Blackburn vs. Arsenal: Quick-Hitters from an Entertaining First Half

Recently diagnosed as a 35-to-1 bet to win the Barclay's Premier League, Arsenal traveled to a wet Lancashire glistened by a steady, coursing rain.

After seeing three of their newest signings, Per Mertesacker, Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun, feature significantly in the last two matches, a fourth—Brazilian left-back Andre Santos got the nod over Kieran Gibbs, who received a well-earned rest after a busy week of football.

In keeping with current Arsenal tradition, Santos likes to get forward, and provides a more physical presence than Gibbs, whose slight stature is often exposed against hardy Premier League counterparts.

For Arsenal, a 2-1 lead at the half was a well-earned mark.

Goals by summer signing Gervinho, and aforementioned August addition Arteta, both came after delectable Alex Song passes. The Cameroonian holding midfielder played in Gervinho behind the Blackburn defense, allowing for the winger—operating on the right in this one as he did so often with former club Lille—to coolly slot home through Christopher Samba's legs past a helpless Paul Robinson.

Arsenal's second was a vintage collective move. A wonderful through ball by Song found Aaron Ramsey in acres of space on the right wing. The Welsh international captain had only to pick out an arriving Arteta on the edge of the area, before the Spaniard smashed his shot home into the top of the net.

It was his second goal at Ewood Park this season, after having already scored on his previous trip with Everton.

The conceded goal was once again due to a lack of concentration from the central defense. Laurent Koscielny, who has come under fire for a string of poor recent performances, allowed Yakubu to run across him before a David Hoilett through ball picked out the big Nigerian, who poked a shot past an onrushing Wojciech Szczesny into the back of the net.

Koscielny was far too careless—once more—in possession, and the sight of Johan Djourou warming up on the sidelines at the tail end of the first half must have provided little comfort for the Frenchman.

Blackburn, as they've done so often in recent matches against the Gunners, looked to capitalize upon angled balls played into the penalty area. Samba almost scored on two of those occasions, but bottled both headers.

So poor in recent memory on those sorts of set pieces, Arsenal don't look to have shored that up at all.

Hoilett looks a menace on the left wing, and after seeing Arsenal struggle against quick wingers (Sinclair, Dyer for Swansea, and the dynamic Ghanaian duo for Udinese) in recent weeks, he's one to watch out for in the second half.

Robin van Persie, who's scored in 10 of his last 11 appearances against Rovers, looks up for it, and was furious with Gervinho for not providing him with a pass at the end of the half. The Dutchman is raring for a goal.

Speaking of the Ivorian, who so often has looked just short of complete comfort in the league, he has been very impressive on the right flank. His distribution needs to be better, but there's still time for that.