Theo Walcott’s off the ball running is giving this Arsenal side a cutting edge, giving the passers an outlet. It was a finish that we saw many times from Thierry Henry. If Theo stays fit, he will continue to be found and goals will keep coming from him

Last season’s 2-1 defeat at Ewood park was a real low point at the end of the season. The team was decimated by injury and the team looked vulnerable to Blackburn’s high balls.

Arsene and the coaching staff have been working hard during the summer months to correct the defensive wrongs and much of that was on show in Lancashire yesterday lunchtime.

Interesting to see Arsene leave out Chamakh from the starting eleven, especially as the Moroccan is dominant in the air and I assumed would have been vital on set pieces. Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas were given their first starts of the season with Wilshere and the unfortunate Rosicky being the players to drop out to the bench.

Arsene’s line up was very much a statement that he wanted his players to play their own game without being worried about the opposition. Song was brought back into midfield alongside Diaby to add a physical edge to the side but the rest of the team were built to play football and score goals.

Arsenal could have been ahead with barely four minutes on the clock when Diaby’s left footed shot was blocked on the line by a combination of goalkeeper and defender but it was Blackburn who started quickest out of the blocks and we got exactly as we expected. Every dead ball, every back pass was launched into the penalty area. Manuel Almunia was going to be in the spotlight and he would need to turn out a big performance if Arsenal were to come away with any points.

Almunia and the despicable El-Hadji Diouf came head to head over an off the ball incident, it was great to see our number one not back down and show the, for want of a better phrase, fire in his belly. Moments later a Ryan Nelsen header from a corner was headed off the line by Cesc Fabregas. It was a early case of backs to the wall from the Arsenal defence.

I am not quite sure when the new ball drying rule came from, if there is no new rule then I wonder why this is allowed. The amount of time it took Pedersen to pick up the towel, dry the ball and then take the actual throw was just madness. The powers that be say that they do not want video technology involved because it stops the flow of the game. If that is the case then I would love to know why drying the ball with outside influences is not disrupting the flow of the game.

Christopher Samba had a glorious chance to put Blackburn ahead from a header but he couldn’t keep his effort down, his disappointment must have increased a few minutes later because Arsenal swept down the field, Arshavin fed Van Persie in the center forward position, Walcott spun off his man from right to left, Robin spotted him early and slipped him the ball in between two Blackburn defenders. At the speed of light, Walcott got the ball under control, steadied himself and hit a low daisy cutter across Robinson tearing the side netting of the goal.

Theo Walcott’s off the ball running is giving this Arsenal side a cutting edge, giving the passers an outlet. It was a finish that we saw many times from Thierry Henry. If Theo stays fit, he will continue to be found and goals will keep coming from him.

Anti football 0 – Football 1.

The goal settled Arsenal down for a short moment, we continued to try and score the second and it was that desire that undone us seven minutes later. Arshavin tried to split the Blackburn defence with a pass to Walcott who had already set off on his bike but the pass was intercepted.

Samba strode out from defence, powering past Diaby and Van Persie and played a ball down the side of Koscielny with Sagna further up the pitch out of position. El-Hadji Diouf out muscled Koscielny and made his way into the penalty area his cut back to his namesake to tap into the empty net.

After all the aerial bombardment it was a counter attack that undone Arsenal and Arsene would be unhappy about the mistakes that were made from his players leading up to the goal.

Robin Van Persie took a knock on his ankle moments after, he tried to carry on but after a second knock soon after he was hurled off to prevent any further damage, Chamakh replaced the Dutchman in attack.

The introduction of Chamakh gave the team a focal point and his link up play really helped the fluidity of the team. The way he rolls passes into him onto a moving team mate is simple yet very effective.

Cesc Fabregas was clearly a yard short which is understandable given the fact that it was his first start for Arsenal since we drew 2-2 against Barcelona at the Emirates.

