Arsenal made mincemeat of Kevin Keegan's Newcastle at the Emirates this evening, winning by a three goal margin - although it could have easily been double that.

Keegan didn't help his witless troops by playing 4-4-2, with Shola Ameobi alongside Michael Owen up front. Their formation only encouraged Arsenal's midfield quartet of Nasri, Fabregas, Denilson and Eboue to get on the ball and spray it around without the additional pressure of an extra man in the middle.

Arsenal should have had a penalty in the first few minutes when Fabricio Coloccini appeared to fell Van Persie in the box, but the ball squirted sideways convincing the referee that a legitimate tackle had been made. Arsenal might have scored moments later when Gallas latched onto a Van Persie corner and sliced the ball over the bar from around three yards. It wasn't long, however, before Arsenal got the penalty that might have been awarded earlier when Charles N'Zogbia handballed in the box from an Adebayor cross. In his post-match interview, Keegan complained about the award despite the fact that N'Zogbia was at least five yards from the cross and had no reason to raise him arm. Van Persie converted perfectly to Shay Given's left.

On 31 Given pulled of a great save from a Van Persie free-kick - although it wasn't quite on the postage stamp. Then on 38 Van Persie set up Adebayor beautifully in the box, but Adebayor skimmed it wide - although a late tackle from Butt may have put him off.

On 41, Arsenal doubled their lead when Eboue found himself in the box and used his intelligence for once to back-heel for the advancing Van Persie to smash into the roof of the net. Van Persie was already looking far far sharper in this game than his previous three outings.

In the second half, Arsenal continued to dominate despite a three-minute attacking spell from Newcastle during which Nicky Butt hit the crossbar from an N'Zogbia cross on 56. The ball connected with Butt's head then bounced of his shoulder, looping over Almunia. One minute later, Danny Guthrie hit a low right-footed shot from outside the box that was comfortably dealt with by the Arsenal keeper. From then on it was all one-way traffic, as on 59 Denilson slotted under Given from an Adebayor set-up in the box to make it 3-0. Two minutes later - and hunting a hattrick - Van Persie hit the bar via a vicious strike from an extraordinarily tight angle to the left of goal. Four minutes later Van Perise was replaced by Carlos Vela following a knock - hopefully it was just precautionary.

From then on it was all about how many Arsenal would score - on 74 Toure should have headed in from a corner but guided it straight at Given from close range, then Given saved again from an excellent set-piece free-kick by Nasri, whilst Walcott shoud have made it four but shot tamely wide having been set up by Adebayor. The big man should have had a crack himself but seemed to lack the confidence to take it on.

Following his jail term, Joey Barton made a re-appearance for Newcastle on 89 to jeers from the Arsenal faithful, and as expected reacted like an idiot by violently lunging at Samir Nasri. Luckily for Barton both feet made contact with the ball and not the man. Seconds later Nasri deliberately tripped Barton as the dwarfish maniac accelerated past him. A petulant act of retaliation - but such snippets of character are informing, Nasri won't be intimidated by anyone.

At the end of the day, a highly entertaining game for Arsenal fans. The performance was clearly a significant improvement from last week's inept showing at Fulham, but Newcastle were pretty dire to be honest and I think we'll learn a lot more about Arsenal's ability to compete for the title on the 13th September when they travel to Blackburn Rovers.

