MATCH REPORT: ARSENAL 3 BOLTON 2

Harsha Bhogle recently said that the thrill and excitement of unscripted drama can never be replaced by scripted drama. There was abundant proof of that in this weekend’s clash between Arsenal and Bolton Wanderers. In the see saw battle one was moved from tears to hysteria and vice versa (depending on which side of the pitch your allegiance laid). What was to be a very important match for both the teams – albeit for different reasons – started off as a disaster for one and ended as the same for the other. What came out of it was the never-say-die spirit of the Gunners and the restoration of their self belief – which many may say has come a little too late, but I would rather say better late than never.

To begin with the absence of Adebayor in the starting 11 raised some eyebrows, and questions were raised as to if Arsene Wenger had given up title aspirations in the Premiership with an eye on his (elusive) first Champions League trophy. Nevertheless the match started with Arsenal in perfect control of the proceedings. Robin Van Persie had a good chance taken away due to some determined defending by Al Habsi. But there were more to come, with Nicklas Bendtner was a little profligate missing two good oppurtunities. There was no doubt as to the intent Arsenal had come out with. However intent alone is sometimes not enough in football.

Bolton meanwhile hardly had a sniff of the ball. But in the 14^th minute Gretar Steinsson sent a sublime cross from the right wing to find Matthew Taylor who powered an unstoppable header past the hapless Almunia from six yards out. If Arsenal had not woken up to the fact that they had not won at the Reebok since April 2002, this was a rude awakening call for them. But things were to detiorate further for the visiting team. In the 31^st minute Abou Diaby lunged studs up, not reaching the ball and catching Gretar Steinsson on his ankle. It was a dirty and mistimed challenge and referee Chris Foy had no second thoughts on dishing out the red card. Things were really getting bad now, but Arsenal replied in the best possible fashion. Just after play resumed, Bendtner had a real good opportunity to score but could only fire wide.

More hell was to break lose before the interval though. As the match settled and Arsenal looked for the equaliser before the break, their worst fears came true. Mathieu Flamini lost the ball in the penalty box to McCann, which duly went to Taylor who could not have put a foot wrong on the day. His strong shot took a deflection of William Gallas leaving Almunia to make a last minute change of direction, which went futile as the ball found the back of the net. All the fears of the previous four matches came rushing to mind. And the only thing that seemed probable then was that the impeding defeat would end the Gunners’ title challenge for sure now. The fifth consecutive Premiership match without victory also might have a bad flow on impact considering the next 10 days entailed three meetings with Liverpool.

As the players and staff left the pitch at half time the body language of both squads showed the mental state they probably were in. Whatever Arsene Wenger said in the dressing room – though would have been significant – did not immediately seemed to show any results. Arsenal were still being tied down by the Bolton defence who believed they were now in sniffing distance of an unlikely victory. The astute manager though still had a move or two in his repository and made two crucial substitutions. He brought Adebayor and Theo Walcott on for Bendtner and Senderos, thereby having a strange yet attacking 3-5-1-1 formation. This had an immediate impact as Walcott the worked his midas again, troubling with his pace on the right side.

The goal when it came was a little bizarre. A corner whipped in by Fabregas found the adroit Gallas at the far end who was shockingly unmarked and should not have missed from 5 feet with the goal at his mercy. And he did not. The defensive howler from the Bolton backs showed that they had forgotten to do their homework well. This was the shot in the arm for Arsenal and then they came in waves. A second goal never looked a distant possibility if they could sustain the momentum. And they finally were rewarded for their incessant efforts in the minute. Alesander Hleb was brought down by Cahill in the box and the referee again had no doubt in pointing to the spot. One would have expected Van Persie to be under tremendous pressure considering the importance of the goal and his lack of match practice compounding the difficulty. But even if he was under pressure, neither his demeanour, nor his coolly taken penalty betrayed it as he easily sent the Bolton Keeper the wrong way to score the equaliser.

Arsene Wenger was very candid of the fact that he had told the team a draw would just not be good enough today. And it was very true as they had already extinguished their quota of drop points, and any more now would be akin to comitting hara kiri. Hence the eagerness and desperation showed by Arsenal in the final minutes in hunt for the winner was pretty understandable. But what was more significant was that Bolton maybe had lost the very belief which they had in abundance less than half an hour ago. Still the manner in which the winner finally came was not the prettiest. Cesc Fabregas took a shy at the goal from the edge of the box, which ping ponged between two defenders to finally somehow squander into the net, sending the entire Arsenal contingent into hysteria.

Wenger later said that this has to be the best comeback game he remembers – though I still feel Liverpool’s epiphanous comeback in the ‘05 Champions League final was much more extraordinary. Nevertheless it was a remarkable achievement, and frankly no one had expected that a team 2-0 down, away from home, a player down and which has not been in the best of form lately could rally back to draw, let alone steal a win. Considering one (or maybe both) among Chelsea and Manchester United will drop points when they go head to head, then it will be upto Arsenal to beat United at Old Trafford, which though is no mean feat, but maybe just the kind of finish the season (and the eventual champions) deserves. So concomitant of this match the title is still pretty much alive (as the re-inspired Arsenal are much more lethal than a couple of games ago). For me it just further implied how right Bhogle was when he spoke out the above statement.

Lot was written over the course of the Super Sunday last week. Steve McMahon wrote that the Gunners lack a good leader (and the prima facie evidence at St Andrews may have suggested that). Though I am not denouncing his statement, but I feel it’s ostensible, as more than the leadership they needed to come out of the Eduardo incident. There are many leaders on the pitch for them, each leading in his own way. But after the Birmingham match it was their free flowing football which was questioned. It was the faith that the teams would not get dirty to break down their “beautiful football” moves that was broken. And when that happens, the only person who can succour you is – you yourself. It has taken some time for the young Gunners to realise that, but now that they have, it will be interesting to watch how their hunger for the title and angst against their several critics drives them towards the title(s).