Laurent Koscielny scored his first as a Gunner, but was to blame for Bolton's equalizer later. Pic via Daily Mail.
Arsenal 4: Koscielny 24, Chamakh 58, Song 78, Vela 83
Bolton 1: Elmander 44
It was a bit classic Arsenal. Tons of chances with few results, a mistake in the back leading to a goal against, and a slight nervousness at halftime. In the end, the Gunners came through and put the match away, using a killer instinct they lacked at times last spring.
With the first Champions League matchday looming on Wednesday, Arsene Wenger chose to switch up the line-up a bit, giving starts to some players we haven't seen in a while. The result was six line-up changes and a shaky back four who had never played together before. Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna were rested for Kieran Gibbs and Emmanuel Eboue respectively. Thomas Vermaelen was out with a slight Achilles injury and newcomer Sebastien Squillaci started in his place. Jack Wilshere, who was on loan at Bolton last spring, started instead of Abou Diaby. And, with Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie injured, Tomas Rosicky and Marouane Chamakh slipped back into the starting XI as well.
Arsenal should have struck early as in the fifth minute, Andrei Arshavin was put through one-on-one with Bolton's rookie goalkeeper. Arshavin's shot was directly at the young keeper and the Diminutive Russian had his first of many misses. Bolton looked strong to start the match, always threatening with the possibility of clipping a goal, especially with the back four being as shaky as it was.
That being said, Arsenal did score first. The Gunners maintained possession following a corner kick and Jack Wilshere played a perfect aerial ball into the box. Laurent Koscielny got a touch, nearly fired a shot into Cesc Fabregas, then tapped the ball home for his first goal in red and white.
Unfortunately, Koscielny was at fault for Bolton's equalizer twenty minutes later. Koscielny attempted to nod the ball back to Manuel Almunia so he could pick it up, but his header was misplaced and into the path of the charging Chung-Yong Lee. Almunia was left with very few options and attempted to cut down the angle. Koscielny then didn't closely mark Johan Elmander, who headed home a cross to get the game to 1-1 at halftime.
Arsenal took a 2-1 lead thirteen minutes after the re-start, again following a corner. Cesc Fabregas's cross from just on the line found a wide open Marouane Chamakh, who headed in the goal with ease, to the point where it looked like Bolton assumed he was offside for some reason. It might only be his second goal of the campaign, but I think Chamakh has had a fantastic start to his Arsenal career. It's great to have a player who can cause havoc in the box. For all of his size, it's not a role Nicklas Bendtner has filled well.
If you go back to my preview post from Wednesday night, you'll see I mentioned that the referee, Stuart Attwell, was working his first Arsenal match. In short, he was dreadful, and seemed unprepared for this level. Arsenal probably had about three legitimate calls for penalties that went unnoticed. Bolton avoided bookings on numerous occasions, and then when Attwell does pull out a straight red card, it's a ridiculously harsh call. Not to mention that a foul should have been called on Alex Song shortly before that anyway. Kyle Davies was booked in the first half in a situation where he had actually committed two bookable offenses, but wasn't carded for the first since Attwell played advantage. Speaking of which, when Gary Cahill was sent off, Attwell failed to give Arsenal the blatant advantage. Then, a brutal challenge on Abou Diaby isn't called a foul at all. At times, the officiating was just plain nonsense.
Alex Song scored a brilliant goal to start putting the match away as he poked through a chip shot from a tight angle to make it 3-1 with twelve minutes to play. The goal was the 1000th Arsenal goal scored in the Premier League under manager Arsene Wenger. Arsenal would get Wenger's 1001st league goal five minutes later, a cool little side-footed tap from Carlos Vela, which came after a brilliant through ball from Cesc Fabregas, which came after a marvelous game of keep away, diagrammed below; I think it was 24 consecutive passes.
by Guardian Chalkboards
It was a bit classic Arsenal. Tons of chances with few results, a mistake in the back leading to a goal against, and a slight nervousness at halftime. In the end, the Gunners came through and put the match away, using a killer instinct they lacked at times last spring.
With the first Champions League matchday looming on Wednesday, Arsene Wenger chose to switch up the line-up a bit, giving starts to some players we haven't seen in a while. The result was six line-up changes and a shaky back four who had never played together before. Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna were rested for Kieran Gibbs and Emmanuel Eboue respectively. Thomas Vermaelen was out with a slight Achilles injury and newcomer Sebastien Squillaci started in his place. Jack Wilshere, who was on loan at Bolton last spring, started instead of Abou Diaby. And, with Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie injured, Tomas Rosicky and Marouane Chamakh slipped back into the starting XI as well.
Arsenal should have struck early as in the fifth minute, Andrei Arshavin was put through one-on-one with Bolton's rookie goalkeeper. Arshavin's shot was directly at the young keeper and the Diminutive Russian had his first of many misses. Bolton looked strong to start the match, always threatening with the possibility of clipping a goal, especially with the back four being as shaky as it was.
That being said, Arsenal did score first. The Gunners maintained possession following a corner kick and Jack Wilshere played a perfect aerial ball into the box. Laurent Koscielny got a touch, nearly fired a shot into Cesc Fabregas, then tapped the ball home for his first goal in red and white.
Unfortunately, Koscielny was at fault for Bolton's equalizer twenty minutes later. Koscielny attempted to nod the ball back to Manuel Almunia so he could pick it up, but his header was misplaced and into the path of the charging Chung-Yong Lee. Almunia was left with very few options and attempted to cut down the angle. Koscielny then didn't closely mark Johan Elmander, who headed home a cross to get the game to 1-1 at halftime.
Arsenal took a 2-1 lead thirteen minutes after the re-start, again following a corner. Cesc Fabregas's cross from just on the line found a wide open Marouane Chamakh, who headed in the goal with ease, to the point where it looked like Bolton assumed he was offside for some reason. It might only be his second goal of the campaign, but I think Chamakh has had a fantastic start to his Arsenal career. It's great to have a player who can cause havoc in the box. For all of his size, it's not a role Nicklas Bendtner has filled well.
If you go back to my preview post from Wednesday night, you'll see I mentioned that the referee, Stuart Attwell, was working his first Arsenal match. In short, he was dreadful, and seemed unprepared for this level. Arsenal probably had about three legitimate calls for penalties that went unnoticed. Bolton avoided bookings on numerous occasions, and then when Attwell does pull out a straight red card, it's a ridiculously harsh call. Not to mention that a foul should have been called on Alex Song shortly before that anyway. Kyle Davies was booked in the first half in a situation where he had actually committed two bookable offenses, but wasn't carded for the first since Attwell played advantage. Speaking of which, when Gary Cahill was sent off, Attwell failed to give Arsenal the blatant advantage. Then, a brutal challenge on Abou Diaby isn't called a foul at all. At times, the officiating was just plain nonsense.
Alex Song scored a brilliant goal to start putting the match away as he poked through a chip shot from a tight angle to make it 3-1 with twelve minutes to play. The goal was the 1000th Arsenal goal scored in the Premier League under manager Arsene Wenger. Arsenal would get Wenger's 1001st league goal five minutes later, a cool little side-footed tap from Carlos Vela, which came after a brilliant through ball from Cesc Fabregas, which came after a marvelous game of keep away, diagrammed below; I think it was 24 consecutive passes.
by Guardian Chalkboards
