Arsenal batter bruisers Bolton
19 comments September 12th, 2010
Arsenal 4 -1 Bolton (Koscielny 23, Elmander 44, Chamakh 60, Song 78, Vela 83)
Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
Arsenal continued their impressive start to the season with a resounding victory over Owen Coyle’s Bolton Wanderers – who, it turns out, aren’t all that different from Sam Allardyce’s Bolton Wanderers. Coyle’s ‘Reebok Revolution’ (which sounds like a trainer) is hampered by the continued presence of certain individuals – the likes of Kevin Davies and Paul Robinson – whose first instinct is still to employ physical force rather than technical ability. In the past an Arsenal team might have been bullied into dropping points, but not so yesterday. We simply had too much for them.
The contest should have been over by half-time. Andrey Arshavin spurned a hatrick of presentable opportunities, two of which came from exquisite through-balls from Rosicky and Fabregas. Cesc in particular was in imperious form yesterday, and exploited Bolton’s bizarre decision to employ a high defensive line with a series of delicious passes in behind the back four.
When the goal eventually came, it was from an unlikely source. Jack Wilshere’s clipped ball found Fabregas at the far post, and his loose touch fell to home debutant Laurent Koscielny, who bundled in his first Arsenal goal.
Before the half was out, Koscielny would experience a nightmare at the other end. With Vermaelen injured and Sagna and Clichy both rested, he formed part of an unfamiliar back four with Eboue, Gibbs, and new boy Sebastien Squillaci. It was a risk on Arsene’s part, and we saw why when some miscommunication led to Koscielny’s attempted header back allowing Lee in to cross for Johan Elmander to score. An Elmander goal: the ultimate insult.
In the second half, however, normal service was resumed. Marouane Chamakh made up for a missed one-on-one with a headed goal which came from the resulting corner. And then came the sending off which killed the game as a contest – Cahill shown the red card for a raking tackle down the back of Chamakh’s legs. I have to say I thought a straight red was a little harsh, but when you see Paul Robinson getting away with tackles like this it’s hard to have too much sympathy for Bolton.
Once they were down to ten men the game took on the mood of a practise match. Alex Song had apparently promised team-mates before the game that he would score, and he eventually got his goal, collecting an Arshavin pass, rounding his man, and toe-poking over the keeper. A lovely finish, and our 1000th goal under Arsene.
If the third goal was the landmark strike, the fourth was a microcosm of Arsene’s football philosophy. A 24-pass move ended with a perfectly lofted Fabregas through-ball finding substitute Vela, who showed great composure to fire in to the bottom corner.
Another good win, and with United dropping points in a style reminiscent of our efforts last season, we’re just about keeping pace with a rampant Chelsea.
Looking ahead to midweek, Zonal Marking points out that the last three teams we’ve beaten all begin with the same letter: Blackpool, Blackburn, Bolton. Up next: Braga.
