King Henry puts Leeds to the sword

Leeds 1 Arsenal 4

Thierry Henry again provided the classy cutting edge for Arsene Wenger's side as Arsenal victoriously embarked on the road to a fourth successive visit to the Millennium Stadium with a third consecutive 4-1 triumph over Leeds at Elland Road.

Leeds showed commendable spirit on this occasion, more than they had in the past two Premiership encounters, yet in Henry found a man at the peak of his career.

The France international striker scored one and made the second and third as Arsenal stretched their unbeaten run in the competition to 15 matches.

Yet notwithstanding two goals in the closing few minutes, Wenger's side had to scrap for every ball with the final scoreline perhaps rough justice on Leeds.

Henry was nearly given the afternoon off, but instead produced his latest match-winning performance. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger came close to resting Henry as he was due to play Jeremie Aliadiere.

However, Aliadiere was ruled out through illness, and Wenger turned to Henry. And how the French international responded.

The Gunners, winners of the FA Cup in the last two seasons, stretched their unbeaten record in the competition to 15 matches after initially going behind in the eighth minute to Mark Viduka's third goal in his last five games.

Arsenal then stepped up a gear as Henry made it 17 goals for the season with a sumptuous volley in the 26th minute, before turning supplier for Edu seven minutes later.

The world player of the year runner-up then set up substitute Robert Pires four minutes from time, before fellow sub Kolo Toure completed the victory in injury time.

Wenger said: "Leeds had a good start and they had a lot more confidence about them, but then after the first 10 minutes we played well. The goals we scored were brilliant and the players were brilliant. You could see their confidence and belief.

"Leeds gave us a hard time. Their commitment was outstanding. They fought for every ball and never gave up until the last 10 minutes when they looked really tired."

Wenger made six changes, however, Henry was not one of them as he added: "I want to rotate the squad because we have so many games in January. I wanted to rest Henry today. Aliadiere would have started and I wanted to play him up front, but he was sick."

The victory meant Wenger was able to forgive goalkeeper Jens Lehmann for the eighth minute error which gifted Viduka the opener.

"Jens made a mistake, but I give credit to Viduka because he reacted quickly and cleverly and made it very difficult for our keeper," added Wenger last night.

"It's the kind of mistake which you have to accept from your keeper. You want distribution from the back and that starts with the goalkeeper. You know during a season it can happen once or twice and the keeper gets those kind of problems, but we responded well and the best way to help him was by scoring goals."

The defeat was Leeds' third successive 4-1 hammering at home from the Gunners, although caretaker-boss Eddie Gray felt his side were hard done by.

He said: "I think it was a bit harsh on the players but the game lasts for 90 minutes and they know they have to concentrate from the first minute to the last. But I couldn't fault their commitment in the game. I felt they worked extremely hard, but it's just the little things that let us down."

Gray now immediately turns his attentions to Wednesday's Barclaycard Premiership clash at Newcastle, with Leeds desperate for a win as they battle against relegation.

"I start looking at that game straight away," added Gray.

"The league is our priority. Everybody knows how important the league is to this club and that every game we now play is going to be vital."

LEEDS: Robinson, Richardson, Duberry, Kilgallon, Harte, Bakke (Sakho 70), Smith, Batty, Matteo, Milner (Lennon 84), Viduka.

ARSENAL: Lehmann, Lauren, Keown, Campbell, Cole, Ljungberg (Toure 81), Vieira, Silva, Edu (Parlour 80), Kanu (Pires 81), Henry.

Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).