Almunia (6)
Made one smart save from Guthrie in the second-half, but was otherwise untested.
Sagna (6)
Competent performance as we have come to expect, but lost a few aerial headers.
Toure (7)
Looked bright and alert and coped with Owen's pace well throughout.
Gallas (6)
Dealt with Ameobi effortlessly, but isn't clearing his headers out far enough.
Clichy (7)
Had quite a battle with Newcastle's hard working right midfielder Jonas Gutierrez, and won.
Eboue (6)
Had a fairly decent game, with a crafty improvised set up for Van Persie's goal - but I'll never know what Wenger sees in him.
Denilson (7)
Much better than he has been of late and clearly more comfortable playing next to Fabregas, Denilson passed it better - despite a shaky start, upped his work rate considerably and capped his performance with a good goal.
Fabregas (7)
His incisive passing is invaluable to the team and he also got stuck in where necessary. A positive return following his mid-week practice match against FC Twente.
Nasri (8)
Fairly quiet in the first half but improved considerably as the game went on. Works very hard for the team, plays with intelligence and quality. One wonders how Rosicky will get back back in the first team if Nasri continues to perform like this. Would like to see how the young Frenchman fares wide right instead of Eboue.
Adebayor (6)
Those boos and the misses are stacking up in his fragile mind; the confidence is slowly draining out of him – still, whose fault is that? Could do with scrambling a goal in and a few cheers from the fans, but his performance was by no means a bad one.
Van Persie (8) STAR MAN
Looked quality for the 63 minutes he was on the pitch, attacking with verve and agility. If he can stay fit and continue to perform like this week-in-week-out he'll make a massive contribution to Arsenal's season.

SUBSTITUTES

Vela (7)
Replaced Van Persie and looked full of energy and bright ideas. His experience in Spain has served him well.
Walcott (7)
Should have scored when Adebayor set him up in the box, but played with flair and confidence regardless.
Song (5)
Didn't see much of him for the 10 minutes he played.

Usually a convincing 4-0 midweek victory would have Arsenal fans buoyant and positive about the following home game, but after last week's dismal Premiership performance against Fulham and with no sign of much-required fresh blood entering before the close of the transfer window, one gets the feeling the majority of Arsenal fans remain more pessimistic than optimistic.

Under Kevin Keegan Newcastle have finally started moving in the right direction, in particular towards the end of last season and even more so the beginning of this. The club took a point off Man Utd following a very good performance at Old Trafford on the first day of the season, and have subsequently followed up with a home win at Bolton followed by a midweek victory away to Coventry in the Carling Cup - albeit after extra time. Ordinarily, Newcastle would not have gained something from all three of those games - to their credit they have shown a bit of steel.

I am impressed with the club's new signings; it's early days but Fabricio Coloccini looks a highly competent purchase at the back and I really like the look of Jonas Gutierrez - a talented, driving midfielder with a phenomenal work rate.

Newcastle's biggest problem is that Michael Owen is the only recognised fit striker they have at present. Another negative for the Geordies is that James Milner has, rather surprisingly, been sold to Aston Villa today - leaving them a bit short of quality wide players.

For tomorrow's game at the Emirates, Newcastle are likely to employ a 5-man midfield comprising of Barton (a clear danger man who owes them big time), Butt, Guthrie, Gutierrez and Geremi. Arsenal will probably field Nasri, Fabregas, Eboue (or Denilson - tough call) and Walcott in their usual 4-4-2 formation. It's pretty clear where Arsenal might slip up in this match. Their midfield quarter will need to be very sharp and focused, passing through and around Newcastle's experienced and hard working midfield unit. They won't win a physical battle but will still need to show a lot more bravery than they did at Fulham last week.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have the problem of making the ball stick up front. Owen will have his hands full and could be negated on the ground by the pace of Toure and Gallas (which is why Toure must start ahead of Djourou), but he's still dangerous aerially from set pieces. For Arsenal, Adebayor will be an important outlet should they try to circumnavigate Newcastle's packed midfield with long balls over the top - he'll certainly need to be on his game.

Could Newcastle pull off a surprise tomorrow? Of course, although I'm not sure how much of a surprise a score draw would be. It's encouraging that Newcastle are short up front and struggled to beat Coventry in the Carling Cup midweek - along with the demands of extra time and a long coach trip to London, and it's also encouraging that Arsenal beat Newcastle comfortably at the Emirates last season on no less than three occasions. 2-0 in the Carling Cup, 3-0 in the Premiership and 3-0 in the FA Cup.

However, Arsenal will have to play a lot better than they have been of late if they want to beat Newcastle as convincingly as they did last season - FC Twente counts for nothing. I expect the Gunners to edge it, but it could go to the wire and I wouldn't be all that surprised if Wenger again pays a heavy price for his continued transfer lethargy.