Match Report: Bolton 1-3 Arsenal
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Arsenal took on a tough Bolton side at the Reebok this afternoon looking to extend their points in the Premier League table.
Arsene Wenger left Robin van Persie and England ace Theo Walcott on the bench for the trip to the Reebok Stadium.
Nicklas Bendtner was handed a start to partner Emmanuel Adebayor up front and Emmanuel Eboue was restored to the line-up as Wenger made two changes to the side that drew with Dynamo Kiev.
Bolton Starting XI:
Jaaskelainen
Steinsson – Shittu – A O’Brien – Samuel
J O’Brien – Smolarek – Muamba – Nolan – Gardner
Davies
Arsenal Starting XI:
Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Gallas – Clichy
Eboue – Fabregas – Song – Denilson
Adebayor – Bendtner
First Half
It was the homeside who kicked off at the Reebok which was surprisngly, basking in glorious sunshine.
A free-kick was won early on, as Megson’s team looked to use their threat upfront in Kevin Davies.
Arsenal won a succession of corners but failed to convert them, leaving Bolton open to chase them on the counter attack.
Unbelievably, it was the home side who took the lead when Kevin Davies met a Joey O’Brien corner to put Bolton 1-0 ahead in just the 13th minute – poor defending from Kolo Toure and once again Arsenal go behind at the Reebok.
Goal: Kevin Davies (14)
Arsenal bossed possession in the opening stages, but it was textbook Bolton for that goal: Davies simply rose highest in the box to nod in. At the other end, Denilson had a stab from 25 yards that screamed well wide.
However, Gunners were level just 12 minutes later as Emmanuel Eboue slipped the ball home after being set up by Bendtner, although there was a suspicion of offside about the goal.
Goal: Emmanuel Eboue (26)
And just a minute later Bendtner continued to justify his inclusion by firing the Gunners into the lead from Denilson’s cross from the left, a superb goal.
Goal: Nicklas Bendtner (28)
Bolton’s best hopes are from set pieces, and Andy O’Brien hoisted another one into the box that Arsenal manage to clear. But here’s the danger: Arsenal are super-slick on the counter attack, and this time Denilson tees up Eboue in the box, who dances through three or four Bolton “defenders” before his shot is charged down.
There was time enough in this half for Kevin Davies to pick up Bolton’s seventh yellow card of the season – and it might have been red. A poor challenge from the frontman which left a sour taste in the mouth as the half came to a close.
Second Half
Johan Djourou replaced Clichy at the break after Davies’ terrible challenge on the French fullback.
As the second half began, Arsenal continued from where they left off. Alex Song with a superb effort striking Jussi Jaaskelainen who just managed to tip it over.
Gary Megson’s side upped the anti on Wenger’s men and despite some earlier attacking prowess being stemmed, Bolton found some consistency within their passing.
Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor pulled back a ball for Denilson who was unable to get to it, but it was Bolton who were causing the Gunners’ defence plenty of menace in the second period.
Bacary Sagna cracked a shot well wide of the target as Arsenal started to form a solid attacking threat from the wings.
England sensation Theo Walcott entered the stage for Emmanuel Eboue who lost his feet in the second half after scoring the equaliser early on in the game.
Sagna was involved in a head to head collision with Kevin Davies, the Bolton striker frustrated manager Arsene Wenger who protested on the sidelines.
Walcott drove a low shot across goal after some good work from Alex Song and Denilson, while Bolton started to lose their defensive effiency which boded them well throughout the latter period.
Arsenal finally got the winner with less than 3 minutes to go. Theo Walcott went on an outstanding run cutting through several players before finding Adebayor. The frontman curled the ball across goal and Denilson finished with aplomb. A deserved 3 goal lead for Wenger’s troops.
Goal: Denilson (87)
The full time whistle went. Arsenal went top of the Premier League table with Chelsea and United set to battle it out tomorrow afternoon. If the Gunners’ continue like that, the title will be heading back to its rightful owners.
Player Ratings
Almunia: 7 – So solid, made a mistake who could have cost us the 2-2, but was excellent throughout.
Clichy: 6.5 – Only played a half, glad he’s okay after poor challenge.
Gallas and Toure: 7 – Great match from our back two who were not shy to come forward.
Sagna: 6.5 – Another very good performance from the Frenchman
Denilson: 6,5 – He’s finally getting used more and more to the side and he scored another important goal
Eboue: 7 – When will people stop criticising him? He played in an usual position today, yet delivered.
Fabregas: 6 – Much, much better than Wednesday but I believe he is to be rested next week. And what’s up with his hair? Leave hair experiments for the Serie A, Cesc.
Song: 6,5 – Contrary to Wednesday, played in a more midfield position but was still comfortable and not shy to come forward, when needed.
Adebayor: 8 – No goals but man of the match. What a great, unselfish performance from the Togo striker. This is what I want from him, great strength, outrunning opponents and helping the others to score.
Bendtner: 7 – An excellent first half, a quiet second, before coming off. I was disappointed to see him
and not Vela in the starting line-up but boy, did he prove me wrong or what?
