Arsenal 2-0 Bolton: Not pretty but still a win

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Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
20 Oct	3:00 PM	P	Bolton Wanderers (H)	2	0	Win

After the international break, and with almost a quarter of the Premiership season gone, Arsenal find themselves in a position even the most ardent couldn't have predicted just two months ago. 22 points out of a possible 24 leaves us sitting pretty at the top of the table and the task of beating our next opponents, Bolton Wanderers, had been made just that little bit easier after they parted company with their coach Sammy Lee. They had gone on a poor run of form which saw them, in stark contrast to Arsenal's form, drop 22 points.

Looking back through past seasons the international break has not really been a good time for us. Indeed after international breaks over the last 6 seasons we have managed to pick up 37 points and are 11 points behind Man United over the same period. It is precisely that point which made this game so much more crucial than normal. Winning this game after our players returned from excursions with their national teams would give us the confidence to go on and win games against Slavia Prague in the Champions League and Liverpool and Man United in the Premier League.

The task was made just that much harder though as Robin van Persie had picked up an injury while with the Netherlands and is looking like having a spell on the sidelines. Philippe Senderos also picked up a knock over the break but William Gallas, Tomasz Rosicky, Eduardo da Silva and Jens Lehmann all returned from injury. Gallas and Eduardo replaced the injured duo in the team. Rosicky took a place on the bench but there was no place for Lehmann in the squad as Arsène Wenger decided to stick with the majority of the team that took us to the top of the table.

The game kicked off in the Emirates sunshine despite a cold afternoon and Bolton played with Kevin Davies as a lone striker. The rest of the team were content to basically sit in their own half. As was expected this gave the game a tentative feel and chances were at a premium.

The first opportunity came on 8 minutes. Alex Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor exchanged passes to leave the Belorussian racing down towards the byline but his low cross took a couple of deflections before being cleared by the Bolton defenders. Seconds later was an even better chance. Bacary Sagna crept down the wing before looping in an inviting cross towards the tall frame of Adebayor, but the Togolese striker could not divert his header towards goal. One sensed an early goal would force the overly defensive Bolton to come out of their stalls and play football. As the clock ticked away it only seemed a matter of when rather than if we scored.

It would be close to 10 minutes later though before our next real chance of the game. A floated ball from Cesc Fabregas was chested down by Adebayor into the path of the onrushing Eduardo. The Croatian quickly attempted a long range drive but his effort did not trouble Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal.

Well known for their over-physical play, it was not surprising to see Gavin McCann recklessly go through Sagna. This led to a skirmish which saw Fabregas and El Hadji Diouf booked. Things could have taken a turn for the worse as Fabregas clumsily took out Ivan Campo but was lucky to only receive a talking to.

This passage of play set the tone for the rest of the half as Diouf, Fabregas, Campo, McCann and Joey O'Brian all committing unpleasant fouls. There was only one chance of note to come before the referee blew for half time. Hleb and Eduardo were linking up well before the latter set up Adebayor for a header. Unfortunately the header was weak and straight at Jaaskelainen.

With the second half barely underway, Manu Eboue found some space 8 yards out from goal needing only a placed finish to score. Instead he decided to put his foot through the ball and blasted his shot high and wide. It was a chance though and I'd rather that what was a horror show of a football match in the first half.

Minutes later after a quick counter attack Gaël Clichy managed to find Fabregas in space. His long range drive was well held by Jaaskelainen. We seemed to have upped the tempo now and it seemed like a goal was soon to come. Adebayor came close soon afterwards. He tricked his marker but at the crucial moment he sliced his shot high and wide. This shot seemed to sum up his night so far. Maybe his failure to qualify for the African Cup of Nations was still playing on his mind. Either way he was to get another chance after linking up well with Eduardo but yet again the Togolese striker miscued what was our best chance of the game. So far.

