Henry stand-off tempers derby win

Arsenal 3, Tottenham 0:The man who had been ruled out was the most eye-catching figure of all. Thierry Henry, sitting close to the action, was available for celebrations with Emmanuel Adebayor when the Togo striker opened the scoring and got himself on to the pitch for the festivities at full-time. If this was intended as a show of solidarity, it felt overblown.

Emotions are running high at the club. One could deduce that from the reticence of Arsene Wenger, with a manager who normally prides himself on the suaveness of his answers declining to discuss an "internal affair". Henry, for his part, could not really explain why a mere injury should have had him racing away from the training ground in a state of high emotion on Friday.

Wenger will hold a meeting soon to set out what he expects from his captain. "We have a very good relationship and I think we will have a good relationship in the future again," said the manager, refusing to deny that they are temporarily at loggerheads.

Henry has a sore neck and could well join the suspended Kolo Toure in missing Sunday's match at Chelsea but there are other aches throbbing away in mind and body. "We have to sit down with the medical staff and see where we go from here," said the manager. "Does he need a rest or not?"

Henry, the only person to have been on the losing side in the finals of both the Champions League and the World Cup this year, is depleted and disillusioned that Arsenal are also-rans once again in the Premiership. It is inevitable he will wonder about his decision to stay in London when he had the opportunity to join Barcelona, Arsenal's conquerors in Paris last May.

Arsenal count on their captain so much that his return of only one goal from his last seven appearances must be a factor in the stumbling progress of the club. Henry's own dissatisfactions were blurted out with the off-beat suggestion that Shaun Wright-Phillips should be signed on loan.

Even assuming that Chelsea were willing to allow that, a lightweight winger who is short on confidence cannot be the key to Arsenal's development. Wenger stated once again he will not be buying anyone at all in the January transfer window.

There is probably no money available to go shopping and leading players tend not to be available in mid-season anyway. Arsenal, in the light of this win over their north London rivals, need not despair at proceeding with the existing staff.

An in-form Henry is so good that team-mates occasionally wither in the comparison. Without him Adebayor and Robin van Persie relished the opportunity to shine against Spurs.

That was a relief for Wenger since Henry is suspended for Wednesday's Champions League game in Porto, when a draw will be necessary to make certain of a place in the last 16.

Adebayor speaks with gratitude of all that the captain has done for him since he came to Arsenal in January. At the weekend Henry had been specific in his advice, cautioning Adebayor that, if he did get a chance, Paul Robinson was too good to make his job easier by going to ground prematurely.

The £7 million purchase from Monaco stayed calm and finished precisely in the 20th minute. Adebayor had been ruled on-side in a very tight decision but the judgments of the referee, Graham Poll, were wrong when he awarded the two penalties that were expertly converted by Gilberto Silva, deputising for Henry, in the 42nd and 72nd minutes.

On the first occasion, Pascal Chimbonda had connected with the ball rather than Tomas Rosicky, who was later injured and will miss the match with Porto. In the build-up to the second penalty van Persie handled before the substitute Jermaine Jenas fouled him.

"The referee missed a lot of things," said Chimbonda. Luckily for Poll, Martin Jol is no Jose Mourinho. The Spurs manager had no intention of marshalling his grievances when he was so conscious that opponents who had just lost two matches in a row had needed to give only a reasonable showing to dominate his team.

"Look at Kolo Toure and Johan Djourou," said Jol. "They were aggressive and we have to be the same. Arsenal controlled it but that was because we were standing too far off all the time. We're not as strong as last year, even though we've got more talent. We have to bond all that talent."

Adebayor proposed that Henry, like everyone else at the club, has merely been going through a "difficult moment". There is more to it than that but, by comparison with Spurs on Saturday, Arsenal's worries must be slight.