It was going to prove to be an interesting 15 minutes for Bendtner. After his header, he gave the ball away twice in the space of minutes to which the patient Arsenal crowd groaned and moaned, if that continued then it could have got much worse.

Match Review – Arsenal 1 Bolton 0 – Premier League (10.01.09)

The way I see Arsenal and the results is a bit like having two pint glasses in front of you, one of them is labelled ‘half empty’ the other is named ‘half full’

One of them you drink and you see the following positive outlook, 7 unbeaten games in the Premier League in a row, another 3 points on the board with the team showing good mental attitude to keep going until the very end just as they did against Portsmouth. A late goal for Bendtner who is out of sorts at the moment so a bit of confidence given at this time is a good thing for him. We were under pressure after Aston Villa once again were given a large slice of luck after a bad goalkeeping mistake by West Brom’s Scott Carson earlier in the day.

The other glass is many people favourite taste it seems, I cannot deny having tasted it now and again this season. We are struggling to break down teams and haven’t scored more than 2 goals in a game since the 4-4 draw against Tottenham on the 29th October 2008

Arsene Wenger mentioned the lack of creative players missing from the squad and it is making a big difference to matches. Samir Nasri has a lot of weight on his shoulders at the moment. He is now the chief creator and is in need of some help .

It seems to me that we are better than most of the teams we face every week but the one problem is that put a sea of opposition shirts in front of them and we get stuck, we end up playing one-two’s just outside their penalty area which eventually gets blocked or cleared away.

I made my way down to Crouch End, stuck my laptop in my bag and headed through the Arsenal crowd to a mates house. We found a very good stream and connected to his television in his living room. So far so good, a hot fried egg sandwich along with the fireplace burning bright instead of the bitter cold from outside was a perfect way to watch the Arsenal match. Not as perfect as being at the ground of course but this way a decent substitute.

I was pleased with the line up, a slight surprise that Wenger plumped for Diaby in central midfield but I suppose he didn’t have many options. I was hoping that Abou could build on his recent central midfield performances. He has looked disciplined and generally quite productive.

We started at a good tempo, nice and quick which gave me some reassurance, those starts usually end up with 3 points and at least a decent showing.

As expected Arsenal had all the ball and Bolton with their extremely thin squad sat back and attempted to stop Arsenal from playing. It didn’t take long for our large square headed friend Kevin Davies to get into the thick of the action. He left a trailing arm in the face of Gael Clichy.

It took 13 minutes for the first chance to fall to Arsenal and it was the man of the moment Robin Van Persie who had the opportunity. Nasri played the ball into Van Persie who took it on his thigh and fired just over the bar in one movement. Even without many creative players, Van Persie is still looking very good. What is great is that it is January and he is still fit (touch wood)

Samir Nasri and Robin Van Persie seem to be a pair that are working on the same wavelength right now, the goal against Liverpool springs to mind as well as some good early combination work against Bolton.

Bolton clearly were lacking ambition as they sat deep in their half, wishing the clock down and very little sign of any forward progress.

Just before the half hour mark Arsenal won a freekick deep into the Bolton half. Nasri swung the ball over on his right foot, Bolton half cleared their lines as far as Van Persie who blazed over the bar. Sometimes I think that Van Persie should concentrate on hitting the target more often without trying to burst the net, but hey who I am to tell our most inform striker what to do.

Arsenal were finding it difficult to create any chances during the first half with Bolton probably the most negative side I have seen at the Emirates. Clichy and Sagna pushed forward to create the extra men but they let themselves down in the final third with their distribution. I remember Sagna creating many goals from crosses last season and I was expecting that to continue, this time round it hasn’t been the same. The crosses are going too long, or curling over the crossbar.

It doesn’t help one bit when Emmanuel Adebayor is floating around the left and right wing when Sagna is about to swing in a cross. Last season when Adebayor was going through a real purple patch around the time when he claimed a brace at Fulham, Adebayor played more as a center forward. He is the focal point of the Arsenal attack, central defenders panic when they have a hardworking committed Adebayor breathing down their necks

Bolton’s main striker Elmander hobbled off with an injury, great I thought, reduce their threat what little of it, even further. That thought was replaced with worry. Are Bolton going to be even more negative now that their striker has gone off. Anymore negative and they will start backing off into the crowd.

The half time whistle blew on a lacklustre first half. I was slightly concerned by a few points in that first period.

Diaby kept onto the ball for too long. He was realising it earlier in the Portsmouth and Plymouth games but went back to his old ways against Bolton. When it comes off it can look breathtaking, twisting and turning past opposition players and then striding forward. But when it doesn’t come off it is not only dangerous for the team but it needlessly gives away possession when a team mate is standing 10 yards away.

Crossing and Adebayor should be one of our biggest weapons, but it seems that both parts are not functioning. Our fullback are providing disappointing service but at least they would have more options if Adebayor made a conscious effort to get himself into the box to attack crosses. You cannot expect Van Persie and Nasri to score very many in the air. We could have sent in 500 crosses in that first half and not scored from any of them.

So the second half began, no changes to the Arsenal team as you would expect.

Bolton had their first effort on goal in the 52nd minute. Riga sent a cross into the box to Matt Taylor who headed at goal, his effort was not powerful enough to beat the diving Almunia who plucked it out of the air.

A decent move just after the hour mark saw Clichy hit a low pass into the box to Adebayor (yep, he was in there this time) with his back to goal, he swivelled onto his left side and hit a pretty tame effort at Jaaskelainen.

