Arsenal continued their impressive start to the season with a convincing 4-1 victory over Bolton at Ashburton Grove on Saturday. Rather like the win up a Blackburn a couple of weeks ago, it was a performance that suggested that Arsene Wenger's charges are becoming more mature.
The Gunners took a while to get into their stride despite holding the lion’s share of possession throughout the opening period. During the first half Tomas Rosicky impressed the most. The Czech made numerous penetrating runs and picked out some fantastic passes - most notably the one that put Andrey Arshavin through for a glorious one-on-one opportunity. He also still found time to track back and cover his defensive duties.
Finally injury-free and with a full summer of rest behind him, Rosicky has made an encouraging start to the season. During his time at Arsenal, we have only seen flashes of what he is capable of in between his frequent injury lay-offs. However, his contribution so far this term has not gone unnoticed either by his fellow players and the Arsenal supporters and maybe, given a run of full-fitness, he can finally deliver on the reputation he came to the club with and the potential he undoubtedly has.
With Laurent Koscielny playing the role of both saint and sinner in the first period - bundling home the Gunners opening goal but then presenting Bolton with their equalising opportunity when dropping a header back to Manuel Almunia well short of the mark - matters remained delicately poised at the break. Arsenal were taking time to shift into a higher gear but, on balance of chances, should have been comfortably ahead at the interval. Andrey Arshavin in particular really ought to have been on the score-sheet but was deprived on three occasions by a combination of good goalkeeping and desperate defending from the visitors.
A second goal was needed, and on the hour it finally came when Cesc Fabregas found his way to the by-line and hung up a cross that Marouane Chamakh thundered home with his head. For footballing traditionalists, there are few better sights than seeing a big centre-forward rise up and score in this manner and it is great to see the Moroccan is beginning to provide the Gunners a meaningful aerial threat up front.
The main talking point of the match though - at least from Bolton’s perspective - was the sending off of Gary Cahill. Seen in real time and in the stadium, it has to be said that it didn’t look anything more than a bookable challenge and, in the moments before the referee brandished the red card, the home support were more aggrieved at Andrey Arshavin being deprived of the advantage and a run on goal provided by Chamakh’s back-heel. At that point in the match, Arsenal needed a third goal more than they needed Bolton down to ten men.
Any shreds of sympathy for Cahill though were lost in the sense that if he hadn’t gone then at least one or two of the other Bolton players ought to have been dismissed. Kevin Davies should have considered himself very lucky to have still been on the pitch at the time of Cahill’s exit. He was booked for a first-half tackle on Jack Wilshere that was worse than Cahill’s challenge on Chamakh and got off scot-free after playing the man rather than the ball during an aerial clash with Koscielny. From where I was sitting, it was difficult to see the detail of Paul Robinson’s second-half challenge on Abou Diaby - which was probably just as well because TV replays showed it to be the sort potential leg-breaking challenge that makes you wince. Diaby's reaction to the tackle really said it all.
Bolton under Owen Coyle are not as brutal as Bolton under Sam Allardyce but Coyle still makes plenty of use of the physical attributes of his players - with Davies being the most obvious example. What was most pleasing though from the Arsenal perspective was that instead of “playing the victim” or allowing themselves to be intimidated by Wanderers’ approach, when the challenges came in, the Gunners simply got on with their game. They refused to be bullied or derailed and that is definitely a (long-overdue) sign of development in this team. It is high time this Arsenal team shook off their reputation for being vulnerable to rough-house tactics.
Did the red card turn the game? Not really. Arsenal were already 2-1 ahead and pushing hard for a third. As the match entered its final phase the home team finally hit full-throttle. Alex Song made the game safe with a deft finish after a nice move and Carlos Vela put the icing on the cake crowning a 24-pass with a confident strike to make it 4-1.
The Gunners had got better and better as the afternoon wore on and this was perfectly exemplified in the performance of Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard looks to be reaching full fitness again after his exertions of the summer and he made a real impact on Saturday, becoming more influential as the minutes ticked by. He was involved in all four goals, providing the assists for three of them, and was in the thick of everything good that Arsenal produced. By his own admission in his programme notes, he played badly at Blackburn but the small minority of supporters who thought that his heart wasn’t in it at Arsenal this season really have got it wrong.
So, another performance to be pleased with not least because of the way the Gunners dealt with the style of the opposition’s approach. No doubt arguments about the sending off will continue to rage but let that not distract us from the fact that not only did the Gunners score four but also created enough chances to have doubled the winning margin. They stood up to their visitors, contended with some atrocious refereeing decisions and still managed to turn on the style.
Are we starting to see the dawn of a team that withstand the physical rigours of the Premier League as well as being able to produce champagne football? Time will only tell.
Source: David Young, ESPN Soccernet on 13 Sep 10
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