Arsenal 7 Middlesbrough 0
IT was an afternoon when Arsenal turned on a master class, Thierry Henry equalled an all-time record, Boro suffered their heaviest ever Premiership defeat and had a man sent-off, writes GORDON COX from Highbury.
The Boro side showed three changes from that which drew with Nuneaton seven days ago.
Chris Riggott returned to captain the side in place of injured skipper Gareth Southgate, Andrew Taylor made his first team debut, the 19-year-old left-back becoming the 29th player used by Steve McClaren this season as he replaced the suspended Emanuel Pogatetz, while Fabio Rochemback returned from a calf-strain to replace Lee Cattermole, who dropped to the bench.
It meant Boro fielded one of their youngest defences since the 1986 team which included Gary Parkinson, Tony Mowbray, Gary Pallister and Colin Cooper.
Arsene Wenger made five changes from the side which lost the first-leg of a Carling Cup semi-final tie at Wigan on Tuesday.
Jens Lehman, Lauren, Robert Pires, Cesc Fabregas and Thierry Henry returned to replace Manuel Almunia, Kerrea, Gilbert, Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Hleb and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie.
Sol Campbell missed the game through injury, Kolo Toure is away on African Cup of Nations duty with Ivory Coast, but Ashley Cole was included in the squad for the first time since early October.
Boro started well, looking confident and organised, but it was Arsenal with the first shot on target with three minutes played.
Stuart Parnaby stretched to clear but inadvertently played the ball into the path of Freddie Ljungberg, who brought a save from Brad Jones with a low shot from the edge of the area.
The game's first corner went to Boro less than a minute later, Matthew Bates edging a left-wing delivery just wide.
Two fouls on Fabregas brought a free-kick just up from the edge of the Boro penalty area. Henry hit the wall with his delivery, but pressure continued on the visitor's goal and it took a smart interception from Parnaby to deny Ljungberg a shooting opportunity in front of goal after the Swede was set up cleverly by Henry.
A foul by Bates on Jose Reyes brought another free-kick for Arsenal a few yards up from the edge of the Boro penalty area, Henry curling an inch past the left-hand post with Jones beaten.
A minute later Reyes was inches away from the same post with a low drive from 20 yards.
The 15th minute brought an extension of a proud record for the Gunners, they remain the only side this season not to concede in the opening period of a game.
Arsenal then hit Boro twice in as many minutes.
The opening goal came after 20 minutes as Ljungberg raced down the right and pulled the ball back from the goal line, Thierry Henry superbly volleying into Jones's bottom left-hand corner from 16 yards - though Bates ducked under a dipping delivery.
Just two minutes later a right-winger corner was poorly defended as Philippe Senderos rose unchallenged eight yards out to head powerfully home.
For the next few minutes Boro played some decent football, suggesting they could at least restore some pride. Gaizka Mendieta worked hard on the left of midfield, Yakubu came back to cover in defence, Parnaby continued to time his tackles well on the right.
But a third was added just before the half-hour as Arsenal swept from defence to attack like a well-oiled machine. A pin-point ball picked out Thierry Henry who took one touch to control and another to drill a low controlled shot beyond Jones, who had come a yard out of his area in an attempt to narrow the angle.
McClaren attempted to stem the tide, bringing Mendieta into the right side of central midfield, drawing Yakubu onto the left and for a while it worked.
But entering injury-time Robert Pires was allowed time to run through Boro's midfield, edge into the penalty area and curl a delightful shot beyond the reach of Jones.
Henry wasted a great chance to complete his hat-trick five minutes into the second half. Again Ljungberg marauded down the left and pulled the ball back from the goal line, Henry blazing well over from 10 yards.
Two minutes later Arsenal had the ball in the net again as a Henry free-kick picked out Pires, who headed home only to have celebrations cut short by a linesman's flag incorrectly raised for offside.
The time the ball crossed the line it counted.
With an hour played Doriva fouled Reyes a couple of yards up from the edge of the Boro box and Henry picked out Gilberto, who powerfully headed home from eight yards.
A couple of minutes later McClaren made his first substitution, replacing Taylor with David Wheater, the 18-year-old Redcar-born central defender becoming the 30th player used by the manager in the Premiership this season.
Midway through the second half Thierry Henry equalled Cliff Bastin's all-time league scoring record for Arsenal as he made it 150 for the club when latching on to a delightful defence splitting pass from Fabregas to drill a low shot past Jones from inside the penalty area.
Matters became even worse for Boro with 73 minutes played as Doriva, booked for a foul on Reyes 15 minutes earlier, was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Henry and sent-off.
Riggott almost reduced the arrears 12 minutes from time when beating the offside trap and having a close-range shot tipped onto the bar by Lehmann, who tipped a follow-up effort from Yakubu round his right-hand post.
Arsenal beat Boro 7-0 on March 26 1948 for their second biggest win against the Teessiders and matched that scoreline this afternoon when Bates and Wheater tackled Reyes inside the penalty area and the ball fell to Alexander Hleb, who had the simple task of stroking home from seven yards in the 85th minute.
TEAMS
Arsenal: Lehman; Lauren, Senderos, Djourou, Cygan (Cole 36), Pires (Flamini 68), Ljungberg, Gilberto (Hleb 68), Fabregas, Henry (Capt) Reyes. Unused subs: Almunia (gk); Lupoli.
Middlesbrough: Jones; Parnaby, Bates, Riggott (Capt), Taylor (Wheater 62), Mendieta, Rochemback (Johnson 68), Doriva, Morrison, Viduka (Cattermole 68), Yakubu. Unused subs: Schwarzer (gk); Hasselbaink.
REFEREE: Rob Styles, Waterlooville, Hampshire.
SENT-OFF: Doriva, foul on Reyes, 58 and Henry 73.
BOOKINGS
Arsenal: Lauren, 80, foul on Johnson.
Middlesbrough: Cattermole, 90, persistent misconduct.
ATTENDANCE: 38,186
CONDITIONS: Damp, overcast and cool.
WEBSITE BORO MAN OF THE MATCH: Stuart Parnaby.
