Like much of the country during the holiday season, Arsenal got the work done early and then knocked off for the rest of the day. A goal up after a minute, two clear in 17, it is hard to imagine a match then played with less sense of import. It looked like what it was: the final game in a period overstuffed with fixtures, with tired legs and tired minds providing the Barclays Premier League equivalent of another dinner consisting of leftovers.

“This was one game too many for us,” Alan Curbishley, the West Ham United manager, said. “We made the worst possible start, but we were on our last legs. Eduardo [da Silva] came up with a great finish, but he had time to pick his spot and that has not been the case for us this season, because the defence has been terrific. After that, it was a tired effort from both teams.”

It was a succinct appraisal. This was not Arsenal at full throttle and Arsène Wenger, the manager, admitted as much. “We controlled the game in the first half,” he said, “and then in the second we controlled it without pushing ourselves. West Ham did not come out to challenge us and our defence was happy to keep a clean sheet, so we did not take too many chances. We have had a very successful Christmas. We had five difficult games [Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at home, Portsmouth and Everton away, plus this one] and came out with four wins and a draw [against Portsmouth]. We went into it top of the league and we have come out the same way.

“It is too early for mind games, but this team is hungry. We have belief and talent and are ready to fight. We are leading and that is what I prefer. It is not better to chase. The teams that chase always say they are not considering the leading team, but how can they not? When you are second, third or fourth, you are always waiting for somebody else to lose.”

No chance of that at the Emirates Stadium, with West Ham undone by a defensive error that as good as made an irrelevance of Curbishley’s game plan. Setting out his team with a lone striker, a five-man midfield and four at the back, he would have instructed his players to keep it tight and look to hit Arsenal on the break.

This was rendered redundant when Eduardo was given time and space to score from the first attack of the game. Cesc Fàbregas crossed from the left and the Croatia striker was allowed to take the ball down and shoot past Robert Green from close range, with no defender in touching distance. There were flurries of resistance from the visiting team immediately after, with Mark Noble, Anton Ferdinand and Fredrik Ljungberg going close, but Emmanuel Adebayor got away from his markers soon after and the game shifted equally quickly beyond West Ham.

It was a lovely ball from Gaël Clichy that created it; a lovely long ball, the fourth to produce a goal for Arsenal in their past two matches. Adebayor split West Ham’s napping centre halves with his run, nodded the ball past the advancing Green and turned it in from such an acute angle, it almost needed back spin to cross the line.

Even when Arsenal go route one, they put their unmistakable brand on it. And why do Arsenal take the direct route to goal? Necessity, Wenger claims.

“When teams play 4-5-1 and try to mark us tight, that becomes an option,” he said. “We have been working on it in training because it is happening more and more. West Ham played very high so they gave us space to get in behind them, although I still do not understand how Adebayor got it in.”

From there, Arsenal selected cruise control. An overhead kick by John Paintsil, the West Ham midfield player, was perhaps the most skilful moment in the game and made neutrals yearn for Arsenal to be pushed to the limits of excellence to achieve their win. No such luck. They kept West Ham at bay with minimum exertion and between Adebayor’s second and an exchange of passes involving Alexander Hleb and Tomas Rosicky that forced a good save from Green 65 minutes later, it is hard to think of a noteworthy Arsenal goal attempt.

You know how knackered you feel when the holiday season ends? Well, Arsenal were a bit like that yesterday. Knowing what lies ahead, though, who can blame them for just kicking back and taking the opportunity to enjoy a rare lazy day?

Arsenal (4-4-2): M Almunia — J Hoyte, K Touré, W Gallas, G Clichy — E Eboué (sub: A Hleb, 76min), F Fàbregas, M Flamini, T Rosicky (sub: A Diaby, 88) — E Adebayor, Eduardo da Silva (sub: T Walcott, 63). Substitutes not used: J Lehmann, A Song.

West Ham United (4-5-1): R Green — L Neill, A Ferdinand, M Upson, G McCartney — J Paintsil, M Noble, H Mullins (sub: H Camara, 76), J Spector, F Ljungberg (sub: J Collison 35) — C Cole (sub: D Ashton 71). Substitutes not used: R Wright, J Tomkins. Booked: Cole, McCartney, Noble.

Referee: C Foy