Well that won’t go down as the century’s most exciting football match, I can tell you that. Watching Bolton play 10 men behind the ball all game was painful, but in truth Arsenal had to expect it. Sub Nicklas Bendtner grabbed a late goal with a superb finish from a low Robin Van Persie cross in a match the Gunners had to win to stay within touching distance of the Premier League top 4. Van Persie finally did what no one else tried all afternoon long – running in behind the defence. Gael Clichy played a peach of a ball to the Dutchman and RvP and Bendtner did the rest.
Bolton came to the Emirates and never even tried to score, yet it took almost 75 minutes before Arsenal showed any real urgency. Van Persie played well yet hit the woodwork for the incredible 13th time this season. Emmanuel Adebayor had a stinker of a match, lazily drifting about for a half and then hitting a wide-open chance right at Jussi Jasskalainen. Samir Nasri was dangerous on the left and sub Carlos Vela added a spark when he came on late in the second half, but the team desperately misses Cesc Fabregas in the middle. Abou Diaby got the start in his favoured central midfield position but was too long on the ball and failed to create any real openings for his teammates. Manuel Almunia flapped about in the first half before settling down and making a couple of good stops later on in the match. Arsenal have a relatively easy run of fixtures over the next few weeks but they’ll need to play better to go on the type of roll they so desperately need.
