DERBY, England -- Substitute Emmanuel Adebayor struck his second hat-trick against Derby this season as Arsenal ran riot with a 6-2 Premier League victory at Pride Park.



Arsenal players celebrate Robin Van Persie's goal in their comfortable 6-2 victory over Derby.



The Gunners, 5-0 winners at The Emirates earlier in the season, made sure of third place in the table with a rousing second-half display against relegated Derby, who move closer to being the Premier League's worst-ever side.



Arsene Wenger's side led 2-1 at the break after goals from Nicklas Bendtner and Robin van Persie either side of a Jay McEveley effort.



Theo Walcott was on target too, but the second half belonged to Togo international striker Adebayor, who struck three times to take his season's tally to 30 in all competitions, with Rob Earnshaw grabbing a consolation for the hosts in this eight-goal thriller.



Bottom side Derby, now 30 league games without a victory, began the more purposefully and Emanuel Villa only just failed to connect Tyrone Mears' inviting low cross .



Then Mile Sterjovski's drive took a major deflection off Alex Song to wrong-foot goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, making his first league start for Arsenal, only for the ball to creep past the right-hand post.



The Gunners struggled to find their rhythm early on and were fortunate not to go behind when Villa's bullet header flew just over.



Derby were made to pay for those early misses when Darren Moore's 25th minute mistake presented the ball to Niklas Bendtner, who played a one-two with Robin Van Persie before coolly slotting the ball into the left corner.



However, Derby soon scored the equalizer they deserved. Robbie Savage's inswinging free-kick landed on the six-yard line and Jay McEveley reacted first to hook the ball home.



The home side's joy was short-lived though, when Derby's defensive frailties were exposed again as Van Persie as given all the time in the world to chest down Kolo Toure's floated pass and volley home in style.



Adebayor replaced Van Persie for the second-half and Arsenal immediately looked intent on adding to their goals tally.



Twice Kolo Toure, playing at right-back, fired over, the second opportunity created by Cesc Fabregas' brilliant backheel.



There was nothing goalkeeper Roy Carroll could do to deny Adebayor Arsenal's third goal. Walcott took advantage of  Alan Stubbs' slip to cut the ball back to Emmanuel Eboue, who gave Adebayor an easy finish.



Walcott should have made it four when he was put through by Bendtner but the teenager fired wide with the goal at his mercy.



By now it was looking all too easy for the Gunners as they toyed with home side, creating chances at will -- but against the run of play Derby reduced the deficit to just a single goal when substitute Robert Earnshaw stroked the ball home.



Yet within a minute the two-goal cushion was restored, Gael Clichy pinging a pinpoint pass to Walcott wide on the left before the youngster cut inside and curled into the top-right corner.



Adebayor grabbed another poacher's goal, sliding to convert another Clichy assist with 10 minutes remaining before he wrapped up his hat-trick from an acute angle in added time.



With two games remaining, Arsenal are four points behind Manchester United and Chelsea, still with an outside chance of lifting the Premier League title. E-mail to a friend
What park did Arsenal defeat Derby? What number of points is Arsenal behind in standings? What person had a hat trick?
Pride four Emmanuel Adebayor
question: What park did Arsenal defeat Derby?, answer: Pride | question: What number of points is Arsenal behind in standings?, answer: four | question: What person had a hat trick?, answer: Emmanuel Adebayor