LONDON - Theo Walcott repaid the faith of manager Arsene Wenger with a brace to help fire Arsenal to a record 7-0 Champions League win over Slavia Prague at Emirates Stadium.
The 18-year-old - thrust into the spotlight following his controversial inclusion in Sven-Goran Eriksson's ill-fated World Cup squad last summer - had been threatening to explode for several weeks, and delivered the performance of his young career on Tuesday as the Czechs were simply swept aside by the Premier League leaders.
With top scorer Robin van Persie sidelined, the Arsenal boss opted to push Walcott up alongside Emmanuel Adebayor and spearhead the attack.
The teenager has returned sharper, stronger and no doubt wiser from the experiences of last season and the shoulder surgery which kept him out of the summer's Under-21 European Championships.
It proved a more than sound tactical switch, with the pace of the former Southampton trainee stretching the visitors defence time and again.
Cesc Fabregas set the Gunners on their way inside five minutes, and afterwards it proved to be a one-sided encounter as Arsenal took a huge step towards qualification from Group H with a third straight win, their biggest at home in Europe since 1991.
With 12 consecutive victories in all competitions, Wenger's emerging side are on the best run of form since their Invincible season of 2003-04, and fast closing on the overall club record of 14 in a row set some 20 seasons ago.
While Arsenal fans will no doubt have left Emirates Stadium on Tuesday dreaming of more glory, there are certainly sterner tests ahead than that presented by the shell-shocked Czechs, making their debut in Europe's elite club competition this year.
However, you can only beat what is put in front of you, and at the moment, the Gunners are doing that - with both the consistency and swagger of champions in waiting.
The 2006 European Cup finalists had looked bright from kick-off, and it was no surprise when they took an early lead.
Only one thing was on Fabregas' mind when the ball fell kindly him on the edge of the area, somewhat fortuitously after an untimely slip by his marker and following good work by Alexander Hleb down the left.
The finish was, as expected, out of the top drawer, a curled effort past Prague keeper Martin Vaniak, whom you suspected would be in for a busy night.
And so it proved as the Gunners doubled their lead after 24 minutes.
This time it was the Belarus midfielder who benefited from some poor defending and a wicked deflection.
Slavia failed to deal with a ball into their six-yard box from the right, and it dropped at the feet of Hleb.
Vaniak looked to have his angled drive covered, only for defender David Hubacek to stick out a leg and take the ball in the opposite direction, into the back of the net.
It could well have been 3-0 when Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor rose at the far post to power a close-range header down.
But Vaniak was equal to it, making a smart reaction save with his feet.
The Czech was soon in the thick of the action again, this time for all the wrong reasons.
Left-back Daniel Pudil elected to knock the ball back to his keeper from the near touchline.
The Slavia keeper, though, made a complete hash of his attempted clearance, and gifted possession to Walcott.
The England starlet still had some work to do, but showed quick feet to expertly round the stranded keeper and slot the ball between two rapidly retreating defenders and into the net from 18 yards.
With another victory in the bag, Arsenal were able to play with freedom following the restart.
That proved more bad news for Slavia, as Hleb made it 4-0 after 51 minutes, turning the defence inside out down the left and drilling a low strike past Vaniak.
The crowd were soon on their feet again when the impressive Belorussian slipped Walcott away with a sliderule pass inside the full-back, and the teenager promptly stabbed the ball in off the far post.
It was six when Arsenal broke quickly after defending a corner through the all-action Hleb in a sweeping move which involved Adebayor and Walcott, who unselfishly sent Fabregas in for his second.
Manuel Almunia - again preferred to veteran German Jens Lehmann - ensured a clean sheet when he tipped a drive from Matej Krajcik around the post.
Walcott then almost had the final say, only for Vaniak to produce a superb point-blank save to deny the Arsenal striker a deserved hat-trick.
Substitute Nicklas Bendtner tapped in a seventh on the stroke of full-time, but it was Walcott's performance which will have captured the imagination.
"I feel the rest is down to him," Wenger had said in his programme notes. And if tonight's display is a sign of things to come, then it will not be long before this young man is again the talk of England's bright future.
