Henry lets his double do the talking

Derby County 0 Arsenal

Arsenal celebrated Arsène Wenger's fifth anniversary at Highbury by clambering back to the top of the Premier League, for one day at least. Victory, casually earned, brought a satisfactory end to a week of rumbling discontent prompted by Thierry Henry's tactical critique of the midweek Champions' League defeat in Greece. But anyone who believes that Arsenal's problems have been exaggerated was not at Pride Park yesterday.

Arsenal lacked imagination, width, guile and, for the last 33 minutes, the presence of Martin Keown, who continued an unhappy start to the season by earning a red card for a trip on Malcolm Christie. Too many players seemed happy to deflect rather than accept responsibility. Both goals came from set-pieces, scored – with true sense of irony – by Henry, the first a free-kick, the second gift-wrapped by Andy Oakes, the Derby goalkeeper.

Arsenal will not meet more callow or inadequate opposition all season. Apart from the industry of Seth Johnson and the bustling presence of Fabrizio Ravanelli, Derby were woeful, forcing the bare minimum from Richard Wright, making his League debut in place of the injured David Seaman. On this evidence, the relegation struggle starts here.

Wenger himself seemed slightly puzzled by his side's healthy position. In strong contrast to last season, Arsenal have thrived away from home – recording three victories and a draw in four games – while continuing to struggle at Highbury.

"If you had told me after losing our second game at home to Leeds we would be top of the League by now, I would have said that's not realistic," said the Arsenal manager. But he would have none of talk of dark clouds circling Highbury. "No matter what you do," he said to the press, "you have to be negative. Maybe it is not as bad as everyone seems to want it to be. You are always under pressure to look at the negative side of things, I know, so maybe you are suffering the subconscious consequences of that." Quite. But it was Wenger's own negativity that so upset Henry in Athens and seems to have reduced the otherwise majestic Patrick Vieira to a midfield holding role which deprives his side of the sort of drive and purpose Roy Keane provides on tap for Manchester United. Vieira barely crossed the halfway line yesterday, and hardly broke sweat.

Keown's first booking, for not retreating 10 yards at a free-kick, was debatable, but he could not complain about his dismissal by referee Rob Styles. Keown's season so far has consisted of a knee injury, conceding a penalty at Chelsea, a fracas with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and a red card. A 35-year-old's ringcraft can no longer, it seems, mask the shortcomings, which does not augur well for his chances of playing against Greece in the decisive World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Wenger's affirmative reaction to midweek defeat was to give the £8m transfer Francis Jeffers a rare start in place of Sylvain Wiltord. The other changes – Wright for Seaman, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst for Ray Parlour – were enforced by injury. Without most of their foreign legion, Smith brought in Richard Jackson for his first start for 14 months in a bid to lift a season already developing familiar overtones. Derby have not won since the season's opening day.

It was inevitable that Henry's feet should do the talking midway through the first half. And so casual was the conversation, the Frenchman might have been enjoying a coffee on the Champs Elysées. Henry himself was fouled on the edge of the area, one of several marginal decisions by Styles. Oakes meticulously lined up a five-man wall and, seconds later, was picking the ball out of the back of his net as Henry, with a run-up of two paces, flicked the free-kick into the top left- hand corner. Arsenal did not deserve their lead. A little cameo from Fredrik Ljungberg, who scampered unmarked into a dangerous position on the overlap and watched in disgust as Lauren grossly overhit his 10-yard pass, was reflective of their sloppiness. The bank of vociferous Arsenal fans shared the Swede's silent protest.

Derby narrowed the pitch at every opportunity and relied on Christie and Ravanelli to chase long balls into the channels, where Matthew Upson continued to deputise impressively for Sol Campbell. Arsenal had two chances either side of half-time, Vieira misconnecting with a near- post header and Ljungberg forcing a good save from Oakes, but the decisive action of the second half was crammed into three minutes on the hour. The introduction of Georgi Kinkladze had signalled Derby's aggressive intent, but when a stray cross wrongfooted Arsenal's defence, Keown tripped Christie. Wright saved Ravanelli's low free-kick, but it was typical of Arsenal's perversity that they should respond to being reduced to 10 men by extending their lead. Admittedly, the goal stemmed from a fearful double error by Oakes, who failed to collect a low cross from Henry and was panicked into hauling down Kanu, who had been brought on for the limping Jeffers just after half-time. Henry, inevitably, stroked home his sixth League goal of the season from the penalty spot to end the game.

Deon Burton arrived in a vain attempt to bolster Derby's flagging attack, but even this anaemic version of an Arsenal side know how to defend a 2-0 lead properly, while their fans, amused by the news of Manchester United's comeback at White Hart Lane, sang: "Let's all laugh at Tottenham". Better than puzzling over neuroses closer to home.

Derby County 0 Arsenal 2

Henry 21, pen 63

Half-time: 0-1 Attendance: 29,200