Arsenal romp to 4-1 victory at the Emirates

Arsenal continued its recent dominance over Bolton as the Gunners romped to a 4-1 win at the Emirates Stadium today. Goals by Koscielny, Chamakh, Song and Vela ensured the 3 points for Arsenal over 10 man Bolton, who had Gary Cahill sent off early in the second half.

Arsenal started with a makeshift defense as Thomas Vermaelen was injured while regulars Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy were rested after their international duties. There was a new partnership in central defense with new signing Sebastian Squillaci making this home debut alongside Koscielny, with Eboue and Gibbs completing the defensive quartet.

We started off brightly with Cesc and Rosicky running the show in midfield. With a brilliant through pass, Tomas created a one-on-one chance for Arshavin against the Bolton keeper but the little Russian could not complete the move. This was not to be the Russian's day as he missed at least 2 more clear cut chances when set through by Cesc Fabregas.

Our first goal came when Wilshere, who was preferred to Diaby in the starting line, found Cesc in the penalty box with a lovely floated pass, who in turn helped it along for Koscielny to bundled it into the goal. It was not pretty but the Frenchman will cherish his first Arsenal goal all the same. We were pretty much in control after that until the closing minutes of the first half, where a mistake by Koscielny led to an equalizer by Johann Elmander.

The second half started pretty much the same way as the first with Arsenal controlling the pace although Bolton looked threatening with their set-pieces. We got our second goal in the 58th courtesy of Chamakh who headed in a cross after some fine play by our captain.

The match ended as a contest in the 64th minute when referee Stuart Atwell sent off Gary Cahill for a tackle of Chamakh. Truthfully the red card looked a bit harsh on the Bolton defender. After that incident, it was all Arsenal as Song added in our third before Vela capped a magnificent 20+ pass play with cool finishing for the fourth.

At the end it was a comfortable win for us although the match really changed on the decision by the referee. We could have been punished for Arshavin wastefulness in front of goal but we rode our luck today. The best thing for me about this match as the performance of our captain. Cesc was at his absolutely best in controlling the game and setting up plays for his teammates. He was involved in all four goals and could have another 3 more assist if Arshavin had scored. The man of the match for our captain clearly shows where his heart is at the moment.


Technorati Tags: match, review,, arsenal,bolton,premiership,soccer,cesc