The first glitch in Arsenal's relaxed afternoon occurred when key midfielder Samir Nasri pulled up with a hamstring injury and was replaced.
Arsenal then went ahead as Samir Nasri exchanged passes with Andrey Arshavin and fired home, before Cesc Fabregas had a penalty saved by Joe Hart.
Gerets has replaced Nasri and Cisse with Hatem Ben Arfa and Bakary Kone and hopes his side will be more of a threat this time around.
Although Nadir Belhadj pulled a goal back for the home side, midfielder Alex Song nodded in a fourth with 10 minutes left from Nasri's right-wing cross.
And as Arsenal continued to dominate the opening exchanges, Arshavin forced a fine save from Cech and Samir Nasri was narrowly off target with a low drive.
Samir Nasri scored the clinching goal with 10 minutes left at the Etihad Stadium to end the bold challenge of the newly promoted visitors, who had threatened a victory of their own.
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Van Persie was the creator with a superb pass that let in Samir Nasri, and when he lifted the ball over Gomes, Adebayor beat Alan Hutton in a straight race to poke home from almost on the goal-line.
Wenger also hailed Samir Nasri, who capped an excellent performance with a superb goal, turning three defenders before firing in from an acute angle.
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The lead only last nine minutes, though, as France his back with a well-worked goal that finished when Nasri fired a low right-foot shot beyond Hart's reach.
Nasri also played a fine one-two with Silva but overhit his pass with Balotelli waiting to pounce.
The pair have been named on a 10-man shortlist for the Fifa Puskas Award, along with the likes of Arjen Robben and Arsenal's Samir Nasri.
The Argentine laid off to Nasri, who tried to play a 1-2 with Aguero, only for the ball to ricochet back to the Frenchman off Cesar Azpilicueta and he calmly slotted it past Cech.
They finally ended the siege after 23 minutes when Samir Nasri broke into the area and curled a shot narrowly wide with Valdes struggling.
Eagles almost gave Burnley the lead after 62 minutes when he escaped the attentions of Samir Nasri and Mikael Silvestre on the right flank before striking the woodwork with a rising angled drive.
Nasri's pass sent Arshavin through, and when Nuno Coelho collided with Helton as he challenged the Russian, Bendtner was lurking to steer home the loose ball.
It was not long before Arsenal were applying pressure and Nasri's free-kick was clawed away before Chamakh rattled the woodwork with a close-range header.
Meanwhile, Samir Nasri and Aaron Ramsey have joined the Gunners, who are now strongly being linked with Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry.
Fabregas was at the centre of affairs again, punishing United for failing to pick up Nasri when he threaded through a perfect pass for the France midfield man to beat Van der Sar with an emphatic finish.
The Frenchman is also without forward Nicklas Bendtner, who has a groin injury and is three weeks away from a comeback, while midfielder Samir Nasri is expected to return to training in the next few days after being absent since 15 August with a knee problem.
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