The Dutchman was on target against Steaua Bucharest to ensure a ninth straight win for the Premier League leaders, who maintained their perfect start in Europe to put themselves in the driving seat to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages.

It has certainly been an impressive opening two months of the new campaign by a squad which was supposed to struggle without the services of talisman Thierry Henry, who left for Barcelona during the summer.

Arsenal have now matched the record of successive victories set by the 'Invincibles' team of 2003-04, although manager Wenger has been quick to play down talk of any comparisons just yet.

Van Persie, though, is certainly not surprised by the start this Arsenal side have made, and could sense something special was on the horizon when he returned early to pre-season training following his recovery from a broken metatarsal.

"At the start of the season I said we will surprise - and everyone was laughing," the Dutchman, 24, recalled.

"Now 12 games into the season, everyone says, 'Ooh, look at Arsenal, they are a good team'. This I knew before and my mind has not changed.

"I started training early this season with Theo [Walcott] and after, when the rest of the lads came back in, I saw a great togetherness and belief and big quality. This is what I saw day in, day out.

"I can understand the views of the fans and the press because they are not there every day - but I am and I saw this from early on."

Van Persie declared: "If we can stay together we can do amazing stuff in the future. We are progressing every week we play.

"If we just play our normal game, not many teams can stop us. We can win trophies. Why not? This is our aim.

"If we win a trophy, we are a good team. If we miss it, we are not a bad team. We will just have missed it."

With all the speculation of what may happen behind the scenes in terms of a potential Russian takeover backed by billionaire Alisher Usmanov, manager Wenger intends to keep the players focused on the job in hand of winning football matches.

It is certainly a case of so far so good, but despite all of the plaudits his side have gained this season, Wenger is determined to keep the young squad grounded.

The Arsenal boss maintained it was now all about reaction "game by game", with another test coming quickly when newly-promoted Sunderland travel to Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Veteran midfielder Gilberto is one of the few remaining members of that championship-winning side from 2004 which swept all before them.

The Brazilian - who came on for the closing stages last night just before Van Persie struck the winner - knows plenty of hard work lays ahead if this latest unquestioned potential is to be turned into long-awaited silverware once more.

"The more you win, the harder it is for you to play against other teams because everyone wants to beat you, but if they keep their minds right and everyone works hard for each other, there is a great chance," said Gilberto, who turns 31 on Sunday.

"It is important we keep our feet on the ground - if you do not keep your feet on the ground and your mind strong, it is very hard.

"From now on it will be even tougher. Everyone will want to win against us. I think this team can be one of the strongest in Europe. The quality is massive in this group."

Gilberto maintained: "I am not surprised how well they are doing because I am with them every day on the training ground.

"The quality in which they do their job - the pass and movement, the goals - is fantastic.

"If one of the players is not in condition to play, another replaces him and will do a great job."