(0 – 1) Anelka (11)
(1 – 1) Rosicky (31)
(2 – 1) Fabregas (46)

Ivan Campo Sent Off (82)

Busy day for the London Ambulance Service in N5 yesterday. There were scores of people fainting after two Arsenal midfielders scored in one game. Three much needed points all but secured fourth and put pressure back on Liverpool, recreating a race for third place. A win on Tuesday should nail ECL Qualification, a gap of eight points surely being too much at this stage of the season. A second win in two games will also put the team in a good frame of mind ahead of next Saturday’s lunchtime visit to White Hart Lane. But that is getting ahead of myself; all I want to do now is enjoy the feeling of relief that these three points have brought.

A familiar pattern to the game; a goal down at home, requiring an Arsenal fightback. Which this time duly arrived before half-time. Anelka’s goal was conceded through sloppy defending. A lofted free-kick found the head of an unmarked Nolan whose effort was parried into the path of Anelka by Lehmann. One nil, not even quarter of an hour gone; years gone by may have seen some trepidation but no longer for this squad have had enough practice at retrieving a one goal deficit. The response was as expected. Lots of possession and chances going begging, a combination of sloppy finishing and good goalkeeping.

The equaliser when it came was out of character for this team. The key was the simplicity, Adebayor’s cross after a neat one-two, found Rosicky more alive to the moment than Hunt, with the Czech having enough time to dummy Jaaskaleinen into going to his right before shooting to the keepers left. Six yards out and a poachers goal.

The winner was much better, until the celebration that is. It shows how rare such occurences are that Fabregas ran around like an epileptic chicken after scoring, the boy may be classy with the ball but the celebration definitely needs working on. The goal itself just rams home the message that he has maturity beyond his years. Picking up on Gilberto’s pass, he coolly went left, right and centre, becalmed and unphased by the movement around him, he slotted home from just inside the area. Two goals in fifteen minutes turned the afternoon around. It was also a lesson to his team-mates in finishing. Adebayor and Diaby both fluffed one on one’s with the Bolton keeper, the latter having resisted the challenge of Baptista, which may well have unsettled him.

Freddie Ljungberg played well in support of Adebayor, confirming that whilst he is not yet back to his best, his form is considerably better than in has been in the past two seasons; he deserved better than to see his freekick clear the bar. Toure and Adebayor forced saves from Jaaskaleinen whilst Hleb went close with a curling effort. Others had chances that came and went, the defence had its scares. Eboue was fortunate to get the benefit of the doubt late in the game when he controlled the ball with his arm in the area, a penalty if you are the home team, not if you are visiting.

Arsene said afterwards,

sometimes, to improve, a young team needs to flirt with difficult periods so that you can come back stronger and I have been deeply impressed by our mentality

Which is very true; the one thing that is missing is experience which is sometimes better gained through hardship. Yet one cannot help thinking that it would be nice if they just took teams apart without conceding a goal! Meanwhile, Big Sam proved that myopia is not the sole preserve of Arsene when it comes to seeing things on the pitch,

Ivan Campo’s first booking was unwarranted

Er, no, Sam, it was warranted. Kicking the calf of an opponent who is three feet from the referee, after the ball has gone is criminally stupid. Campo got two merited yellow cards and walked accordingly.

Whilst the three points is welcome, it is naive to believe that all of the problems of the previous four weeks or so have gone away. However, today is a day for relaxing those vexed minds.