Wenger sensed a chance in personnel was needed and decided to take off the ineffective Eboue for Theo Walcott. Tomasz Rosicky came on for Eduardo, who to be fair did not receive much support. This allowed Wenger to put Hleb up top and Rosicky on the left. It was to be a masterstroke by Wenger. This was one of the few times that Wenger had used a substitution to change tactics. Usually he changes players but keeps his rigid 4-4-2 formation but this time switching to a 4-3-3/4-5-1 worked a treat.

Hleb was dictating the play and after laying siege to the Bolton area we received a freekick about 25 yards out. With van Persie missing the likely taker was Cesc Fabregas. Kolo Touré was also in the vicinity. In the end it was Touré who took responsibility for the shot. Fabregas laid off the ball and Flamini stopped it. The onrushing Touré unleashed a low daisycutter which nestled in the back off the net via a slight deflection.

This opened up the game and forced Bolton to come out in search of an equaliser. While they did put on a winger, their game plan was relatively the same. To be honest we were still the ones doing the pressing and were the more likely scorers. Walcott showed some great pace to beat two men but his cross to the far post was not met by anyone. Rosicky should really have gambled at the far post for what would have been an easy tap in. With 10 minutes left though he did make amends. Yet again the instigator was Walcott who broke down the right before delivering yet another cross but this time Rosicky was on hand to tap the ball in past the helpless Jaaskelainen.

Yet another win on the trot by the Gunners, win number 12 by the way, our good form confirmed by Wenger and Fabregas winning the Barclays Premier League manager and player of the month for September. On a side note this is the first time we have taken both awards in the same month since August 2004.

In any case we got the win which consolidates our lead at the top of the table and we can now look forward to all but securing our place in the knockout stages of the Champions League against Slavia Prague in the week.

User Comments

omondi odm damu

Posted on 22 Oct, 2007 at 08:46 PM - Reply

must say at trhis rate we are bound to repeat the unbeaten run. sure fergie is fretting wherever he is and liverpool just wishes they were not to be the next victims

Femi

Posted on 22 Oct, 2007 at 06:24 PM - Reply

WARNING: I once posted a comment concerning Adebayor. It seems it looked like it was personal but it's not. I respect Wenger's Patience with his boys, but Adebayor's case is going way TOO FAR. Misses like this would have cost the game against Sunerland and it will certainly be punished in games against the like of Man U, Liverpool Chelsea etc. If you watch the last two Man u games their opponents would have beaten them silly IF THEY HAD TAKEN THEIR CHANCES.
Arsene Wenger should please make Eduardo the point's man, buy one extra striker, the likes of Tevez cos that's the only area that is suspect.The guys are doing GREAT but Adebayor is not as great as he's being made out to be. Wenger should give Betdner more playing time to test his potential. depending too much on Adebayor might end up being to a disadvantage.
Please this year looks good. Let's not spoil it with sentiments.
GOD BE WITH YOU ALL!!!

Theodore Adjei

Posted on 22 Oct, 2007 at 05:02 PM - Reply

It is good to see our dfenders, midfielders and strikers all hitting the back of our opponents.

Goonerbeall

Posted on 22 Oct, 2007 at 02:39 PM - Reply

Arsenal winning ugly? Gime that wim any day of the week. Having played pretty and lost -twice against Wet Spam, Sheffield Utd, Boro et al last season. I think an ugly win is very very tasty. Do that against Liverpool and Manure and I will be the happiset chap in town.
Ade is not a finisher but offers something we cant buy: Chasing lost causes, stressing defenders and airborne threats which give others chances to finish what he started. Bendtner and Walcott is a partnership that is promising and would love to see them against Pool/Manure. Win those two and I may start to feel very very confident of our chances.

zabulon

Posted on 22 Oct, 2007 at 12:28 PM - Reply

That is a great NEWS for us fans Bolton has always been a bad news to us. Mr. Wenger has to use also those tactics of changing according to the playing sometimes 4,4,2, 4,5,1....it helps a lot as chelsea manager was doing it needs just for the players to be very flexible to those changes

sammens

Posted on 22 Oct, 2007 at 11:17 AM - Reply

Adebayor needs some confidence building to increase his success rate

Charles Koech,Kakamega-Kenya.