(Subs)
Djourou: 5,5 – A little shy coming into the match, improved later on but you can see that he’s still one who needs to settle in.
Walcott: 7,5 – What else to say? He’s playing the football of his life and if properly used by Wenger – as we’ve seen so far – he can help us a lot this season.
Ramsey: NA – Too little to judge.
Big risk here Chris. The whistle isn't even gone yet.
Full Time.
3-1. 😉
I stand corrected.
Chris, how much you wanna bet that Davies is getting a 3-match ban?
haha.
Doubt he'll get punished for it mate.
Hopefully the FA look at it and see how bad it was. I just hope Gael's alright and recovers in time for Saturday's trip to Hull.
Good performance. In a week that could of gone so horribly wrong we were awesome (except for an hour in Kiev). Eboue, Bendtner, Adebayor, Song and particularly Denilson were brilliant. Wenger may turn out to be right for putting his fate in Denilson and Song. Really good week, roll on Sheffield Utd and Hull.
Best peformance by Eboue in an Arsenal shirt. Really glad he got a goal and he deserved it. Denilson was brilliant once again and Bendtner played well in the 1st half.
there was a period in first half that it was vintage arsenal. for anbout 10-15 mins it was total domination by the gunners. i loved when the commentator said, ” to that bolton are under pressure is an understatement” that to me described just excactly how good arsenal was at that time period. within the last 3 premiership games arsenal have scored 10 goals and conceded just 2. maybe its bcoz we havent faced a real quality side but for now the boyz are just on a breathtaking form. GO GUNNERS GO!!!!!
Looks like we're going to have real something to see from Denilson and Walcott this season, another two talents in the making. Denilson with an assist and a goal, and Walcott making such a palpable impact as a super sub.
On the other hand, this game just nullifies most of Adebayor's critics. Sure, he's supposed to be the target man, but just because he's not scoring goals, doesn't mean he's not doing his job. He's unbelievably unselfish (maybe needs to tweak this, he always brings the ball into the box, only to pass it back out when where's a chance of a decent shot), but that reaps benefits for the team. He had a hand in all 3 goals today.
Keep up the work, Gooners!
Seriously though what happened to Walcott? In the space of about 2 weeks he went from “potentially super” to a super player now. It's staggering. We all
knew he had it in him but he is right now one of our star players and Song man he looks sleepy most of the time but in the last 2 games he's really been good. I'm so happy.
Great victory for arsenal.When i saw the starting lineup i got a lil worried cos though there wasnt enough pace or creativity in the lineup.I ma glad i was wrong.Bendtner and eboue were outstanding.Many seem to doubt bendtner but i think hez a great a prospect.He isnt a target he likes to drift and create.Fabregas was great playing as a deep playmaker .I dont expect him to come up with a lot of goals this season but it will provide more stability to the team.Still have doubts over denilson and song.Will they be upto the marks against the likes of utd and chelsea?i dont think so.Walcott has just completely exploded after his hattrick for england.Finally an international is of some use for arsenal
almunia for me save arsenal from conceding more then 1 with his great saves
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/clichy…
I'm so happy he hasn't broke his leg!!
Arsenal should have created more such was the quality of the opposition midfield but the Gunners midfield has yet to be tested. Bring on Chelsea and United to see the full potential.
http://arsenalcolumn.wordpress.com
Almunia is man of the match IMO
i must say in certain periods of the game today we was at are best for me man of the match was Adebayor apart from missing a great chance as usual he was outstanding his passing was good but what impressed me the most was his hold up play, i was really surprised . Eboue was also very good he looks a different player in the last 4 games i have never criticized Eboue as i always had faith in me.i was also very impressed with song he looks very good to, but what can i say Walcott when i saw him in the box when he done that great skill and then tryed to curl the ball in to the far corner which brought a great save out of Jaaskelainen i straight away thought of Henry i have no doubt he will go on to become a great player even better than Rooney i was just abit disappointed that Wenger never put him up top
I agree we played well in large periods but Bolton are not the biggest test that we will face. But lets revel in the win first.
James, how come you never mentioned Bendtner. He played just as well as others and his great strikers goal put us in the driving seat. Better finisher than Ade and RvP IMO.
yes Bendtner scored a good goal but in my opinion his all round performance wasn't as good as people are saying but yes i say he was OK i suppose
that killed me
Well
at least you admitted it.
Sure, his preformance wasn't that good but he still scored which is more than can be said of our other forwards when off-form. IMO he only really comes alive in the box but he always wants to be involved in the build-up play. He cant have both though.
Quality performance today from the lads.. bendtner done well i dont see why ppl dont like him?? he's got a good goal ratio..
I agree with some of the comments about the quality of opposition, but these are the type of matches that we must win just ask Liverpool.
Denilson has been massive except for the Fulham game.
I don't think it was a dangerous tackle by Davies, his momentum took him into Clichy but if you look at the tackle he didn't lunge in, he slid and got the ball. The yellow card was fair.
We got some players like Denilson, Walcott and Eboue rising up the occasions and its good that we are not over relying on Cesc.
every time a bad tackle is made against one of are players the player that made the tackle always gets the benefit of the doubt
Why ?