After the break the team looked more composed, more in control of the game. The players may have needed the calming words of Arsene Wenger to get them doing what they were supposed to be doing, instead of worrying about long punts being played towards our goalkeeper. It didn’t take Arsenal long to get into their stride. Chamakh played a ball towards the line for Sagna to chase, he kept the ball in play and burst towards the penalty area. Diouf couldn’t keep up with him and his final ball was fantastic, a low cut back instead of a random wasted cross into the penalty box. Cesc struck a shot against Walcott which looked goal bound but the ball fell kindly to Andrey Arshavin to clip the ball into the corner of the net past Robinson and Samba on the goal line.

Arshavin had been perched on the periphery of the game yet again but played a contribution to our first goal and then scored the winner. Can you complain with that sort of impact on matches? I have never known a player to be so absent from matches yet have the ability to make such a difference to games. If we can see another 20% from him this season then we will score plenty of goals this season both from his assists and from his habit of getting into the right place at the right time.

I was hoping that third goal would arrive to kill the game off, I didn’t feel comfortable about Blackburn launching balls into our box for another forty minutes but our defending was much improved after the break. Bacary Sagna was superb, throwing his body on the line and making last ditch tackles. Some may criticise his final ball at times but his primary role in the team is to defend and stop the opposition from scoring. Bacary is a fantastic defender who is rarely beaten on one and ones, he has fantastic commitment for the team and shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Lorent Koscielny showed great character in the second half, he put his mistake aside and fought for the team. A natural defender who has expert timing and throws his body into shots. He made so many blocks and won many headers against larger and more physical players. Physically he needs work but the foundations are certainly there.

Cesc Fabregas was replaced just before 70 minutes, clearly not as his best, he gave away possession cheaper than usual but as with many of the players who started at Anfield, he will sharpen up with games just as those players have. Tomas Rosicky who has been our best player this season was the player to replace the captain.

Chris Samba moved into a center forward position in an attempt to out muscle the Arsenal defence. Chamakh handled him very well from set pieces, even if at times he used his arms. Hilariously enough Sky Sports were banging on about it in the post match show when they spent all of the pre match talk turning a blind eye to the Blackburn fouling in the last meeting. Utterly predictable.

Theo Walcott had the ball in the back of the net five minutes from time but he was flagged for offside, I wanted that third goal to come and was petrified at the prospect of a late equaliser.

I was surprised that Wenger had called upon Jack Wilshere to enter the fray, it clearly shows that Wilshere will get plenty of game time if the manager is willing to put the 18 year old at Ewood park when we are trying to defend the lead. Arshavin was removed and Wilshere’s bite was included to the midfield.

Wilshere had an eventful seven minutes or so, he could and should have wrapped it all up and scored his first Arsenal goal late on when Walcott had played him in on the left but he slipped as he shot and miscued wide. The highlight for me was when Wilshere clattered into the biggest and strongest player on the pitch. Chris Samba was on the ball and out of nowhere Wilshere flew into him and won the ball cleanly. That sort of bravery and commitment cannot be coached or bought and it brought a big smile on my face.

Blackburn dived twice in the box in quick succession to try and con the referee but Chris Foy didn’t buy it. Crosses and throws into our box were dealt with in the final stages until the final whistle was blown.

A fantastic hard fought victory, we didn’t always play the cutting football that we are used to but the way the team fought and worked for each other was a sight for sore eyes. Abou Diaby divides opinion amongst the Gooner faithful but I thought he was defensively superb throughout the game. His pass completion rate may not be as high as the likes of Cesc, Nasri and Rosicky when on form but his strength at leaning into opposition players and snatching the ball back then striding forward to start attacks is unmatched in this Arsenal squad. He was disciplined throughout the game and helped Song protect the defence.

The only two downsides to the game where the defending for the Blackburn goal and Alex Song’s new hairstyle. Both can be worked on so we are in great condition.

A draw at Anfield and now victory at Ewood park. The season is starting very well and the tests have been passed so far. Long may it continue.

Click to follow Arsenal Vision on Twitter
Click to follow Arsenal Vision on Facebook