ARSENE WENGER does not bandy about comparisons with all-time French football greats lightly. So when, after 70 minutes yesterday, Cesc Fabregas stepped up and took Eduardo's pass in his stride, slipped past a couple of half-hearted Derby challenges and sent his shot home from 25 yards forArsenal's fourth goal to cap another majestic performance, the Arsenal manager's midweek notion that the 20-year-old Spaniard may be as good as Michel Platini did not seem so far-fetched.

In the end, 5-0 to Arsenal, including an Emmanuel Adebayor hat-trick, flattered Derby. This was not a butchering of Rams, but the slaughter of lambs. Kenny Miller might want to have a frank discussion with whoever it was who advised him to join a club whose sole ambition appears to be to take one year's Premier League cash and scuttle straight back whence they came.

Derby's game was up after just 10 minutes. Abou Diaby came in off the left, eased past three defenders who failed to muster a decent challenge between them, and with his right foot sent the ball scudding across Stephen Bywater into the far corner of the Derby goal for the opener.

The win put Arsenal five points clear overnight of Manchester United in the English title race. By tea time today, it seems likely that England's familiar duopoly will be back in charge of the Premier League, with Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson enjoying all the benefits of continuity. At least for now.

Six miles across London from the Mourinho maelstrom, Wenger continues in his own calm way, building a third title-challenging side in 11 years with what he calls his "playerish" youngsters. His team, built around Fabregas' sublime passing skills, yesterday utilised the ample acres of the Emirates pitch to torment Derby.

Yet Wenger may have paused for reflection yesterday morning with a "there but for the grace" thought, as he learned that Arsenal's own eastern European oligarch, Alisher Usmanov, is openly talking about buying a bigger stake in the club.

Usmanov's writ runs wide, even forcing Boris Johnson's website offline on Friday because of a legal dispute with the MP's internetprovider. Might the Uzbek billionaire with a chequered past unsettle the Old Etonian stability in the corridors of power at the Emirates?

Perhaps not quickly enough to effect any changes during what is shaping up to be another duel with Manchester United. Fabregas' and Matthieu Flamini's midfield control is complemented by the youthful pace of Theo Walcott and Gael Clichy, both of whom managed to prise apart Derby's defence even before the opening goal.

Ahead of the fixture, Billy Davies, the Derby manager who had seen his side concede 10 goals in their previous two away matches, joked that he had signed 15 bricklayers to build a wall on the edge of their penalty area. He had better get a surveyor in, because there were no foundations for success visible here.

As well as pace with the ball at their feet, Arsenal also showed the incisive longer pass can be a deadly weapon, especially with Adebayor on the receiving end. After 26 minutes, Fabregas, from inside his own half, flipped the ball over the Derby defence and found the tall Togolese striker, who controlled the pass with his chest and then rounded Bywater with ease.

Arsenal did not need the assistance of referee Martin Atkinson, but the penalty he awarded for Matt Oakley's limp challenge on Eduardo as the second-half got underway was not spurned by Abdebayor. Bywater - who had already made two good saves to hold back the Arsenal onslaught - got his hands to the ball, but failed to prevent the home side extending their lead.

When Fabregas scored he was substituted after a busy week, but Arsenal's fluency was unimpaired, and with 10 minutes to go, Abdebayor, from another long pass, this from substitiute Denilson, again created space between himself and his marker to round Bywater and complete the rout. Miller could only dream of receiving anything like the service his Arsenal counterpart enjoyed.

Among the many thousands of Scots who, down the years, have got off trains at King's Cross, none could ever have been more lonely in north London than Miller, who never got a single worthwhile pass within 20 yards of the Arsenal goal.

Afterwards, Davies complemented the opposition. He could do little else: "Abdebayor without doubt must be one of the best in the world at the moment with his movement and pace,"he said. "Fabregas was top, top quality."

Wenger, for his part, found the game "very enjoyable". Then he spoke of his side's "ruthlessness, belief and efficiency". United be warned.