Premier League - Arsenal go top

Eurosport - Sun, 21 Sep 11:10:00 2008

Arsenal went top of the Premier League after coming from behind to beat bogey side Bolton 3-1 at the Reebok Stadium.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Premier League Arsenal Song Sagna Denilson - 0

Kevin Davies headed the hosts ahead on 14 minutes before Emmanuel Eboue and Nicklas Bendtner netted in quick succession to hand the lead to Arsenal before half-time.

Theo Walcott, on as a substitute, created a third late on for Brazilian midfielder Denilson who secured all three points for Arsenal to make it four wins out of five so far this season.

Arsene Wenger's side will now stay top of the table overnight with Chelsea not taking on Manchester United until Sunday.

Bolton had won four of their previous five encounters with the Gunners at the Reebok and the match appeared to be following that rather well-worn script when Kevin Nolan forced a good save out of Manuel Almunia with a dipping 25-yarder early on.

That feeling continued when Davies opened the scoring on 14 minutes, the flat-track bully - so often a thorn in Arsenal's side - netting a simply executed goal by rising above Kolo Toure and heading Joey O'Brien's corner past Almunia.

But that was about as far as the story followed the script, as Arsenal immediately asserted themselves on the game and gained the upper hand during a thrilling 10-minute period of play which culminated with two goals in a minute.

Eboue registered his first goal in an Arsenal shirt when he slotted home from close range on 26 minutes. Replays showed the Ivorian was in an offside position when Bendtner's cute pass found him, but the linesman's flag stayed down and the goal stood.

And then just a minute later Arsenal took the lead, this time Bendtner sliding in to finish from Denilson's centre from the left.

Perhaps Bolton had not been prepared for the ferocity of the fight-back, but there was no doubting that it had been coming. The woodwork had twice been struck in the immediate lead-up to the goals, Adebayor hitting the base of an upright when put through on goal moments before the post denied Alexandre Song a header from a corner.

Bolton were simply blown away by Arsenal's fluent passing game but Gary Megson's side are a tough proposition, especially on their home turf, and they managed to carve out a couple of chances before half-time.

On both occasions, it was Nolan who went close to restoring parity, but the Bolton skipper was first denied by an excellent Almunia save before seeing a sidefooted volley bounce the wrong side of the post.

Bolton's frustration was borne out as the first half neared its conclusion, Davies lunging in on Gael Clichy with a shocking tackle that resulted in the Frenchman heading to hospital for a check-up and the Bolton striker picking up a yellow card. It could easily have been red.

Fortunately Arsenal confirmed later that Clichy only suffered minor injuries and was able to return to London with the rest of the squad.

Arsenal started the second half brightly, Song forcing Jussi Jaaskelainen into making a sharp save soon after the restart, but Bolton - backed by a constant wall of sound from what was a disappointingly small gate - began to come back into the game.

Mustapha Riga was introduced as a 56th minute substitute and summer signing from Levante nearly made a big impact soon after when Almunia had to be alert to tip his well-placed effort round the corner.

But Bolton's best chance of the game fell to full-back Gretar Steinsson, who was afforded a free header from a corner with seven minutes remaining. The Iceland international could only plant his header over the bar though.

Bolton were made to rue his profligacy as Walcott burst through the hosts' defence on 87 minutes before feeding Adebayor, who in turn centred for Denilson. The youngster had the easy task of sweeping home from close range to seal just the Gunners' second win in six attempts at the Reebok.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport

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  1. What?! Arsenal sucks? I dont think so. The best to describe Arsenal is fulid, slick passing and new style of total football. Rafa buys excellent player but turns them into descent player. Where it's vice versa at Arsenal. In my view, i'll rather watch your talking about. Go Gunners..., Go Gunners....

    Go Everton, Go and beat Liverpool... Hahahahahaha

    From Sheikh, on Sat 20 Sep 10:17PM

  2. well done boys. You showed a lot of character, grit, determination and of course, your usual fluency. An exhibition of delightful attacking football. Football is above all else, ENTERTAINMENT.
    Thank you, Prof Arsene-al Wenger, you always leave us drooling for more. Your philosophy of winning in style has made the Gunners the BEST team in the world and come season end, we'll have the silverware to back it up.

    From kezike, on Sat 20 Sep 10:16PM

  3. well done gunners u deserve 2b on top

    From RUTH G, on Sat 20 Sep 9:46PM

  4. Good news dudes!!!

    Gael Clichy suffered only bruising to his shin during the game at Bolton on Saturday.

    The left back went off just before half time feeling the effects of a challenge by Kevin Davies. He went to hospital for a scan but they found no fracture.

    As a result, Gael was able to join up the rest of the Arsenal squad for the journey home.

    From ghiedrukas, on Sat 20 Sep 9:26PM

  5. macdonaldonuoha_9 d//

    Lol, guy chill liverfool sucks! Arsenal rules!

    From bulle_saft, on Sat 20 Sep 9:25PM

  6. Its nice to be on top of the table...ARSENAL has a made a fantastic recovery since the loss at Fulham. And with yids at the bottom of the table..that makes it even better.

