Bolton at Arsenal

Bolton at Arsenal

Sept. 24, 2011

Almost the entire team looked incredibly nervous in the first half. There was no fluidity. Everyone looked choppy. Arsenal was able to hold possession, but that resulted in very few chances. The 2nd Half would be a different story. 

Then within the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half Arsenal another forward push by Gervinho led to a nice pass; that would have been a foul had possession not been retained; to a streaking Van Persie. Van Persie then did a one-two with Ramsey, resulting in a powerful, left-footed strike, that pushed through the right under-arm of the goaltender and the left post. Gervinho another rush one minute later 

At the 55th minute mark Song and Ramsey pass up to Walcott, who had made a terrific run, beating the last defender Wheater, the pass looked on target, but Wheater pulled down Walcott, calling for a red card. The kick game right outside the 18m box, and Van Persie curved one around the wall, but into the sliding goaltender’s gut. 

Up a man, Arsenal dominated. Arteta had two nice chances from a feed from Gervinho in the 58th and then from the goaltender’s deflection from a Walcott cross. There was a lapse from Arsenal in the 60th, where a turnover led to a pass to the Bolton striker, Eagles, who had beaten the defense. Gibbs proved to be much faster than the striker, as he caught up quickly to force an errant shot. 

After the shot, there was a light scuffle with Van Persie and several of the Bolton players. Assuming equal blame, I don’t think its becoming of a captain to be messing around with 25 minutes remaining, up one on the scorecard and on the field. However,  Van Persie’s failed header try one minute later certainly was, and then he reminded us, in the 70th, why you can except a captain with a little attitude if he can produce like the Dutchman, as he took another nifty Walcott feed, and deposited it in the net off the side of his calf. 

Down 2-0, Bolton was helpless. They could only hope to hold possession for mere seconds before Arsenal took control and fired off shot after shot. Ramsey, and Walcott had the best chances until Alex Song, coming off a 3 game suspension, made two swift cuts around a defender and then hooked a beautiful shot over the leaping goaltender’s left hand. 

With the massive desperately in talent, it was a wonder why Arsenal was so conservative in the 1st half. Perhaps they were toying with them, or perhaps they were nervous, but they came out in the second half like a gun. Some may want to look at the red card as a turning point, but Van Persie’s first goal came with 11 on a side, so did a nice Gervinho try. The red card was not the turning point, but rather the sand being put in the coffin. While the 2nd and 3rd goals, came with a man up, they had made it clear, within the first 10 minutes of the 1st half that they were going to take over. Unfortunately, Walcott did come up lame in the closing minutes of the game, without being touched. Though the announcer continued the ominous claim that it was a muscle pull, I suspect, and most certainly hope, that it was a leg cramp. If he goes out for an extended period it could mean that this step up; against Bolton; would be negated by a step down. Ignoring the chance of Walcott’s injury, Arsenal flowed like they haven’t in five games, and despite the one letdown, when Eagles snuck in behind the defense. The defense appeared much stronger. Bolton may not be an offensive juggernaut, but they got 2 solid chances, not shots, chances, on Arsenal in the entire game. Both Santos and Mertesacker, looked especially confident on defense, so hopefully the newcomers are finally gelling.