Robin van Persie and Abou Diaby had fired the Gunners into a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes.

However, Lee Bowyer capitalised on a mistake by keeper Vito Mannone to pull a goal back before half-time before Andrey Arshavin sealed the win.

Van Persie (16) crashed home a shot into the far corner after wrong-footing Stephen Carr.

And moments later Tomas Rosicky went clear down the right and his cut-back from the near post went all the way through to Diaby (18) – who smashed a first-time effort into the roof of the net.

Bowyer finished emphatically after Mannone’s dropped a cross, but Arshavin (84) capped a flowing move started by Mannone to fire into the corner to grab Arsenal’s seventh successive win in all competitions.