Arsenal 4 Bolton 1: Chamakh On Target As Captain Cesc Returns To Imperious Best

Captain Cesc Fabregas returned to form as Arsenal stepped up the heat in the second half to beat a fighting Bolton Wanderers 4-1 at the Emirates on Saturday. Goals from Laurent Koscielny, Marouane Chamakh, Alex Song and Carlos Vela earned three points for the Gunners as they kept pace with table toppers Chelsea, who beat West Ham 3-1.

Before the match, Fabregas had said that he was in bad form and he admitted he was not at his best against Blackburn. But today, he was at his imperious best controlling the midfield and supplying countless through balls to the forward line. Fabregas was involved in all the four goals, with three assists to his name and for me, he was the Man of the Match at the Emirates.

Arsenal was jittery in the opening minutes of the game, with Manuel Almunia and new defensive pairing Sebastien Squillaci and Koscielny suffering some lapses in communication and concentration. However, in the fifth minute, Tomas Rosicky provided an exquisite ball to Andrei Arshavin, whose shot was well saved by Adam Bogdan, Bolton's number two keeper. Almunia made a hash of a clearance after a back pass, but was fortunate to get away with it.

Jack Wilshere, who played for the Trotters in the second half of last season, was given a start ahead of Diaby and Denilson, who was in the squad for the first time in this season. He was calm and composed when he was on the ball and showed what he had learnt at Bolton by winning a fair share of the 50-50 tackles.

He picked up Fabregas' run in the box and crossed delightfully to him. Fabregas had the presence of mind, to run the ball across the the goal, for new boy Koscielny to tap in to get his first Arsenal goal.

Arshavin had another couple of opportunities, created by the creative Fabregas to put Arsenal in the driving seat, but he did not utilise the chances to good effect. Bolton made Arsenal pay at the very end of the first half, capitalising on a blunder from Koscielny.

Koscielny tried to head a long ball back to Almunia, but failed to do so accurately, with the ball falling in no man's land. Lee Chung-Yong made full use of the loose ball, and after beating Almunia, crossed it for Johan Elmander to equalise for the away team. Arsenal were made to rue for the squandered opportunities and had a tough task in the second half.

In the second half, Arsenal fans were anxious in the initial minutes, but calmed down after the first five minutes or so. Fabregas grew into the game a little more and was controlling the midfield with authority. At the other end, Kevin Davies was causing defenders Koscielny and Squillaci a number of problems, with Koscielny in particular troubled by the physicality of Davies.

Chamakh had a great chance to put the Gunners in the lead, but was brilliantly denied by young Bogdan. But the young keeper could do nothing about the header powered past him by the Moroccan striker a little later, after some brilliant work from Fabregas, who not only kept the ball in play but also produced an inch-perfect cross to an unmarked Chamakh. 

Wilshere had a decent game today and was substituted shortly after the goal by Abou Diaby. Davies had a head-on collision with Koscielny, which left the Gunner dazed for a couple of minutes, but he was back on the field, which was a relief for Arsene Wenger. Chamakh was adjudged to be tackled unfairly near the touchline, for which Gary Cahill was, questionably, sent off, which left the Trotters with a daunting task ahead of them.

Arshavin was caught time and again by the offside trap and was not at his effective best throughout the day. Nevertheless, he played one brilliant pass to the unmarked Tomas Rosicky who could only hit the side netting from a slightly tight angle. Fabregas passed it to Arshavin, who did well to set up Alex Song, who chipped the goalkeeper, to add his name to the score sheet. Song had an impressive outing today, which he capped off with a goal, that secured the three points in the bag. 

Diaby picked up an injury due to a tough tackle, which resulted in him being substituted by Denilson, who made his first appearance of the season. Chamakh was also substituted by Mexican forward Carlos Vela and he got a rousing reception from the passionate supporters at the Emirates.

Fabregas was not done just yet, and produced a wonderful chipped through ball over the defenders for Carlos Vela to confidently convert a relatively easy chance to make it 4-1 for the Gunners. Their mission was accomplished in a convincing way, and they firmly established their second place, after Manchester United dropped points, dramatically, against Everton. 

Arsenal were quite good today, but some of their weaknesses were exposed by the resilient visitors. They would do well to minimize their flaws if they are to harbor ambitions of winning the Premier League and the Champions League. 

The defensive partnership, of Squillaci and Koscielny were found wanting on more than a couple of occasions. Koscielny has shown glimpses of his talent but has shown a tendency to make errors, which could prove to be very costly. Squillaci made no glaring errors, and looked decent in this match, but could be beaten for pace, by good centre forwards.

Almunia still does not look to be very confident in goal, and despite making one or two excellent saves, he does not inspire faith in the defenders. His clearances on a couple of occasions was plain awful and better teams could have made use of such blunders. Defenders do not seem to trust him enough and having a new defensive partnership would not have done him any good today. 

The biggest positive to emerge from this Arsenal display was the return to form of captain Cesc Fabregas, who many suspected might be distracted by transfer speculations in the summer. He is still not at his best in terms of match sharpness, but is surely, returning to his best. Three assists in one game is no mean achievement and it will give him and his comrades a lot of confidence.

There were many other positives to emerge from this display from the Gunners. Wilshere didn't seem to distracted by off-field issues, and he was decent throughout the match, justifying the selection of the gaffer. Kieran Gibbs made his first start of the season and was decent in his first appearance.

Denilson returned to the squad following a long injury lay-off and had some decent touches in the build up play of some of the attacks. Carlos Vela got his first goal of the season, after coming on as a substitute for Chamakh, and it would have undoubtedly done him a world of good.

The win against Bolton signifies that this Arsenal squad, whether or not ravaged by injuries, have the depth and quality to mount an effective title challenge. Ten points out of a maximum of twelve points is a decent return shows consistency from the young side, and Arsene Wenger and his men should be quietly confident of breaking their trophy drought in this season.