THERE are times when a football manager has to hold his hands up and concede 'we were beaten by a better side'.

Mark Hughes has not had cause to utter those words on many occasions during his time in charge of Blackburn Rovers, but he found himself saying them here after Arsenal's impressive young Gunners delivered a tour de force.

This was men against boys - but unfortunately for Hughes and Blackburn, the Wenger boys were simply irresistible on the day.

Few teams in Europe, never mind the Premiership, can live with the Londoners when they are in this kind of mood.

Masters in the art of pass and move, there were times when the Gunners ruthlessly ripped Rovers to shreds in a devastating display of attacking football.

And yet the 6-2 scoreline does not begin to tell the full story of a rollercoaster afternoon.

Rovers actually looked lively going forward, too, and they even had the audacity to take a second minute lead - Shabani Nonda scoring the fastest ever goal at the Emirates when he squeezed an immaculately taken penalty past Jens Lehmann.

Arsenal's response was emphatic as three goals in a 17-minute period then appeared to extinguish Rovers' fire.

However, a gutsy second half fight-back, culminating in a second goal for Nonda, suddenly made the improbable look possible for a spell, until a combination of Lehmann's brilliance and Robin Van Persie's artistry finally killed Rovers off.

"No-one enjoys getting beat 6-2 but even as an opposing manager, I can appreciate good play and, at times, Arsenal were excellent," said Hughes.

"On the break, the Arsenal team of today is as good as any, and they have the capacity to really punish you if you over-commit, which we had to do because we were behind in the game."

Seeing Arsenal in this kind of mood, it's hard to fathom why they are so far behind Manchester United and Chelsea in the race for the Premier League title.

The Gunners were simply electric, and though their fab four of Emmanuel Adebayor, Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Tomas Rosicky all wore gloves to keep out the cold, they left their fingerprints all over this contest.

Andy Todd, Andre Ooijer and Michael Gray must have left the pitch with twisted blood at half-time as they struggled in vain to stem the tide.

With Fabregas pulling all the strings in midfield, the pressure was relentless, and it was only when the Gunners started showboating in the second half that Rovers came back into it.

Ironically, things could hardly have started any better for Rovers.

In the second minute, Nonda's astute pass released the excellent David Bentley, who was promptly fouled by Kolo Toure in the area.

The referee Howard Webb had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Nonda was coolness personified as he stroked a perfect penalty inside the base of Lehmann's right-hand post. Only another 88 minutes to hold out!

Parity was restored inside eight minutes, Gilberto towering above Brett Emerton to head home Van Persie's corner.

Then a brilliantly crafted goal put Arsenal 2-1 up, Fabregas and Adebayor trading passes before Hleb slid a low shot under Friedel after effortlessly twisting past Todd.

By now, the momentum was firmly with Arsenal and they made it 3-1 in the 26th minute when Van Persie had his heels clipped by Lucas Neill, leaving Adebayor to score from the spot.

With the points seemingly in the bag, the Gunners began to over-indulge themselves in the second half as Fabregas, Van Persie and Rosicky (twice) all spurned chances to extend their advantage.

Just when it looked like Rovers were about to be sunk without trace, Nonda stunned the home fans into silence when he hooked in his second of the day after Matt Derbyshire's header had struck the bar.

Suddenly, Arsenal lost that air of invincibility and only a blinding save from Lehmann prevented Morten Gamst Pedersen from making it 3-3 with a thunderous volley.

It took a cool finish from Van Persie to finally stop home nerves jangling in the 85th minute.

Then the Dutchman finished off another flowing Arsenal move to take his personal tally to six goals in five games against Rovers.

By the time Mathieu Flamini added a sixth deep in injury time, following more sorcery from the magnificent Fabregas, Burton's smash-hit musical had already started on the telly