Fabregas shows there's life beyond Vieira

The Spanish striker was the man of the match yesterday, scoring and creating goals, as Arsenal reminded Sir Alex Ferguson just why they finished 15 points ahead of United last season.

Vieira remains a critical piece of the Arsenal jigsaw but it's an affront to the other members of a fabulous team to suggest that his departure would wreck their hopes of retaining the title.

Arsenal are good enough to win the Premiership again - with or without Vieira - and youngsters Reyes, Fabregas, Clichy, Kolo Toure, Ashley Cole, Jermaine Pennant and Robin van Persie suggest that they could go on winning it.

"It was a good experience for some of the young players," said Gunners boss Wenger. "I was particularly pleased for Reyes, who arrived here in the middle of an English winter. It wasn't easy to adapt. You need six months but he's now stronger and more confident and we're expecting a lot from him." Fabregas, too, earned praise from Wenger. A sturdily built midfield player with a good passing range, he refused to be intimidated by Roy Keane or Eric Djemba Djemba.

"To play like he did against a team of United's quality at 17 is fantastic," said the Arsenal coach.

To be fair to United, they had more important things to think about - like Wednesday's Champions League qualifier against Dinamo Bucharest and next Sunday's Premiership opener at Chelsea.

"Arsenal were the better team," said United manager Ferguson. "But the most important thing for us was to get through the match without any injuries."

Arsenal, who begin their defence of the title at Everton, were without five first team regulars all recovering from injury - - Sol Campbell, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg, Edu and Vieira.

The absence of so much experience gave Wenger the chance to hand the captain's armband to Dennis Bergkamp, who rose majestically to the occasion, inspiring the youngsters around him with his touch and vision.

He was the outstanding player in the first half, setting up a handful of chances for others and almost scoring himself. A stumble as he raced on to a ball from Thierry Henry denied him a wonderful shooting opportunity in the 26th minute.

Pennant squandered Arsenal's best first-half chance, and a fine save from Jens Lehmann kept out Gary Neville's header from Alan Smith's cross.

Four minutes after the restart, Gilberto Silva finally gave Arsenal the lead they deserved. The Brazilian capitalising on a wonderful 40-yard run by Reyes to tap the ball home.

Smith, United's £7million capture from Leeds, equalised with a crisp 20-yard shot in the 55th minute but the elusive Reyes restored Arsenal's lead four minutes later.

After a flurry of substitutions had reduced United to a shapeless mess, Mikael Silvestre then turned Cole's cross into his own net.

It's always unwise to read too much into the result of this traditional curtain-raiser to the season but yesterday's evidence suggests that, in nine months' time, Ferguson might regret his claim that Arsenal couldn't call themselves 'great' until they'd won consecutive titles.