Bolton-Arsenal: "A Difficult Place To Go"

As the clock ticked away in the second half at the Reebok Stadium on Sunday afternoon; 25 minutes in to be precise, I got a text from Hassan, a lifelong Gooner exiled at Bolton's neighbours, Manchester, for university studies.

It simply read: "We need a second goal, I can see Bolton scoring."

And, indeed, anyone who watched the match could not argue with such a sentiment, as Bolton poured forward, exploiting our left-hand side (Armand Traoré needs to buck up his ideas by the way, or "it's good to have Clichy back" as Dip put it), and pumping high ball after high ball.

You sure would've known that this was the Reebok Stadium we were at. A ground where we, not so much struggled to produce results in recent years, as much as we had struggled to exert calm and authority over embattled, physical opponents. "Physical" being an early contender for understatement of the year, of course!

For the way they kicked and hacked at Cesc Fabregas in particular during the first half, as if to say "this is our only way of stopping you, and by God, we will" had me uttering much more vivid choice phrases at the likes of Tamir Cohen and Gretar Steinsson.

Once again, Bolton Wanderers have thrived, or attempted to anyway, on the old media adage that Arsenal's players cannot succeed in a physical battle, and so they thought the best way to go about it is to try and injure our Captain; the best player on the pitch.

Well, I'm afraid their efforts were in vain, with Fabregas staying big, orchestrating defence and attack when needed in that period under pressure in the second half.

And, it was too late of course; the Spaniard finishing off a characteristic flowing move involving the ever-improving Diaby and the evidently more confident Eduardo near the half-hour mark.

Now, without beating about the bush, the way Bolton played, with Matthew Taylor particularly guilty of missing two golden opportunities, I was inclined to thinking that late heartbreak was firmly on the cards.

And, despite some solid overall defending, one cannot deny the angst at the occasional slip or misplaced pass by Premier League debutant, Craig Eastmond, and the more than occasional exposure out of position and out-muscling of Armand Traoré; not to mention the wasting of the glimpses of threat that we had posed before finally settling the nerves with our breakaway second goal.

Which brings me onto a now apparently miniscule, yet crucial observation in my view, aimed at senior players like Andrey Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky . Both battled hard, and both gave their all to the cause I thought, without much quality from either, mind. And yet they had ample opportunity to do so.

With the ball at the feet of an Arshavin or a Rosicky 20 yards out (on one occasion even less), and with the team momentarily relieved from tremendous pressure by the treat of a rare attack, you wouldn't be blamed for assuming that at some point, one of them will let rip and try his luck from distance. We've seen it before. In fact, we've seen it work so well before.

But no! Despite seeing such a situation unfold at least three times between the two experienced stars on Sunday afternoon, both dillied and dallied, aiming to pick out yet another "perfect pass."

And the result? Giving the ball away, and a promising position from which to finish the match turned into yet another Bolton attack!

This sort of weakness has been pointed out time and time again, and as I mentioned, we have seen it come off to good effect before, so why we still hesitate on employing it when seemingly possible beggars belief.

Luckily, we were able to muster one of our "perfect" counter-attacking goals to finally kill off a spirited home performance. A great sweeping move, started by Fabregas (who else?), helped on by Eduardo , and finished exquisitely by Fran Merida , whose future must be settled (in our favour) in the coming months.

Needless to say, we could've been punished by Arshavin and Rosicky's hesitancy to shoot on another day, and against better opposition, dare I say it.

Speaking of which, another Bolton bonanza awaits in midweek. With home comforts and with the possibility of going top with a comprehensive victory, one could easily be tricked into thinking that this is a home banker.

Not so. With the newly appointed Owen Coyle having seen plenty of encouraging signs from his new charges on Sunday's encounter, an equally battling performance is needed, with the added hope that the likes of Nasri, Denilson and Ramsey will be available again.

With the lacklustre performance against Everton hopefully put to bed, and with the priceless victory at such a "difficult place to go," as aptly put by Fabregas, we must not undo Sunday's good work.

This, ahead of a defining period not just in Arsenal's season, but Arsenal's epoch of transition over five long years!