SOCCER/Arsenal - 7 Everton - 0: Dennis Bergkamp spoke before this game about how frustrated he feels at being made to wait to discover whether he will get a further year at Arsenal.
Any doubts were emphatically removed last night as the Dutchman inspired his team to a sumptuous win. "One more year," chanted the Highbury crowd. Arsene Wenger ought to have had a contract waiting for him in the dressing room.
If Bergkamp was brilliant, having a role in the first four goals and scoring the sixth, he was not alone in catching the eye in a performance which confirmed Wenger's team are back to their best. Edu, Robert Pires and Jose Antonio Reyes also shone in an excellent team display as Arsenal destroyed Everton with their passing, touch and movement, showing an embarrassing gulf between second and fourth place.
As preparation for the FA Cup final against Manchester United, this was perfect for Arsenal. Sol Campbell returned competently, if sometimes rustuly, at centre-back, but will do well to dislodge the impressive Philippe Senderos.
Thierry Henry, meanwhile, played the second half and looked lively, including when his chipped pass hit Lee Carsley's arm and allowed Edu to score the penalty in his final game here.
Wenger had cast an eye further ahead than the Cup final in his programme notes, writing that his aim was to bring in "one or two world-class players". He also said he would sit down with Bergkamp at the end of the season.
Bergkamp had described himself as "a bit upset" that the club have not already told him whether he is wanted for another season, adding: "I said in November I wanted to stay and I haven't changed my mind."
He made his point even more eloquently with his boots before half-time. Although Arsenal should have been behind inside three minutes, Mikel Arteta shooting weakly at Jens Lehmann, the home side were soon in imperious control and Bergkamp was at the heart of it. The two goals in the first 12 minutes were both set up by the Dutchman.
He had been paired up front with Robin van Persie and any doubts about whether they could play together, given that neither are out-and-out centre-forwards, were soon expunged.
Bergkamp began gliding towards the area. While many expected him to shoot, he had spotted the run made by Van Persie and dissected Everton's defenders with a pass which his lively fellow Dutchman put past Richard Wright first time.
Before long Wright was beaten again on his return here. This time Bergkamp's excellent ball sent Reyes galloping down the left to provide a cross.
Pires' initial shot was saved but he looped in a header from the rebound.
Bergkamp almost cost his team a goal a few minutes later when his loose ball culminated in James Beattie having a shot saved but it scarcely mattered. In flashes Wenger's side were brilliant with their speed, movement and touch; for long periods they had Everton chasing as they kept possession before looking for the killer pass. Often it seemed Arsenal had an extra man.
Edu was impressing and his dummy set up Patrick Vieira for a shot just wide. The captain did not have to wait long to score, though. After good work by Edu and Van Persie, Bergkamp - who else? - provided a pass which Vieira clipped over Wright.
Bergkamp took over as captain for the second half as Vieira went off, seemingly for a rest, and he was joined up front by Henry, who got a rapturous welcome after five matches out with a groin injury.
Bergkamp and then Henry were involved in goal number four with Henry's attempted pass hitting Lee Carsley and rebounding for Pires to complete a familiar scenario for Wright.
There was more misery for Wright as Edu tucked in the penalty and it was fitting that Bergkamp robbed David Weir and rolled in a shot that made Arsenal the first team to score six times in the Premiership this season. Then they went one better with Mathieu Flamini striking a seventh.
ARSENAL: Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Senderos, Cole, Pires (Fabregas 64 mins), Vieira (Flamini 45 mins), Edu, Reyes, Bergkamp, Van Persie (Henry 45 mins). Subs not used: Almunia, Toure. Booked: Flamini, Campbell. Goals: Van Persie 8, Pires 12, Vieira 37, Pires 50, Edu 70 pen, Bergkamp 77, Flamini 85.
EVERTON: Wright, Hibbert, Weir, Yobo, Pistone, Carsley, McFadden, Watson, Arteta (Ferguson 75 mins), Kilbane, Beattie (Bent 45 mins). Subs not used: Stubbs, Plessis, Turner.
Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).
