What the general passing stats do not accurately communicate is that possession appears to have become a means to simply stop other teams from scoring rather than offering a platform for Arsenal to attack.
Wenger, meanwhile, was unhappy with the playing surface in Manchester but he praised the opposition backline for frustrating Arsenal's attack.
BBC: Arsene Wenger blames Man Utd pitch for Arsenal mistakes
And up front, Arsenal's attack found it difficult to break down a stubborn and regimented defence led by German Robert Huth.
The ability to play on the counter-attack played into Arsenal's hands and substitute Cesc Fabregas passed for Bendtner to cut inside and find the top corner with a precise strike before Walcott again raced clear and sidefooted past Krul for his sixth goal of the season.
Substitute Emmanuel Eboue quickly added the fourth as Arsenal launched a sweeping counter-attack from a Porto corner, Arshavin again making life easy for his team-mate to go around Helton and score.
The key to effective nuclear deterrence was a secure retaliatory capability, meaning an arsenal that could ride out any surprise attack and then respond with such devastating effect that adversaries would find the prospect unacceptable.
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As so often this season, Liverpool packed their midfield, leaving Milan Baros up on his own in attack in an attempt to stifle Arsenal.
However, Russia forward Andrei Arshavin settled the match on the counter-attack with five minutes to play as Arsenal clinched a seventh successive win in all competitions.
While Johnson busied himself in attack, Manuel Fernandes did his best to disturb Arsenal's midfield with a gritty performance.
With just Kanu in attack, Harry Redknapp's side lacked the necessary numbers to regularly test the Arsenal defence.
That it was an Arsenal defender who provided the FA Cup holders' best chance in the opening half summed up their attack's deficiencies, with Thierry Henry doing his best work out on the flanks.
Torres' return gave Liverpool's attack an extra air of menace in a first half they dominated, exerting almost complete superiority over Arsenal as the Gunners delivered a desperately poor display.
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