Arsenal stormed back into second spot in the Premiership thanks to a Marc Overmars solo effort and a performance bristling with intent.

The victory was their 10th in succession - and six of those have now been in the league.

It was a comprehensive Arsenal victory, leaving Everton breathless at times and outplayed generally.

That it was only a one-goal margin was the real mystery, four or five would not have been out of place.

Everton have come a long way this season, but they were destroyed by a classy Arsenal side who barely allowed the home side a shot on target all afternoon.

Emmanuel Petit ruled the midfield, Martin Keown - more than a match for a war with Mark Hughes - was a giant at the back, and Everton trudged off knowing that even though they are these days top half quality, they are still miles away from the very best in the land.

Boss Walter Smith said before that he believed Arsenal were the second best side in the country, ignoring Liverpool's claims, and after this you could see his point.

You had to search for Everton players who looked comfortable in this company, and even though Gunners' old boy Stephen Hughes did well early on, he was overpowered and out of the game at half time.

But even a wholesale reshuffle of the Merseysiders didn't change the course of the match as Arsenal powered on to victory.

Arsenal dominated, spreading the play with crisp passing on the wet pitch, and Everton were struggling to even get into the game.

They ran the show, but almost went behind when Everton broke out and Mark Hughes won the ball with a robust challenge on Martin Keown. It was laid back by Don Hutchison, and John Collins lifted the ball over the bar from 15 yards when he had time to hit the target.

But that was a minor disruption to Arsenal's control and clinical efficiency. Everton may have managed to rough-up Liverpool a week ago, but the Gunners are a different matter with tough, battle-hardened men like Tony Adams and Keown around.

These two fought it out with Mark Hughes and Hutchison in X-rated stuff, but it showed they were not to be messed with and formed a platform for Arsenal's general first-half superiority.

On 20 minutes a slick move between Parlour and Kanu sliced a path into Everton's box. Kanu's final instant return ball put Parlour in for a low shot that Paul Gerrard stopped but let roll away from him, Abel Xavier - having a solid game at the heart of Everton's defence - completed the clearance.

Parlour caused more trouble on the right, leaving Richard Dunne in his wake and setting up Dennis Bergkamp for an edge-of-the-box shot that flashed a yard wide after 25 minutes.

Hutchison got involved in a flare-up with Keown after 31 minutes with tempers fraying all around. The Scot was caught in the face by Keown's flaying arm, even though it looked accidental.

As Hutchison collapsed to the floor, Keown fell back over him and there was a quick exchange of feet which was quickly broken up by Mark Hughes and Adams, referee Dermot Gallagher seeing the whole thing and handing out calm warnings all round.

But few were listening and the war between defenders and strikers continued unchecked.

Arsenal, though, were able to construct flowing moves as well as battle it out. Four minutes later Overmars cut in from the left to drill a low drive inches wide, while at the other end Collins took a flicked pass from Mark Pembridge, but under instant pressure could only stab his shot wide of a post.

On 35 minutes Arsenal made the breakthrough. Dennis Bergkamp was able to send Overmars away, despite the clutches of Dunne on the right. The Dutch winger ran 40 yards and cracked a shot into the bottom corner.

It could have been 2-0 on 39 minutes when Bergkamp jinked his way into a shooting position and saw his effort deflected by Xavier onto the foot of a post.

Arsenal were cutting Everton apart and a fantastic 30-yard chip from Petit into Overmars' path saw a chipped shot that just cleared the bar.

Everton had to do something after being so comprehensively outplayed, and they restructured their back line taking off Dunne and bringing Michael Ball into the fray, with Dave Unsworth moving to central defence and Xavier to right-back to try to contain the threat of Overmars.

Francis Jeffers, too, joined Hughes up front to give the old hand some support. Hughes will fight it out with anyone, but against Keown and Adams on his own, it was an unequal battle.

But after a flurry of attacks from Everton, it was Arsenal who almost scored again on 54 minutes when Kanu flicked a header wide from Petit's corner.

Petit's neat chip almost set up Overmars again. He cruised into the box and was only denied a goal by the fingertips of Gerrard.

Petit then brought a plunging save from Gerrard from 30 yards, but Bergkamp got away with a clear handball in the build-up.

Hutchison, back in midfield, also helped give Everton some steel against the dominance of Petit and to their credit they were more effective going forward in the later stages.

But Arsenal just soaked the home attacks up and still looked capable of doing more damage on the break.

They went close in the 79th minute, when Petit's cross was met at full force by Parlour, but somehow Gerrard clutched it out of the air.

But Arsenal were confident, controlled winners, although the scoreline did not give a true reflection of their superiority.

Teams:

Everton: Gerrard, Unsworth, Weir, Xavier, Dunne (Jeffers 46), Pembridge (Jevons 76), S. Hughes (Ball 46), Collins, Barmby, M. Hughes, Hutchison.

Subs Not Used: Ward, Simonsen.

Booked: M. Hughes.

Arsenal: Seaman, Silvinho, Adams, Keown, Dixon, Overmars (Black 86), Petit (Winterburn 80), Grimandi, Parlour, Bergkamp (Vieira 69), Kanu.

Subs Not Used: Manninger, Luzhny.

Booked: Silvinho.

Goals: Overmars 34.

Att: 35,919

Ref: D Gallagher (Banbury).