Despite making his first start for over two months, Vieira played the full 90 minutes without any apparent reaction from the thigh problem which has kept him sidelined recently.

The Arsenal skipper is now certain to take centre stage in the Gunners' crucial Champions League match at home to Lokomotiv Moscow next week, which will decide whether they progress to the knockout phase of the competion.

"When you're winning so easy you want to stay on the pitch," the Arsenal captain said after the match, adding that he was also keen to figure in Saturday's Premiership encounter with Leicester.

"I'm fit and it's up to the boss to see if I can play or not."

The Gunners captain suffered a thigh injury against Newcastle on September 26 and aggravated it as a substitute against Dynamo Kiev a month later.

But the French midfielder is eager to restore Arsenal to the top of the Premiership after last weekend's draw with Fulham saw them drop to second in the table, a point below Chelsea and three above Manchester United.

"There's a really long way to go but it will be a race between the three teams," Vieira said.

The captain paid tribute to 20-year-old compatriot Jeremie Aliadiere, who scored twice, both with cultured finishes that evoked comparisons with Thierry Henry.

"He worked really hard and deserved his two goals," Vieira enthused. "He showed the manager he's ready for the top.

"When you have Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp as an example, you can only learn from this.

"He's training with the first team, he wants first team football. He's worked really hard and now it's up to him to keep going."

Nwankwo Kanu and Sylvain Wiltord were also on target for Arsenal while 16-year-old Francesc Fabregas Soler became the club's youngest scorer.

In the night's other match, Southampton defeated Portsmouth 2-0 in a south coast derby, England forward James Beattie making the difference with a 32nd-minute strike and an injury time penalty.

Arsenal made 11 changes from the side that drew 0-0 with Fulham on Saturday with Wiltord, Vieira and Kanu the only experienced players.

But it was still no surprise when they took the lead on 24 minutes when Aliadiere drilled a right-footed shot from the centre of the penalty box into the bottom right-hand corner of Andy Marshall's net.

The floodgates finally opened on 68 minutes when Wiltord laid on a right-wing cross for Nigerian Kanu to slot home his first goal in over a year from six yards out.

Just three minutes later, Kanu turned provider for Aliadiere to grab his second. The 20-year-old curled a delightful right-footed finish past Marshall.

Wiltord took advantage of some slack defending with 11 minutes left when Vieira played him through to score from six yards.

Alex Rae blasted a consolation strike that crashed in off the underside of Graham Stack's crossbar two minutes later.

The Gunners' youngest ever player, Spanish forward Fabregas, became their youngest scorer when he tapped in a Wiltord cross with two minutes left.

Southampton's win over Portsmouth was the first meeting between the two bitter rivals in nearly eight years.

Beattie broke the deadlock 32 minutes when he got between two defenders to get to Chris Marsden's low cross from the left for his ninth goal of the season.

"The goal took a while after a tense start," said Beattie. "It was a great ball by Chris Marsden and all I had to do was get a contact.

"It was fast and furious but we settled down after the goal and in the second half we were the better team."

Beattie confirmed the Saints' place in the quarter-finals with a contentious penalty two minutes into injury time.

There seemed little intent when De Zeeuw accidentally collided with Beattie as the forward dribbled across his path, but the Dutch defender was dismissed.

Srnicek dived the right way but the penalty shot to the right was well-placed to give Southampton local bragging rights for just over two weeks.

"It was definitely a penalty," Beattie said. "I would have scored anyway so there can't be any complaints.