1999 February 6, West Ham United 0 Arsenal 4 (Premier League) @Boelyn Ground (Highlights)

#Arsenal #PremierLeague As the Arsenal faithful never tire of singing, 'We've got Dennis Bergkamp'. For most of the season they might have had some kind of ghostly, fatigued, downcast version. But yesterday they welcomed back the maestro in all his glory. The colour returned to his cheeks, the confidence to his soul, the magic to his boots. He was at the heart of a game that the Gunners mastered on cruise control. Arséne Wenger had the luxury of fielding his first-choice, full-strength eleven, and they tuned into the wavelength which propelled them to the Double last season. It was a familiar sight: the unpenetrables in defence, the terminators in midfield, the match-winners up front. All in all, it was too much for a modest West Ham. Arsenal soon stamped their power play on the game. The French connection of Emanuelle Petit and Patrick Vieira, both free of suspension for once, provided the platform from which Bergkamp began to run the show. A delightful slide-rule pass set Nicolas Anelka scampering away, leaving Rio Ferdinand and Ian Pearce in his wake, but the French teenager could only scoop his effort over Hislop's goal. Bergkamp then released Marc Overmars with another peach of a pass. The Dutch winger dinked the ball past Hislop, but Ferdinand recovered well to divert the goalbound shot. Having seen his promptings come to nothing, Bergkamp decided to do it all himself. The provider turned finisher - collecting the ball in midfield, he surged passed Marc-Vivien Foe as if the 6ft 4in Cameroonian didn't exist, before planting the ball with deceptive curl and perfect placement into the bottom corner. On 45 minutes Arsenal eased further in front. After Julian Dicks needlessly lost possession, Bergkamp initiated another foray, slipping the ball to Ray Parlour on the right flank. His cross, eluding the entire home rearguard, picked out Overmars, who poked the ball home at the second attempt. Redknapp introduced Eyal Berkovic to liven his side up for the second half, and it almost paid immediate dividends when the Israeli drove fiercely from just outside the box. It looked destined for the top corner, until David Seaman extended a strong arm to palm the ball over the crossbar. Attempting to traverse the moat Arsenal's evergreen defence have erected around the fortress that is Seaman's goal proved a tall order for West Ham, who played like strangers. It was a tough afternoon for newcomers Foe, Scott Minto and the eagerly awaited Paolo Di Canio. Those expecting the Italian to be a volcano waiting to erupt instead saw a cool head and controlled touch. At one point Martin Keown fell all over him during a tussle for the ball, and Di Canio promptly got to his feet and shook his opponent's hand. Maybe the rest did him good. He showed some bright, adventurous touches, but soon fizzled out. In fairness, a bit of quality support would not have gone amiss. Late on Pearce advanced to drive at Seaman, and Tony Adams did well to deprive Paul Kitson of a sitter from the rebound. That aside, it was a stroll for Arsenal, who completed the rout with two goals in the last eight minutes - the first an arrogant Anelka strike, his first since November, followed by Parlour's tap-in after West Ham were again undone by the rampant Bergkamp and Overmars. Arsenal's rekindled title defence is humming down the rails once more, and they are hurtling towards their next Premiership stop at Old Trafford on Wednesday week. The spectre of suspensions looms over them, though. There will be no Petit and, perhaps more damaging, the travelling band won't have Bergkamp to crow about. As Wenger assessed: 'He is very influential because he can pass, finish and give the final ball. When he is not there we look less dangerous because that final ball doesn't come.' When the Gunners visited Old Trafford last March for the colossal contest that tilted the title towards London, Petit and Bergkamp played crucial roles in Overmars' winning goal. Let the hype, and the mind games, commence. Arsenal, David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, Patrick Vieira, Martin Keown, Tony Adams, Emmanuel Petit, Ray Parlour, Nicolas Anelka, Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars, Substitutes, Alex Manninger, Matthew Upson, Remi Garde, Stephen Hughes, S, Kaba Diawara,