Arsene Wenger's men strolled to a fourth successive Premier League victory with a 5-0 win over Derby County.
Adebayor hat-trick secures stylish win
Arsene Wenger's Arsenal strolled to a fourth successive Premier League victory with a 5-0 win over Derby County.
A hat-trick from Emmanuel Adebayor and a goal apiece from Cesc Fabregas and Abou Diaby wrapped up a satisfying day for The Gunners.
Abou Diaby opened the scoring for Arsenal in a wonderful fashion. The powerful midfielder cut inside on the edge of the area before unleashing a devastating shot past Stephen Bywater that went in off the angle.
On 26 minutes The Gunners doubled their lead through Adebayor. Fabregas weighted a superb ball over the Derby defence and the Togolese forward rounded Bywater to tap home.
The Rams had a nightmare start to the second half when Matt Oakley carelessly pulled down Eduardo da Silva in the box. Adebayor stepped up and his strike crept past the outstretched Bywater.
Fabregas made it four with a strike form the edge of the box, and then with ten minutes remaining Adebayor completed the rout with a composed finish after some excellent ball control.
Arsenal should have taken the lead in the fourth minute of the game after a superb run down the left flank from Gael Clichy. The left-back's low cross found Adebayor unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box but the tall striker failed to direct his effort on target.
But the Gunners took the lead in the 10th minute when Diaby sidestepped two challenges on the edge of the penalty area before firing an unstoppable rising drive into the top corner of the net.
Unstoppable strike
He almost repeated the feat moments later but this time his low drive from a similar position was pushed to safety by Stephen Bywater.
Derby offered little in the way of an attacking threat under Arsenal's domination of the game.
In the 23rd minute Arsenal almost opened up the Rams for a second time when Adebayor got on the end of a long ball from Kolo Toure, but the striker could not get a firm strike on the ball and it was collected easily by Bywater.
Adebayor made it two to Arsenal in the 25th minute when he latched on to a pass from Fabregas and ran clear of the Derby defence. The Arsenal striker then rounded Bywater and slotted the ball home.
Derby, hammered 6-0 by Liverpool earlier this month, were seemingly out of their depth yet again.
Adebayor was a constant threat and in the 35th minute he almost turned provider for Eduardo. This time his cross was just too far for the Arsenal striker to control and the chance went begging.
Fabregas was controlling the midfield and in the 32nd minute he put Walcott through on goal but the England youngster fired straight at Bywater who managed to grab the ball at the second attempt.
Sloppy play
Derby's sloppy play allowed Arsenal to quickly regain possession and cause County further problems. In the 44th minute Eduardo's header from a corner by Fabregas was brilliantly saved by Bywater.
The half-time whistle gave the visitors some much-needed relief after a first half dominated by Wenger's team.
Derby's plight worsened four minutes after the re-start when County captain Matt Oakley was punished for pulling back Eduardo inside the penalty area by referee Martin Atkinson.
Adebayor stepped up to take the spot-kick and made no mistake for his second goal of the game. In the 56th minute a surging run by Toure almost brought him a goal. The Arsenal captain started the move with a clever pass to Fabregas and when the midfielder crossed the ball into the middle, it was headed just wide by the advancing Toure.
In the 68th minute another fine Arsenal move ended with Adebayor heading over the crossbar after Sagna's cross had found him on the edge of the six-yard box.
With 20 minutes remaining Fabregas scored Arsenal's fourth with a crisp right-foot drive from 20 yards - it was just reward for a tremendous midfield performance.
But the rout was not over and Adebayor made sure of his treble in the 80th minute. He chested down a long ball and kept his composure before sidefooting home from eight yards to cap a glorious afternoon for Wenger's men.
| Arsenal |
Team Statistics |
Derby County |
| 5 |
Goals |
0 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 8 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 6 |
Blocked Shots |
1 |
| 5 |
Corners |
4 |
| 10 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 88 |
Passing Success |
76.9 |
| 9 |
Tackles |
25 |
| 77.8 |
Tackles Success |
64 |
| 62.4 |
Possession |
37.6 |
| 47.8 |
Territorial Advantage |
52.2 |
|
