Dennis Bergkamp produced another majestic strike from his inventive goal-scoring repertoire to nudge Arsenal one more step nearer a quite fantastic Double.

Fellow Dutchman Marc Overmars added a second and now only a miracle, it seems, can stop domestic soccer's most glittering prize going to London.

This convincing victory puts Arsenal four points clear of Manchester United at the top of the Premiership with a game in hand.

And surely no-one, other than those who still claim the Earth is flat, could possibly believe the Premiership title is not on its way to Highbury.

Sadly, there would be few people also prepared to wager on brave Barnsley not returning to the First Division after one roller-coaster season.

This was Arsenal's ninth successive victory, they have scored 14 goals in their last four games and bizarrely this win secured their first league points at Oakwell since 1902.

But mere statistics do not do justice to the manner of Arsenal's charge.

They have surged through the Premiership these past few months in much the same fashion that the April floods have devastated parts of the south-east.

At times they have resembled less a football team, more a force of nature.

And on the way they are collecting a whole army of new fans. At the end even the Oakwell fans stood and generously applauded the champions-elect. How times have changed.

Where Arsenal were once boring they are now frequently breathtaking, where once they were branded 'lucky', now they perform with a lustre which is a credit to their intelligent manager Arsene Wenger and the astute men who brought him to Highbury.

In the face of such a force few teams can survive - little Barnsley, brave and valiant to the last, never really stood a chance.

And though the Yorkshiremen held out until the 24th minute when the first rapier thrust came it was fast and efficient.

A Bergkamp jink left Barnsley central defender Adie Moses floundering inthe wilderness. His fellow defender Arjan de Zeeuw was lost somewhere in the direction of the nearby Pennines and then with a wonderful swagger Bergkamp sent his exquisite curling shot sailing beyond David Watson into the Barnsley net.

It was a goal of quite bewildering brilliance, Bergkamp's 22nd of the season and entirely appropriate that it should come from the PFA Player of the Year.

It was also the spark which ignited the Arsenal fire after a tentative start. Perhaps the midweek international exertions of so many of Arsenal's squad had dulled their legs and maybe the edge of their appetite.

The Bergkamp wake-up call, however, had its effect and a sweeping 34th-minute move carved through the Barnsley rearguard with Bergkamp, Nicolas Anelka and Patrick Vieira finally setting up Overmars for the easiest chance of the match which he inexplicably put wide from 10 yards.

From then on watching Barnsley was rather like waiting for a dam to burst. They creaked, they groaned - but how they battled.

Barnsley's first season in the Premiership may have been turbulent, but if they fall, as surely now they must, then each and every player can go out with heads held high.

Their grit and determination was admirable and while Arsenal's superior quality was undeniable, at times just like England in midweek they were indebted to David Seaman.

The big goalkeeper, who comes from just up the road in Rotherham, made two fabulous first-half saves - one low down to his left from Jan Aage Fjortoft and the other a thundering 25-yard rocket from Welsh international wing-back Darren Barnard.

And while Barnsley boss Danny Wilson sent on Ashley Ward for Clint Marcelle in the second-half his one contribution was to try to punch the ball into the net Maradona-style - an action which quickly saw him enter referee Mike Riley's notebook.

From then it was largely one-way traffic. Anelka's 65th-minute shot was blocked and from the rebound the French striker's header hit the crossbar.

A typically surging 60-yard run from Vieira saw him blaze a powerful drive just over the bar.

And then, with the immaculate Emmanuel Petit and Vieira running midfield, David Platt - in for the suspended Ray Parlour - conjured up a delightful through ball for the speedy Overmars to take on and despatch a clinical shot below the advancing Watson.

It was rather like the killing blow which sees a cat put a mouse out of its misery.

It is a touch premature to talk of this being one of the great Arsenal sides. Certainly, there is much silverware to rake in to match the great title-winning Gunners sides of the Thirties.

However, they play with a style and panache to rival the Double winning side of 1971 and in the last three months their challenge has sustained an excellence and exuberance which could easily eclipse the pragmatic George Graham years.

That is why the Barnsley faithful stood and applauded at the end. It wasexciting, entertaining and at times compelling in its quality.

In short, the stuff of champions.

Teams

Barnsley: Watson, Eaden, Moses, De Zeeuw, Redfearn, Marcelle (Ward 51), Bullock, Jones, Tinkler (Bosancic 65), Barnard, Fjortoft (Hendrie 75).

Subs Not Used: Liddell, Leese.

Booked: Ward.

Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Vieira, Adams, Platt, Anelka (Wreh 75), Bergkamp, Overmars, Keown, Petit.

Subs Not Used: Bould, Grimandi, Hughes, Lukic.

Booked: Petit, Winterburn.

Goals: Bergkamp 23, Overmars 76.

Att: 18,691

Ref: M A Riley (Leeds).