A hat-trick from Emmanuel Adebayor helped league leaders Arsenal to a 5-0 demolition of Derby at the Emirates on Saturday.
Midfield duo Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas were also on the scoresheet as Arsenal maintained their unbeaten run and kept their place at the top of the Premier League.
The performance - albeit against poor opposition who looked out of their depth for much of the game - proved Arsenal are the team to beat at the moment. And with Chelsea in turmoil, Manchester United not firing on all cylinders and Liverpool displaying some erratic form, the north London club could well be the team to take advantage this season.
Adebyaor was effervescent up front, Fabregas brilliant in midfield and Kolo Toure solid at the back as the Gunners followed up their impressive midweek win over Sevilla in the Champions League with a victory that will send out a clear message of intent to their title rivals.
As for Derby, all the good work from Monday's win over Newcastle was undone shortly after kick-off at the Emirates and any confidence taken from that victory - their first of the season - quickly evaporated as Arsenal flew out of the blocks.
The hosts were simply irresistible during the opening exchanges and Derby clearly lacked the quality or experience to cope with the attacking threat the Gunners posed.
Diaby got the scoring underway as early as the 10th minute with a stunning strike that lit up the Emirates and that will certainly feature in most people's suggestions for goal-of-the-month. The young Frenchman received the ball from Cesc Fabregas on the right hand side before cutting inside and unleashing a rocket into the top corner, leaving poor Stephen Bywater no chance whatsoever.
A quarter of an hour later and Arsenal were two up courtesy of Adebayor's first. Fabregas was again the architect, slipping a clever pass through to the onrushing Togolese striker, who rounded Bywater and slotted home with aplomb.
The teams headed into the dressing rooms with just those two goals separating them at half time, but it so easily could have been much worse for the Rams, such was the home team's complete dominance of the opening period.
Adebayor could have bagged his hat-trick before the first half was up but twice he let himself down in front of goal. The former Monaco ace should have opened the scoring as early as the 4th minute, but he somehow conspired to completely miss Gael Clichy's cross-shot, when making any kind of contact would have seen the ball over the line. And then after 23 minutes, his control let him down horribly after having been played in on goal.
Theo Walcott was also guilty of profligacy in front of goal, firing wide on 13 minutes before striking tamely straight at Bywater just before half time, and Eduardo da Silva twice could have got his name on the scoresheet, only to be denied first by a superb Stephen Pearson tackle and then by a diving Bywater save.
Arsenal came out for the second half in a similarly attack-minded mood, and from the outset Derby's back four were put under further intense pressure.
Diaby fired a volley goalwards before, unsurprisingly, Arsenal made it three, Adebayor netting his second from the spot after Matt Oakley tugged Eduardo's shirt in the box.
If ever a performance deserved a goal, Fabregas' display in the centre of the pitch did, and he duly bagged one with 20 minutes remaining, curling a shot from the edge of the penalty area into the top corner to put Arsenal four up.
Addebayor then completed the rout and his hat-trick on 79 minutes, controlling a long high ball on his chest, before turning, losing his marker and firing home in just a few swift movements.
A fourth for Adebayor, and a sixth for Arsenal, nearly followed soon after, but this time Tyrone Mears made a crucially decisive tackle as the rangy striker burst through on goal.
Another 6-0 defeat would possibly have been harsh on Derby, who suffered such a defeat earlier this month to Liverpool, but in reality the only derby worth watching on Saturday was the one up in the north-east, and certainly not Billy Davies' side, who must already be bracing themselves for a short-lived spell in the top flight.
Source: Eurosport