Posted on 22 Oct, 2007 at 09:34 AM - Reply

I enjoyed the 90 minutes though at one point was disappointed by Ade's unconverted chances.need to see Bendt one of these days doing great.Of course,he is good at aerial as Ade.For Hleb,Fab,Flam,Tou,Sagna,Rosis,Theo,Glic,Almu-keep up the excellent work.

KAI

Posted on 22 Oct, 2007 at 08:46 AM - Reply

Frankly speaking. Adebayor is moderate. Arsenal still need a good finisher.

Sigit Hermanto, Ign.

Posted on 22 Oct, 2007 at 06:09 AM - Reply

Keep the spirit, Arsenal must win this year.

Wandera charles

Posted on 21 Oct, 2007 at 06:31 PM - Reply

Good news!We only need to win the next two matches ie.Pool&Man.U 2 start touching the trophy!Adebayor needs 2 get much serious.He misses alot of obvious chances!Can wenger try the partnership of Bentner and Eduardo?

Jay

Posted on 21 Oct, 2007 at 04:21 PM - Reply

Emmaneuel Adebayor uptop was a total disgrace. He lacks composure in front of goal,his feet are all over the place.Towards the end of the game, the chance which he missed made me and hopefully all of ya'll rethink of his starting position in the squad.I have no doubt that Bendtner is way better than Ade.

matthew

Posted on 21 Oct, 2007 at 03:20 PM - Reply

i felt so much relief after we worsened boltons season, though not at our best but getting results gets you trophies and turns your home into a fortress of some sort.i really do have one concern though and i thimk the professor should do something about it,manu adebayor cannot finish, he does not have technique,and as such cannot end up as top scorer his performance was to say d least embarassing and the slip more embarassing. a player can improve if he trains on his finishing but ade just does not have it. i see nicklas bendtner as d next gr8 plyr in this gr8 club in addition to d ones onn ground, i think he should start playing games instead if ade i know arsene likes tradition bt nicklas is more of a point man han ade and can complement dudus runs like in d carling cup vs newcsatle.ade is not intelligent enuff and needs classes.

maya

Posted on 21 Oct, 2007 at 12:25 PM - Reply

I slightly disappointed that Adebayor despite his height rarely score from header. He have 2 chance to score from header this time but yet another poor header. I don't deny that Adebayor is an important striker to us as he's our target man. He show some good control on floating ball makes Arsenal have good penetration. However i would have delighted if Wenger give Ade intensive training on header.

Paul Southcott

Posted on 21 Oct, 2007 at 09:51 AM - Reply

Arsenal have 25 points out 27 (and started day with 22 out of 24). Even better than stated in the article

nazmi

Posted on 21 Oct, 2007 at 06:55 AM - Reply

hleb is man of the match again...

Sandy

Posted on 20 Oct, 2007 at 11:09 PM - Reply

Yeah Arsenal! I can't believe Jens is back but still not playing. Wenger must be afraid (a little superstitious about changing the starting lineup while they are on this winning streak). Jens is ready to come back so I hope Wenger is the strategist everyone believes him to be and puts Jens in at the crucial moment to continue our winning streak against teams Alumnia might not do well against. As much as I'd love to have Jens back as GK right now I also want Arsenal to keep winning.

i-Arsenal.com

Posted on 20 Oct, 2007 at 10:49 PM - Reply

excellent game.. could have easily been 4 or 5 goals to nil.. great victory.. we totally lifted the game in second half.. great goal by toure..

Jonathan Ong

Posted on 20 Oct, 2007 at 06:35 PM - Reply

Adebayor was awful in the game... missed an one-on-one situation and his shots were just as horrific

samuel see

Posted on 20 Oct, 2007 at 06:30 PM - Reply

its 22 out of 24 points yo. first paragraph.

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