Premiership: Arsenal determined to make Double

Arsenal 3 Sunderland 0

Patrick Vieira turned in yet another commanding performance as Arsenal gave warning that they are prepared to settle for nothing less than the Double this season.

But if in May English soccer’s two most prestigious prizes glitter in the Highbury cabinet Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will surely reflect that three points never came more easily than on this Easter weekend against Sunderland.

This was nothing short of a stroll in the holiday sun against a Sunderland side which is beginning to take on a death pallor as it careers towards the relegation trap door.

After the news had filtered through that Manchester United had beaten Leeds at Elland Road in a High Noon shoot-out, Arsenal required a commanding performance to sustain their title ambitions.

As a statement of intent their three goals from Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and Sylvain Wiltord, all in the first half-hour, could hardly have been more conclusive.

Vieira’s contribution, in defence and peerlessly in midfield, can only have persuaded Wenger that when the Vieira contract talks reach their denouement his employers had better be pretty damn generous, regardless of chairman Peter Hill-Wood’s comments that his players were paid too much.

This was a champion display no doubt, but if Arsenal showed the class of Double-winners then rarely have opposition contributed so greatly to their ease of victory.

Sunderland were out-fought, out-passed and out-classed. And pretty soon, on this performance, they will be out of the Premiership.

Indeed, the Highbury wags were chanting ‘cheerio’ before the half-hour chimed on the famous Highbury clock and all Sunderland manager Peter Reid could do was shake his head in anguish.

His side were awful. They defended like schoolboys, Jason McAteer squabbled his way through the first half with Arsenal’s Ashley Cole, McAteer at one stage receiving a schoolmasterly ticking off from his own team-mate in the shape of Niall Quinn and Reid was forced to replace the former Liverpool and Blackburn man at half-time with Thomas Butler.

On top of that the Wearsiders had few ideas in midfield and up front Kevin Phillips had one of those games which would only convince England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson that his future no longer lies in an international shirt.

It was the perfect way for Arsenal captain Tony Adams to celebrate his 500th league appearance for the Gunners - a clean sheet and not too much to trouble his ageing limbs.

Sunderland had not won at Highbury since 1983, so they were perhaps fearing the worst.

But Arsenal could not have got off to a better start, scoring twice within the first three minutes after taking advantage of some desperate Sunderland defending.

The first came after just 90 seconds. There seemed no danger in the Sunderland penalty area when Paul Thirwell attempted to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen but he had clearly not seen Vieira.

The French midfielder swept onto the unfortunate ‘pass’ and slid the ball home with the minimum of fuss.

If that was a gift then the second was almost as generous. This time the entire Sunderland defence stood off as a long, speculative cross from Fredrik Ljunberg found Thierry Henry out wide.

With almost casual glee the Frenchman, back from his three-match suspension for protests against referee Graham Poll last December, volleyed the ball hopefully across the goal where it found Bergkamp loitering by the far post.

Bergkamp rarely needs any space to make his talent felt. On this occasion Sunderland gave him what seemed like the length of the Holloway Road to tap the ball home from less than a yard with not a Sunderland player in sight.

It was men against boys.

True, Phillips should have done better after 27 minutes when good work from Darren Williams saw the ball cut back into the striker’s path but from 15 yards he skewed the ball past Seaman’s post.

It was a miss which was to prove costly because in virtually the next attack Bergkamp picked up the ball on the edge of the area, shimmied in that imperious style which is the Dutchman’s trademark and passed the ball delightfully into the six-yard box where Sylvain Wiltord was on hand to stroke the ball elegantly home with his left foot.

Three-nil up and Arsenal were cruising. As it happens if Phillips had taken a series of chances in either half the match might have turned into more of a contest.

But such was the mundanity of Sunderland’s approach-work that they neither deserved not looked like taking anything from the match.

Indeed, Arsenal might have extended their superiority in the second-half, especially with Henry tormenting the Wearside defence at will. The Frenchman did manage to get the ball into the net but while he was celebrating, ripping off his shirt to reveal a ‘Go Robert, We’re Thinking Of You’ message for injured French team-mate Robert Pires, the assistant referee raised his flag for offside.

It was a pity, the Gunners’ brilliant display deserved a prosaic statement. On this form, however, that will come soon enough hallmarked in glittering silver.