Away to Arsenal
Arsenal 0 – 0 Bolton Wanderers
Ground: Emirates Stadium | Attendance: 59,442 | Referee: Mike Riley
- [68] Toure – Arsenal
- [80] Rosicky – Arsenal
For caretaker manager, Archie Knox, a trip to North London must have been a formidable prospect for his first game in charge.
Bolton and Arsenal began the day 17 points apart in The Premier League and nothing could change that in a hurry, but Bolton did look determined to keep The Gunners to a scoreless draw.
Knox’s first squad selection saw the return of Kevin Nolan but Gary Speed was absent, as were Anelka and Wilhelmsson, both injured during internationals.
Bolton held Arsenal in the first half, but not without effort. Arsenal struggled against The Wanderers who defended well to restrict The Gunner’s movement into Bolton’s defensive third. Bolton rarely created chances to move forward but continued to maintain strength to hold off a constant barrage of attacks.
Adebayor was thankfully far from top form and headed Arsenal best couple of chances wide in the first half.
Bolton’s only shot of the game came in the 50th minute when Andy O’Brien failed to keep his header below the bar after rising high above the penalty spot.
Eboue should have scored a few minutes later but failed to control the height of his overpowered shot sending it hurtling over the bar.
Keeping 10 men behind the ball seemed to be the main tactic that Knox had employed to keep Arsenal at bay and it worked for two thirds of the match.
A tactical double substitution by Arsene Wenger on the hour changed everything. On came Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott which somehow inspired Arsenal to punish The Wanderers with Walcott’s pace that often left Bolton defenders behind.
Walcott’s first foray deep into Bolton’s half ended with a wonderful cross that would usually guarantee a goal but Theo had left his team-mates behind too and there were no red shirts to tap the ball goalward.
Gallas forced an excellent block by Jaaskelainen saving the point-blank shot. The Gunners continued to push Bolton who were slowly getting worn down and struggled to challenge with precision.
One such challenge by Ivan Campo on Francesc Fabregas gave the home side the perfect chance from just 25 yards out. Fabregas tapped the ball to defender Toure who slammed the ball through a forest of legs into the back of the net. Arsenal had finally broken the deadlock that The Trotters had battled hard to maintain and the home support could be heard breathing again.
As soon as the goal was scored Knox swapped yellow-carded Diouf for Braaten with hope of breaking forward to level the score but The Gunners were energised and continued to keep possession well and scurried forward over and over.
Walcott took another run down the right, getting past three defenders with ease to repeat the cross that this time was met by fellow sub Rosicky who gleefully tapped in from within the six-yard box with 10 minutes to go.
Statistically Arsenal should have beaten The Wanderers 3-1 but without reply from Bolton the two-goal margin was maintained.
Bolton should be proud that they kept out 17 Arsenal shots but will have to work on winning possession cleanly and keeping it longer. The stats reflect these problems as Bolton were awarded 5 yellow cards (and were lucky not to get more) and held procession for only 35% of the game.
Arsenal’s 11th victory of the season secures them firmly at the top, whereas Derby’s point earned at Craven Cottage, by holding Fulham to a scoreless draw, mean that Bolton are firmly at the bottom of the table.
As The Wanderers settle into life without Sammy Lee there is the consolation that the only way is up – unless they remain there until the end of the season.
Archie Knox summarised the match to the Beeb:
“We gave a great account of ourselves until 70 minutes and then we conceded a goal that we could have avoided and made it hard for ourselves.
“We had to give ourselves something to hang on to. But when you lose a goal, it is tailor made for Arsenal.
“We just didn’t have quite enough to get anything out of the game.”
When asked about whether he would become Bolton’s permanent manger he smirked and said that at 60 he was too old.
Archie went on to sum up the overall situation at the club following Sammy Lee’s departure. Remaining realistic he said comfortingly:
“The club will want to get someone in place as soon as possible.
“We’re not in a good position – everyone accepts and recognises that – but there’s still a good atmosphere in the dressing room, despite all the nonsense that has been spoken about rifts.
“I have never seen a punch-up in the dressing room – there’s nothing like that. You never enjoy a situation when you are down at the bottom of the league – but we have to get on with it. We have to focus on the next game and see what we can achieve there.”