Adebayor was not having a very good game but at least his strike partner was. He was all over the pitch, twisting and turning past players and causing Bolton problems. He was even chasing back and flying into tackles. That is what we want to see from all our players.

Abou Diaby’s match came to an end on 64 minutes, he was replaced by the Mexican Carlos Vela. Interesting switch I thought to myself. Nasri coming inside to central midfield with Vela providing the outlet on the left wing.

I may prove to be a minority voice here but generally I do not like Vela on the left wing. He has made an impact when he has come on because of his attacking instincts but to me he runs in straight lines, I do not think he is dynamic enough to play as a winger. If he is not going outside a player then he can only come square inside and often gets dispossessed. I would like to see Vela playing as a striker on the shoulder of a central defender where his movement, speed and finishing can be used.

Samir Nasri has been fantastic in the middle of the last few games so I was looking forward to seeing if he could make an impact. Well it took him no more than a minute to make the difference.

Nasri from the central position slotted a perfect through pass, cutting through three Bolton players to the feet of Adebayor who made the run from left to central. It needed a quick one touch control and instant finish, either side. He delayed for too long trying to compose and adjust himself before the outstretched foot of Andy O’Brien blocked Adebayor’s effort.

My friend and I both said, had that of been Eduardo then we would be one nil up now. At the top level, Adebayor perhaps should be putting chances like those away.

Dennis Bergkamp would have been pleased with that sort of pass from Samir Nasri.

It will be interesting to see if Wenger will start Nasri in central midfield. Does he trust his defensive instincts enough to start him a full game in that position. It is clear that offensively it is his best position or at least from a central position.

A player like Arshavin on the left with Nasri in central midfield would transform this side in the final third but as with everything there has to be a balance. Will Nasri and Arshavin track runners?

Arsenal turned up the gears, Vela, Adebayor, Van Persie and Nasri causing problems for Bolton and their sea of white shirts.

5 minutes later, Arsenal came the closest to scoring. Denilson fed the ball into Adebayor who flicked it off to Van Persie who was running into the penalty area on his left foot, he dragged it onto his new found ‘stronger’ side, which fooled the whole Bolton defence, the ball slightly ran away from him and his foot was sliced onto the base of the post. Was this going to be another one of those days.

Kolo Toure drove forward with the captains armband around his arm struck a fizzing shot towards the Bolton goal which Jaaskelainen parried out.

A word on Kolo Toure, I thought he had a good game considering recent performances. Having said that, it is hard to judge a central defenders performance when the opposition have very little interest in coming out and attacking. Perhaps playing alongside Djourou for the next three weeks (if clear of injuries) will end up being a positive thing for Toure.

On 75 minutes Nicklas Bendtner came on to replace Emmanuel Eboue. His first bit of action happened a few seconds into coming on.

Arsenal had a freekick after a foul on Vela on the left wing. Nasri floated in the freekick straight on the head of the Dane who Tottenham style leaped and headed at goal but his effort was straight at the keeper.

It was going to prove to be an interesting 15 minutes for Bendtner. After his header, he gave the ball away twice in the space of minutes to which the patient Arsenal crowd groaned and moaned, if that continued then it could have got much worse, you could just sense the atmosphere changing around the stadium.

Bendtner had another half chance which he volleyed at a defender who cleared.

The breakthrough finally came in the 85th minute, Clichy rolled a ball into the left channel for Van Persie to run onto, the Dutchman looked up to see a target then floated a lovely chipped cross to the back post to Bendtner who slid in to place the ball past the keeper. 1-0! GET IN!!!!

After our celebrations my mate reminded me that we needed to see this out, don’t worry, I said. They cannot get out of their half I thought. A few seconds after the restart Arsenal reminded us as to why they were in 5th place and not closer to the top. Kevin Davies found the ball inside the box after poor marking and his shot was blocked by Almunia. Arsenal really seem to enjoy doing things the hard way.

Ramsey replaced Adebayor and The Gunners held on for another valuable 3 points. Like against Portsmouth who came and sat back it was not the most fluent or enjoyable games but we have found the resources *Wenger phrase alert* to find the goal at the death.

I have to mention Johan Djourou, after the Davies chance Bolton remembered how to play football in the opposition half and they sent in a few crosses into the Arsenal penalty area. One cross from the left was looking very dangerous until Djourou leapt above everyone else to power a header clear. That was one of my favourite highlights of the whole game. Before he came into the side that would not have happened.

Samir Nasri had another impressive game, especially when he moved into the middle but the Top Gun of the day goes to Robin Van Persie who gave his all throughout the ninety minutes. He came closest to scoring himself before assisting with an inch perfect cross to Bendtner.

So back to the pint glasses, I am rather enjoying the half full glass right now, 7 games unbeaten we are slowly stringing some results together and with a signing hopefully *fingers crossed* around the corner we could improve and gain our creative power.

Our fixtures before we play against another top 4 side (Liverpool) are good enough to gain some crucial points on the top 3, at least on Aston Villa.

Barclays Premier League A Hull City
Barclays Premier League A Everton
Barclays Premier League H West Ham United
Barclays Premier League A Tottenham Hotspur
Barclays Premier League H Sunderland
Barclays Premier League H Fulham
Barclays Premier League A W.B.A.
Barclays Premier League H Blackburn Rovers
Barclays Premier League A Newcastle United
Barclays Premier League H Manchester City
Barclays Premier League A Wigan Athletic
Barclays Premier League A Liverpool

Lets keep of fingers crossed and hope that the boys can keep going until our injured players come back. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!