Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton Wanderers: You are not seeing things, we actually won

After a decent mid-week display from the kids and fringe players, it was time for the much maligned first team to play against fellow strugglers Bolton in front of the Arsenal faithful.

Arsenal made two changes from the team that lost to Blackburn. Kieran Gibbs returned at left back in place of Andre Santos. Theo Walcott was restored to the line-up in place of Andrey Arshavin.

Bolton surprisingly left Kevin Davies on the bench, while Gary Cahill missed out due to illness.

Frustrating first half
The attention this season has mostly been focused on Arsenal's defensive problems and rightfully so. However, for perhaps the first time this season Arsenal experienced very little problem at the back. Instead, the problems were going forward and Arsenal's first half dispay was very reminiscent of the Arsenal of two or three years ago; the one that would all the posession and shots, but not make the breakthrough.

Bolton posed very little threat as an attacking force and spent the whole of the first half defending. They had clearly come here for a draw, which was surprising considering our vunerabilities in defence. They happily conceded posession to us and sat back with a bank of four and a bank of five. Arsenal found it difficult to play their way through and test Jasskeleinen in goal.

Bolton did well to block off Arsenal's main threat, which was down the flanks with the pace of Gervinho and Walcott. The centre was too congested for them to cut inside, while frequent poor descision making hampered their delivery into the penalty area.

Arsenal suffered from poor decision making in the final third for the entirety of the first half and this, coupled with Bolton's strong defensive performance, meant the score was 0-0 at half time. More frustration for Arsenal.

Dominant Arsenal finally score
Arsenal broke the deadlock pretty early in the second half. Aaron Ramsey drove forward with the ball and played in van Persie, who made space for himself before slamming the ball past the ever-reliable Bolton keeper. From here on it was all Arsenal.

Bolton managed the odd counter-attack but Arsenal were rarely threatened, mainly because both full backs didn't advanced forward as much as they usually did and provided extra cover. Another noticeable tactical change was Aaron Ramsey playing higher up and closer to van Persie. It paid off since Ramsey had much more of an effect on the game in the second half.

Arsenal's most dangerous threat came down the right hand side. The slow Robinson couldn't keep up with Walcott's pace and intelligent movement, and even though he was quite wasteful overall, it was Walcott who set-up the second and all important goal. His cross found van Persie, who did something an Arsenal player rarely does - make a run to the near post to meet a cross.

The third goal was pretty much a bonus. I've yet to see the goal, but I hear it's a beauty from Alex Song, of all people.

"We are staying up!"
That was the chorus from the Arsenal fans after the second goal. I don't think anyone actually thinks we'll be in a relegation fight this season, but with the way things have gone a win really was needed.

And today's win was a very comfortable one, in the end. We had all the ball and all the chances while Botlon seldom threatened. I'm sure it'll do a lot of good for the teams confidence ahead of a tough trip to Spurs.

Robin van Persie: 100 Arsenal Goals
The guy has been plagued with injuries throughout his Arsenal career, but the captain has still managed to squeeze out 100 clubs goals from the Arsenal. He becomes the 17th player to do so for Arsenal, and joins some of the finest strikers in Arsenal history. It's a great acheivement and we all hope he can continue scoring.

Player Ratings
Wojciech Szczesny - 6
Laurent Koscielny - 6
Per Mertesacker - 6
Kieran Gibbs - 6
Bacary Sagna - 6
Alex Song - 7
Mikel Arteta - 7
Aaron Ramsey - 7
Gervinho - 6
Theo Walcott - 7
Robin van Persie - 8

Good result, nothing short of what was expected.