On a five match unbeaten run, and having disposed of Chelsea 2-1, Manchester United 1-0 and Liverpool 3-1, Villa fans argued that their team had earned the right to be respected, even feared, and that pre-match predictions of a 3-0 drubbing were in bad taste. They also pointed out that their team were unbeaten at Arsenal's swanky new stadium - the only team in the league who could boast that.

Cesc Fabregas Warm-Up  Photo: CC

Those who drew up the fixture list would have been betting on the Christmas log making this encounter a crucial match for both teams, a top of the table six-pointer if you'll permit the cliché. It was, and the build-up banter suggested this would be a real morale setback for the losers, if there were any. So it was that the wiseheads predicted a stalemate, between the league's top scorers in Arsenal (44 goals), and its meanest defence in Villa (14 goals).

Wisdom suggested that Arsenal's backs would be unlikely to enjoy the freedom to attack that resulted in their teams free-scoring form against a Villa team that boasted the pacey threat of James Milner, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young. Villa travelled to the English capital with a quiver boasting both pace and power, with Emile Heskey and John Carew available to bully Arsenal in the fashion regularly resorted to by the league's less endowed sides. This was Villa's true potency, an ability to switch between free-flowing exotic football and the more direct ugly native version.

In a nervous first half, the stats board offered, 4-4 for shots on goal. That about reflected the sense of the match, and it seemed that a draw was on the cards. Although Arsenal had played typically beautiful, if inconclusive, patterns around the Villa defence; its youth lacked that final penetrative thrust. Twirling to lose his marker with the finesse for which he gained the reputation as the premier league's best finisher, the Gunners' Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva then supplied, as he did last week at Hull, what looked like a measured back-pass- from the days when that was legal. Brad Friedel collected for the Birmingham team as the Croatian tried to explain himself to shocked team-mates and fans.

That and Brad Friedel's saves were the events of the first-half, and the home fans at the Emirates remained nervous that a moment of speed and muscle would wreck powerful havoc on the Arsenal backline. Had Arsenal not dominated Manchester and still lost there?

They need not have worried, and for all the emphasis on Fabregas and the goals, the key performances were really in the midfield and at the back. The team of midgets, what Hull's Stephen Hunt advised could be pushed around even by teams lower down the table, does not look so vulnerable anymore, not with the likes of William Gallas, Thomas Vermaelen, Alexandre Song and Vassikiri Diaby throwing their considerable weight and height around, and others like Samir Nasri and Neves Denilson punching above their weight, er, eize.

Even before Fabregas came on with that masterful vignette, Arsenal had mastered the midfield to a point that Villa striker Emile Heskey (his characteristic offsides apart) was forced back to put in a commendable shift in defence. There was none of the uninhibited fluency, width or penetrating runs with which Martin O'Neill's charges have sprung to the top end of the table. Only once in the whole of the first half, and maybe twice in the whole match was Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia called upon to make a save -of an Agbonlahor shot. Friedel on the other hand, had apart from the back pass, brilliant saves of attempts by Arshavin and Eduardo.

The now famous half-time rant/ pep-talk from Wenger may have been taped by an Arsenal player, for the team came out inspired in the second half. Friedel was forced to extend himself into crucial saves, first of an Eduardo free-kick and then of a Gallas effort. The Croatian's contributions may go unnoticed and unappreciated by fans expecting a fast and ready replacement for the injured Robin Van Persie, but Eduardo looks to be gaining both the confidence and the positioning that will surely result in an increased goal tally. Beating Brad Friedel is no easy task.

Arsene Wenger must have had his mind torn over squad rotations for the busy fixture list coming up, especially, as he stands to lose his effective midfield supremo Song to the Cameroonian squad for the Africa Cup on Nations in Angola. With Cameroon likely to go a long way in the tournament, match fitness and form will be demanded of Song's two possible replacements, Denilson and the plucky, if overated Welshman Aaron Ramsey. The surprise substitution for Denilson (who was complaining of a back injury) was Arsenal's captain, Cesc Fabregas, whose effect on the game was to kick the pressure on Brad Friedel's goal up a notch.

Carlos Cuellar, who will be travelling to South Africa for Spain, cleared two times from the line before his goalkeeper pulled two fantastic saves, the first of the irrepressible box-to-box Gallas, and the second of Andrey Arshavin. But Arsenal would not be denied, and on his second attempt their captain curled a long screamer over the wall and past the American in the Villa goal. It was only Arsenal's second goal from a direct free-kick in two years.

A quarter of an hour later, Villa lost the ball on the edge of the Arsenal box and with the accuracy of a practiced midfielder, Arsenal's 3rd choice leftback Armand Traore released substitute Theo Walcott whose measured pass was poked past Friedel and into the Villa goal. Four touches, and Villa were supposed to pose the counter-attacking threat.

As Arsenal celebrated the goal, it was clear that Fabregas's effort had aggravated the injury he was carrying, and he was quickly pulled of the pitch. But his exit had no impact on the game, Villa only managed a couple of encroachments on Arsenal's space, which encroachments only served to show the new hunger for total domination in Arsenal. Where a previous side would have crumbled and maybe let Villa back in, a tousle between Vermaelen and the determined Agbonlahor, including some on the carpet wrestling typified a determined resilience in the North London team. The Almunia save showed the same passion. With Gallas closing down Agbonlahor and forcing him into a tight angle, Almunia made a world class one-handed stop that may not have been necessary anyway given Vermaelen had rushed placed himself on the line.

In injury time, Diaby added gloss to the finish with a cool sidefooted pass into the net from outside the area after a gangly 30 yard run through a dispirited Villa defence and midfield. The young Frenchman's goal, his performance throughout the match and his showing against Hull last weekend will serve to renew Arsenal fans faith in their manager's selection, and in his team of future stars.

The departure of Song, and of the Ivorian utility player Emmanuel Eboue, will further strain a team that already has a massive injury list - not to mention the likely loss of both Denilson and Fabregas.

Arsene Wenger in post-match commentary suggested he would be willing to buy new players in the January transfer window. Previous acknowledgement of the central role that Russia captain Arshavin's purchase had on Arsenal's change of fortunes last season will keep fans hopeful that the stubborn Frenchman will dip into his reported £60 million wallet and bring in a new experienced striker and a defensively minded midfielder.

This was the best performance from Arsene Wenger's young team this term. This was an Arsenal that demands respect, and in time, given the youth of the squad, its confirmed potential and Wenger's pledge to keep them together, this may soon be an Arsenal that demands veneration.

Before then, it can also be an Arsenal that puts to use the trophy cases at the Emirates stadium. Lingering doubts among the punditry about Arsenal's credentials for the title were certainly tested today, and it will be a brave man who will write them off for the title now. A sustenance of this form through the easier games in January can put those doubts to rest, vindicate Wenger and win Arsenal the respect that Villa craved going into this game, albeit at a higher level than Villa can realistically hope for.