Pivotal forwards take their turn

Not long after Thierry Henry had stormed off in anger at being substituted against Sparta Prague last week, Arsene Wenger sought the striker out. "The game was won," Arsenal's manager told him, "and the main match is against Manchester City. We need you then."

Henry responded that he understood. If Arsenal's players are hardly jigging with delight at being rested or taken off, they realise that without those frustrations they would not be matching Manchester United point for point, 5-0 for 5-0 and cruising in Europe.

"They're not happy," Wenger admitted, "but I feel, and they feel as well, that if we had played with the same 11 in the Champions League and the Premiership we could not have had the same results."

Henry was certainly outstanding here, his pace, aggression and movement giving him two goals and a role in the others. It is the forwards Wenger likes to rotate above all and the introduction of Sylvain Wiltord injected a freshness and urgency which blew away a tiring, 10-man City.

These days, of course, Arsenal have the depth required. Two Octobers ago, Luis Boa Morte, Christopher Wreh and Alberto Mendez were coming off the bench. On Saturday it was Wiltord, Fredrik Ljungberg and Dixon, with Nwankwo Kanu not even called upon.

And much as a Champions League exit might seem an advantage domestically, the reality is different. Three games a week makes it easier for Wenger to keep people not only contented, but in peak condition.

Moreover, whereas European failure in the past two seasons inflicted a psychological blow which, Wenger says, made it hard to rediscover the "confidence and motivation you need to fight for the Premiership", now Arsenal feel invincible.

With Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars gone, there is also a new spirit in the squad. The scoreline was given a lopsided look by the dismissal of Danny Tiatto late in the first half.

But Joe Royle's anger at the officials - he felt Tiatto's first booking was "nonsense", Henry should have gone for kicking Spencer Prior and two goals ought to have been disallowed - could not hide the fact that City were always second best.

ARSENAL: Lukic, Luzhny (Dixon 69), Keown, Adams, Grimandi, Vieira, Parlour (Wiltord 70), Henry, Pires (Ljungberg 21), Bergkamp, Cole. Subs not used: Kanu, Taylor. Goals: Cole 44, Bergkamp 52, Wiltord 75, Henry 82, 88.

MANCHESTER CITY: Weaver, Wiekens, Prior, Tiatto, Howey, Haaland, Ritchie, Whitley, Dickov, Goater (Kennedy 70), Charvet. Subs not used: Horlock, Bishop, Wright, Dunne. Sent Off: Tiatto (43). Booked: Goater, Tiatto, Dickov.

Referee: R Styles (Waterlooville).