    From Seyi Olu, on Sat 20 Sep 9:22PM

  7. GUNNERS RUNS IN MY BLOOD UNTIL I DIE I WOULD BE A GUNNER THAT MAKES ME A REAL G ALI JAKARTA INDONESIA KEEP YOUR HEADS UP GUNNERS

    From macdonaldonuoha_9 d, on Sat 20 Sep 9:17PM

  8. top top top of the table..first half arsenal played like brazil the way we moved the ball around..second half did what we had to do to get all 3 points...come on!!!!

    From chris, on Sat 20 Sep 9:08PM

  9. Up Arsenal!!!! KEEP GUNNING ANY CLUBSIDE THAT COMES YOUR WAY EITHER IN NORTH LONDON, ANYWHERE IN UK AND EUROPE AS A WHOLE. ARSENE I LIKE UR BELIEVE! KEEP SHOOTING AND REMAIN ON TOP TILL THE END OF THE CURRENT SEASON. ARSENAL 4LAF!
    FROM YEMCO KENT

    From abiola.omitogun@..., on Sat 20 Sep 9:07PM

  10. Up Arsenal!!!! KEEP GUNNING ANY CLUBSIDE THAT COMES YOUR WAY EITHER IN NORTH LONDON, ANYWHERE IN UK AND EUROPE AS A WHOLE. ARSENE I LIKE UR BELIEVE! KEEP SHOOTING AND REMAIN ON TOP TILL THE END OF THE CURRENT SEASON. ARSENAL 4LAF!
    FROM YEMCO KENT

    From abiola.omitogun@..., on Sat 20 Sep 9:07PM

  11. Up Arsenal!!!! KEEP GUNNING ANY CLUBSIDE THAT COMES YOUR WAY EITHER IN NORTH LONDON, ANYWHERE IN UK AND EUROPE AS A WHOLE. ARSENE I LIKE UR BELIEVE! KEEP SHOOTING AND REMAIN ON TOP TILL THE END OF THE CURRENT SEASON. ARSENAL 4LAF!
    FROM YEMCO KENT

    From abiola.omitogun@..., on Sat 20 Sep 9:07PM

  12. Up Arsenal!!!! KEEP GUNNING ANY CLUBSIDE THAT COMES YOUR WAY EITHER IN NORTH LONDON, ANYWHERE IN UK AND EUROPE AS A WHOLE. ARSENE I LIKE UR BELIEVE! KEEP SHOOTING AND REMAIN ON TOP TILL THE END OF THE CURRENT SEASON. ARSENAL 4LAF!
    FROM YEMCO KENT

    From abiola.omitogun@..., on Sat 20 Sep 9:07PM

  13. Up Arsenal!!!! KEEP GUNNING ANY CLUBSIDE THAT COMES YOUR WAY EITHER IN NORTH LONDON, ANYWHERE IN UK AND EUROPE AS A WHOLE. ARSENE I LIKE UR BELIEVE! KEEP SHOOTING AND REMAIN ON TOP TILL THE END OF THE CURRENT SEASON. ARSENAL 4LAF!
    FROM YEMCO KENT

    From abiola.omitogun@..., on Sat 20 Sep 9:07PM

  14. Up Arsenal!!!! KEEP GUNNING ANY CLUBSIDE THAT COMES YOUR WAY EITHER IN NORTH LONDON, ANYWHERE IN UK AND EUROPE AS A WHOLE. ARSENE I LIKE UR BELIEVE! KEEP SHOOTING AND REMAIN ON TOP TILL THE END OF THE CURRENT SEASON. ARSENAL 4LAF!
    FROM YEMCO KENT

    From abiola.omitogun@..., on Sat 20 Sep 9:07PM

  15. You would think people writing articles here would know better. While this is Eboue's first Premier League goal, it is NOT his first for Arsenal.

    From Ty Weezy, on Sat 20 Sep 8:56PM

  16. nah satellite man isnt a fool, he is just an un-educated degenerate whose vocabulary does not extend beyond a 4 year olds, including @#$% and prat. He has probably never heard of constructive ( con-struc-tive that's how you pronounce it satellite) criticisim. Dont blame him you do have to feel bad for the disadvantaged. Satellite im sure you found a lot of words here outside what your literarl mind can comprehend, i would recommend buying a dictionary say after me Dic-tion-ar-y. I would have recommended a websters or and oxford, but lets start with your ABC's for dummies shall we?

    From waelwatfa, on Sat 20 Sep 8:51PM

  17. Message to jayne.redpath.......Come back when you've got some history to chat about... You've had a couple of good ( Ever so jammy most of the time!) seasons but a whole lot more @#$% before that. And remember, you're only where you are because of the russians dirty money, before that you were just like "christmas decorations", no matter how pretty you were, you always came down again in January LMAO!!!

    From Madgooner62, on Sat 20 Sep 8:50PM

  18. that told him Natanya_uk

    From VERONICA P, on Sat 20 Sep 8:48PM

  19. He sure is paul.wren

    From VERONICA P, on Sat 20 Sep 8:46PM

  20. Olugbayi A, fourtune telling now ?

    From VERONICA P, on Sat 20 Sep 8:46PM
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