Fresh from a Champions League hat-trick in Rome, Henry repeated his prowess with a double-strike in North London.

The victims this time around were Aston Villa as Henry first struck a replica of his dead-ball effort in the Olympic Stadium before impudently chipping a late penalty down the middle of the goal.

Arsenal, who had taken an early lead through Robert Pires, endured a few nervous moments when Thomas Hitzlsperger made the scoreline 2-1 with a superb strike.

However, despite the Gunners’ recent inconsistency, they indisputably remain the side to catch in the title race.

Liverpool and Manchester United may face a heavyweight clash at Anfield tomorrow, but it is the Gunners who now stand four points clear after this 3-1 victory.

In the wake of their superb midweek win in Rome, Arsenal certainly started in the same vein as Peter Enckelman had to dive at full-stretch to deny Kolo Toure.

Although Pires was starting to recapture his superb form of last season, while Dennis Bergkamp was as mesmerising as ever with his array of tricks, Darius Vassell’s pace ensured that Arsenal could not rest on their laurels.

Indeed, the Villa striker breezed past Sol Campbell with a dip of the shoulder and an impish turn before drilling in a shot which the Arsenal reserve keeper did well to parry.

However, in an open game, Arsenal were always able to hit the heart of Villa’s relatively one-paced defence at speed.

And when Bergkamp slipped an inch-perfect pass to Pires, the Frenchman glided through and finished underneath Enckelman’s body.

While Pires mis-kicked in front of goal and Toure’s control let him down after he bundled his way into a scoring position, Arsenal should have gone further ahead 11 minutes before the break.

Villa’s offside trap had initially broken down to allow Henry to bear down on the Villa goal and after he cut back inside Ronnie Johnsen, he clipped his shot against the inside of the post.

As the ball rolled back into the goalmouth, Toure – who, replays proved, had clearly been standing behind Henry when he shot – clipped home the rebound only for the referee’s assistant to raise his flag.

But while Bergkamp also dragged a shot wide, Oyvind Leonhardsen failed to make the most of the reprieve when he wasted a clear header soon afterwards

And Dion Dublin came even closer to equalising just before the break when he instinctively stuck out a boot to connect with Thomas Hitzlsperger’s cross and directed the ball narrowly wide.

Villa boss Graham Taylor made one change at half-time, with Lee Hendrie replaced by Ulises de la Cruz, but his substitute had soon conceded the free-kick from which Henry took full advantage.

Steve Staunton realised the danger and rushed back to the goal-line just as he thought the Frenchman was about to take aim.

However, Henry simply hesitated, forcing Staunton to move back out, and the Arsenal striker promptly curled the ball into the top corner – just where Staunton had been standing.

Arsenal were seemingly in command, but Villa had the foresight to take a quick corner from which Hitzlsperger jinked inside and then unleashed an unstoppable drive into the far corner.

Suddenly, with 26 minutes still remaining and Villa now attacking with renewed vigour and confidence, it was game on again.

Wenger’s response was to bring on the experienced figure of Keown for Toure, although it meant a switch to a back-three, which is almost unheard of from the Arsenal boss.

Villa threatened but not for long. When Pires was replaced, on came Fredrik Ljungberg and, within four minutes, the Swedish international had won them a penalty, albeit a controversial one.

Ljungberg went tumbling in the penalty area as he fell over Staunton’s outstretched leg and, despite Villa’s protests, referee Graham Barber pointed to the spot.

Replays seemed to show that Villa had been harshly treated but up stepped Henry to slot home a penalty of sheer impudence as Enckelman dived one way and the ball sailed down the middle.

In his eagerness to score another hat-trick, Henry earned himself a booking for scoring when the whistle had gone following an offside decision, while Enckelman also denied him with a reaction save.

Nothing, however, could take the gloss of yet another sparkling display by the player who is surely now Europe’s premier striker.