Henry leads the sack of Rome

Roma 1 - 3 Arsenal

If the Champions League is a cut-throat competition, Arsenal may delight in having the sharpest edge. In a game whose degree of difficulty was appropriate to the second phase of the tournament, Thierry Henry sliced through all problems. He recorded the first hat-trick by any Arsenal player in this competition and has six goals in seven Champions League appearances this season.

Henry's unsparing precision was the one quality that found no equal in the Roma ranks. As if victory were not enough, Arsenal should take satisfaction from negotiating their way through so alarming a test.

A man can overdose on vindication. At the least, Arsène Wenger must have been queasy at the sight of Roma fulfilling his predictions by far surpassing their Serie A form.

From the Arsenal's viewpoint, the weak performance of an apparently strong Roma squad was a mystery that was too good to last. The insipidness ended with spectacular rapidity when Fabio Capello's team took the lead inside four minutes. The response was rapid, too, but the visitors' command of the game was questioned and, in spells, overthrown.

Although Oleg Luzhny was fit enough, despite tight hamstrings, to operate at right-back, the reassurance was limited for Wenger. There were no static targets at which the Arsenal defence could aim its challenges because Capello had emphasised mobility. No one was more elusive that Francesco Totti, who broke through, following a pass from Cafu in the second minute, but then hesitated and underestimated Sol Campbell's speed of recovery.

The impression of Serie A resurgence was soon heightened by a man associated with the high water mark of Italian football at its most financially grandiose. Adriano Cassano was still a teenager when Capello paid £19m to take him from Bari last year. The valuation might have been exaggerated, but the talent is definitely not imaginary.

Working a one-two with Totti, he went clear and tweaked a shot away from Rami Shabaan, who was deputising for the injured David Seaman. The ball hit the inside of the near post, came spinning out and then curled home at the far post. In their 18 previous Champions League games, Roma had only ever produced more than a single goal on two occasions, but the invention was lavish here.

Their defence, however, had no such sharpness and Arsenal held on to their own composure with a clenched fist. Gilberto Silva's angled pass might have been lethal even if Christian Panucci had not lost his chance of an interception by slipping and Thierry Henry's angled drive across Francesco Antonioli was calm.

Arsenal's wish to dictate the terms of the game could not be fulfilled, however, while Totti was impossible to subdue. A supporters' banner acclaimed him as a great captain, athlete and man. It might have found space in the small print to note his tireless diving in penalty areas, but the honest face of his artistry is compelling.

After 28 minutes, Cafu's cross looped over Campbell to drop on to his chest. Totti's subsequent volley was placed so far wide of Shaaban that it struck Pascal Cygan on the goal-line.

If they depended too much on last-gasp blocks in defence, Arsenal had faith in themselves, with Gilberto Silva and Patrick Vieira constantly bidding to assert mastery of the central midfield.

Even in spasms, though, Roma could find space of their own. When Campbell lost his footing, in the 64th minute, Totti freed Gianni Guigou, the substitute, to surge at Shaaban. The goalkeeper's sliding challenge connected with the attacker, but Lubos Michel, the referee, saw enough contact with the ball to award a corner.

Arsenal might have been living dangerously then, but the heartbeat was strong and the instincts were sharp.In the 70th minute, a long cross from Luzhny was headed against Panucci by Henry and the Frenchman crisply tucked home the loose ball with his left foot.

It was proving to be execution that separated the sides and Henry, with his third goal, was the embodiment of it. Sylvain Wiltord was brought down in the 75th minute and, with pristine technique, the forward twirled the free-kick high past Antonioli's right hand.

The resourcefulness of Arsenal is on as effortless an upward rise as that piece of finishing. They have now won in Eindhoven, Auxerre and Rome in recent months. It promises further journeys during the knock-out phase of the tournament.

Roma (3-4-2-1): Antonioli; Panucci, Zebina, Samuel, Candela; Cafu, Emerson, Lima (Batistuta, 73), Delvecchio; Totti, Cassano (Montella, 65); Delvecchio (Guigou, 57).

Cassano 4

Arsenal (4-4-2): Shaaban; Luzhny, Campbell, Cygan, Cole; Ljungberg (Edu, 90), Gilberto Silva, Vieira, Pires (Van Bronckhorst, 79); Henry, Wiltord (Keown, 85).

Henry 6, 70, 75

Referee: L Michel (Slovakia).