Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick as Arsenal turned up the heat on their Premier League title rivals with a 5-0 thrashing of Derby at The Emirates stadium on Saturday.
Togo striker Adebayor was joined on the score-sheet by Cesc Fabregas and Abou Diaby as the Gunners made it six wins out of six in all competitions and extended their unbeaten start to the season to nine matches.
Liverpool also remain unbeaten this season but their form has been nowhere near as impressive.
PHOTO: AP
Rafa Benitez's side had to suffer the ignominy of being booed off by their own supporters after being held to a 0-0 draw at home to Birmingham -- a result that again put the spotlight on the manager's rotation policy, which resulted in Fernando Torres spending the first hour on the bench.
Manchester City hung on to second place after an entertaining 3-3 draw at Fulham but Sven-Goran Eriksson's side would be overtaken if either Manchester United or Chelsea won their meeting at Old Trafford yesterday.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger will be able to sit back and watch that match knowing that his side's edge over at least one of their major rivals will be increased.
The Frenchman is revelling in the determination displayed by his young squad.
"They showed they mean business," Wenger said. "They are not there to show off. They want to achieve something together."
Arsenal were without four first-choice players -- Jens Lehmann, William Gallas, Emmanuel Eboue and Alexander Hleb -- through injury.
But they only needed 10 minutes to stamp their dominance on the Premiership newcomers, Abou Diaby evading two challenges on the edge of the area before hammering the ball high into the net.
Derby were unable to cope with the Gunners' high-tempo style and Adebayor doubled the lead after 25 minutes when he ran on to Cesc Fabregas's through ball and went round the goalkeeper.
The Togo striker added his second from the penalty spot five minutes after the restart, Fabregas's 7th goal of the season made it four and Adebayor completed his hat-trick 11 minutes from time.
Manchester City twice came from behind at Fulham, goals from Martin Petrov and Emile Mpenza cancelling our a Simon Davies header and a free-kick by Hameur Bouazza.
Petrov's second goal then gave City the lead before former England midfielder Danny Murphy grabbed a point for Fulham.
Elsewhere, Liam Miller secured a barely deserved point for Sunderland against local rivals Middlesbrough with a late equalizer that earned Roy Keane's side a 2-2 draw.
Promising midfielder Grant Leadbitter had given Sunderland the lead inside two minutes.
But Boro's fightback a headed equalizer from Julio Arca and they looked the far more likely winners after Stewart Downing cut in from the left and beat Craig Gordon with a stunning right-foot drive.
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