyant as I was before.”

Arsenal 5 Diaby 10, Adebayor 25, 50 (pen) 79, Fàbregas 70
Derby 0

Arsenal (4-4-2): M Almunia 5 – B Sagna 5, K Touré 6, G P Senderos 6, G Clichy 5 – T Walcott 6 (sub: L Diarra, 72min), F Fàbregas 8 (sub: Denilson, 71), M Flamini 7 (sub: A Song, 77), A Diaby, 7 – E Adebayor 8, Eduardo da Silva 7. Substitutes not used: L Fabianski, R van Persie. Next: West Ham United (a).

Derby County (4-4-2): S Bywater 4 – T Mears 4, D Leacock 4, C Davis 4, A Griffin 5 – G Teale 4, M Oakley 4 (sub: B Feilhaber, 56), S Pearson 5, E Lewis 4 – S Howard 5 (sub: G Barnes, 75), K Miller 4 (sub: J McEveley, 84). Substitutes not used: L Price, R Earnshaw. Booked: Lewis. Next: Bolton Wanderers (a).

Referee M Atkinson
Attendance 60,122