Cesc Fabregas teaches Spanish lesson. [ Thursday September 20, 2007]
Arsenal's stylish start to the season continued last night when they secured their seventh victory out of eight, claiming the important scalp of Sevilla, so making them favourites to qualify from their group.

Once again, their heart, soul and creative force was Cesc Fabregas, who scored a deflected strike and then helped create the second for Robin van Persie. With Fabregas again to the fore late on, Eduardo added a third, Arsenal's 12th in their last four games.

The cries of "ole" were well deserved as Arsenal began tormenting the Spanish late on, their clever passing moves guiding the ball effortlessly around Juande Ramos' visitors. If Fabregas' shot was arguably an own goal by Julien Escude, no one could question the control he had over the game's ebb and flow. He dominated from box to box.

The Spanish should have expected the Spanish inquisition. Despite his callow years, Fabregas is so widely admired around Europe now, and he again confirmed his talent on the big stage. Those who believe that Arsenal have the technique, pace and tactical nous to progress far in this competition will have been encouraged by this excellent display.

Sevilla are an accomplished side, boasting one of the best coaches around in Ramos and a hungry striker in Fredi Kanoute. But they had no one who could come close to Fabregas.

Having scored against Martin Jol's Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, Fabregas last night struck against the coach tipped to be the Dutchman's eventual successor. Having built a Uefa Cup-winning side for far less than Spurs spent on the £17 million Darren Bent, Ramos' stock is high in Europe.

The well-groomed man from Sevilla looks as if he has just stepped from a Savile Row display window. He did not even lose his cool at the hapless nature of his team's defending when Fabregas came calling after 27 minutes. Mathieu Flamini, putting in another tireless shift in the boiler room, slipped the ball to Fabregas 25 yards out.

The Spaniard's first touch controlled the ball, his second nudging it to within range of Andres Palop's goal. Fabregas then let fly, the ball catching Escude en route past a wrong-footed Palop. Sevilla had been full of bright movement, but Arsenal's goal was reward for their attractive approach work, much of it one-touch and at pace.

The Premier League leaders have such faith in their ability, in their philosophy of pass and move. At times, Fabregas dropped deep, collecting the ball off Philippe Senderos and Kolo Toure and looking to launch attacks. At other times, Fabregas advanced to cause havoc. It was from his free-kick early in the second half that Bacary Sagna flicked on for Robin van Persie to make it 2-0.

For 27 minutes, the match had been fairly even. Close duels broke out all over the field, Senderos versus Kanoute, Fabregas against Marti and the flying full-back, Daniel Alves, against anyone in red trying to protect Arsenal's left flank. The agile Brazilian loves raiding forward, although he had also to beware the surges of Tomas Rosicky and Gael Clichy.

Sevilla are built to attack, away from home as well as in their Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan fastness, and they occasionally exuded danger, particularly down the flanks. Jesus Navas cut inside from the right and shot wide early on. Clichy clearly remembered the moment, and soon caught the winger with a nasty lunge. Diego Capel kept running at Sagna, looking to reach the byline and find the busy Kanoute.

These visitors from Spain deserved respect. Arsenal knew that. Yet Fabregas and friends quickly detected a flaw in Sevilla's play, notably the handling of Palop, who dealt badly with long-rangers from Van Persie and Flamini. He kept them out, but only just.

Palop had no chance with Fabregas' deflected strike, but the keeper's uncertainty had clearly encouraged Arsenal's players to try their luck from distance. With a touch of defensive nerves tempering Sevilla's solidity, Arsenal should really have doubled their advantage from a Rosicky corner. Toure rose well but headed wide.

Then Sevilla's centre-half, Fazio, was utterly deceived by Emmanuel Adebayor, who did superbly to open up some space, which he then failed to exploit with a weak shot. Arsenal were finishing the half incredibly strongly, racing time and again at Sevilla's backpedalling defence. Only the dogged tracking of the rugged Serb, Ivica Dragutinovic, quelled a run of murderous intent by Van Persie.

Committed to attack, Arsenal had to be careful of not being stretched, and Flamini did well to race back and put out some fires being fanned by Marti, Kanoute and Diego Capel. Arsenal really needed to get tighter to Kanoute. He was not difficult to follow; every touch by the former Spurs player drew whistles of derision. He almost silenced Arsenal fans just before the break, cutting in from the right and demanding a superb save from Manuel Almunia.

Arsenal simply showed their class again just before the hour. Again, Sevilla's defence lacked defiance and awareness as Fabregas and Sagna set up Van Persie for a driven tap-in.

Two goals to the good and the three points secure, Arsenal put on a show for their fans, drawing ole after ole. Deep into injury time, Eduardo poached from close range. Group H belongs to Fabregas' men.