Arsenal remain top of the Barclays Premier League after their five-star performance destroyed dire Derby at the Emirates Stadium.

A hat-trick from Emmanuel Adebayor and goals from Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas swept clueless County aside in emphatic style.

The Londoners are clearly not missing the departed Thierry Henry as this latest victory preserved their 100% home record and left them undefeated so far this season.

Arsenal should have taken the lead in the fourth minute of the game after a superb run down the left flank from Gael Clichy.

The left-back's low cross found Adebayor unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box but the tall striker failed to direct his effort on target.

But the Gunners took the lead in the 10th minute when Diaby sidestepped two challenges on the edge of the penalty area before firing an unstoppable rising drive into the top corner of the net.

He almost repeated the feat moments later but this time his low drive from a similar position was pushed to safety by Stephen Bywater.

Arsenal's free-flowing football was a joy to watch and Derby were finding it difficult to hold the hosts at bay.

Derby offered little in the way of an attacking threat under Arsenal's domination of the game.

In the 23rd minute Arsenal almost opened up the Rams for a second time when Adebayor got on the end of a long ball from Kolo Toure.

But again the tall striker could not get a firm strike on the ball and it was collected easily by Bywater.

The home side looked dangerous with every attack and the Premier League newcomers struggled to cope with the pace of the game.

Adebayor made it two to Arsenal in the 25th minute when he latched on to a pass from Fabregas and ran clear of the Derby defence. The Arsenal striker then rounded Bywater and slotted the ball home.

Derby, hammered 6-0 by Liverpool earlier this month, were seemingly out of their depth yet again.

Adebayor was a constant threat and in the 35th minute he almost turned provider for Eduardo.

This time his cross was just too far for the Arsenal striker to control and the chance went begging.

Moments later Theo Walcott tried his luck from 20 yards but his accuracy and power did not match that of team-mate Diaby and the ball went wide of the target by some margin.

Fabregas was controlling the midfield and in the 32nd minute he put Walcott through on goal but the England youngster fired straight at Bywater who managed to grab the ball at the second attempt.

Derby's attempts to get back into the game were hampered by their own inability to pass the ball to their own players.

Their sloppy play allowed Arsenal to quickly regain possession and cause County further problems. In the 44th minute Eduardo's header from a corner by Fabregas was brilliantly saved by Bywater.

The half-time whistle gave the visitors some much-needed relief after a first half dominated by Wenger's team.

Derby's plight worsened four minutes after the re-start when County captain Matt Oakley was punished for pulling back Eduardo inside the penalty area by referee Martin Atkinson.

Adebayor stepped up to take the spot-kick and made no mistake for his second goal of the game. In the 56th minute a surging run by Toure almost brought him a goal. The Arsenal captain started the move with a clever pass to Fabregas and when the midfielder crossed the ball into the middle, it was headed just wide by the advancing Toure.

Derby had their first real effort of the game on the hour when a shot from centre-forward Steve Howard whistled past the post.

Walcott almost created a goal out of nothing when he beat two Derby players during a mazy run into the penalty area but his final shot was blocked.

In the 68th minute another fine Arsenal move ended with Adebayor heading over the crossbar after Sagna's cross had found him on the edge of the six-yard box.

With 20 minutes remaining Fabregas scored Arsenal's fourth with a crisp right-foot drive from 20 yards - it was just reward for a tremendous midfield performance.

But the rout was not over and Adebayor made sure of his treble in the 80th minute. The tall striker chested down a long ball and kept his composure before sidefooting home from eight yards to cap a glorious afternoon for Wenger's men.

Teams:

Arsenal Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Senderos, Clichy,Walcott (Diarra 72), Fabregas (Denilson 71),Flamini (Song Billong 77), Diaby, Eduardo, Adebayor.

Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Van Persie.

Booked: Eduardo.

Goals: Diaby 10, Adebayor 25, 50 pen, Fabregas 70, Adebayor 79.

Derby Bywater, Mears, Leacock, Davis, Griffin, Teale,Oakley (Feilhaber 56), Pearson, Lewis, Howard (Barnes 75),Miller (McEveley 84).

Subs Not Used: Price, Earnshaw.

Booked: Lewis.

Att: 60,122

Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).