Toure: Celebrates opener
Arsenal kept up their perfect Premier League record at Emirates Stadium with two second-half goals against Bolton.
The Trotters' temporary manager Archie Knox organised his troops well in the first 45 minutes as Jussi Jaaskelainen was rarely troubled.
But Arsene Wenger made a double change just past the hour mark - bringing on Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky - which sparked his side.
Kolo Toure finally fired Arsenal in front in the 67th minute when his free-kick from 25 yards found the bottom corner.
The substitutes combined for the second with ten minutes remaining as Rosicky finished from six yards out after Walcott's cross.
Arsenal were dangerous down the flanks in the first period and a cut-back from Alexander Hleb from the left almost picked out Emmanuel Adebayor in the six-yard box, but the Togo striker could not make clean contact and the ball was hacked clear.
The gangly Adebayor was again the target when Bacary Sagna swung over a cross from the right. This time his glancing header flew wide.
The visitors were happy enough to break up play whenever possible and also get physical when necessary.
And on 20 minutes, there was a flashpoint when Gavin McCann clattered into Sagna, with both feet in a sliding challenge.
Tempers boiled over and, following a brief melee, Fabregas and El Hadji Diouf were shown yellow cards by referee Mike Riley, along with McCann for the original foul.
The home fans were soon screaming for a penalty when Adebayor went down under a sliding challenge from McCann, but the referee was correct to rule the Bolton player had won the ball.
Arsenal slowly started to up the tempo in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
On 42 minutes, Croatia striker Eduardo - in for injured top scorer Robin van Persie - floated over a high ball from the left to the back post.
Adebayor was unmarked, but timed his jump all wrong and was only able to put a tame downward header behind.
Arsenal had a great chance to take the lead at the start of the second half. Bolton failed to clear from inside their own six-yard box, with McCann knocking the ball into the path of Emmanuel Eboue.
However, the Ivory Coast international rushed his angled shot and slashed it across goal and high into the stands.
A well-worked counter attack then saw Fabregas teed-up on the edge of the penalty area, but his shot was straight at Bolton keeper Jaaskelainen.
Adebayor then exchanged a neat one-two with Eduardo and struck the ball just wide of the top right-hand corner from 20 yards.
With 28 minutes left, Wenger introduced Walcott and Rosicky, for Eduardo and Eboue.
Fit-again Arsenal captain William Gallas came close to snatching the lead when he diverted a corner goalwards from inside the six-yard box, but Jaaskelainen reacted quickly to make a point-blank save.
However, Arsenal did not have to wait much longer for the goal to come. A free-kick some 25 yards out was tapped back to Toure, and the Ivory Coast defender drilled a low strike into the bottom left corner.
The relief around Emirates Stadium was clear, and the hosts were soon looking for the cushion of a second goal.
Adebayor raced clear and rounded the Bolton keeper, only to then theatrically tumble near the goalline as he looked to cut the ball back to Walcott in the centre.
The England Under 21 winger then turned provider with 10 minutes left. Walcott was fed in on the right side of the area by Hleb, and his low cross was turned in by Rosicky from close range.
| Arsenal | Team Statistics | Bolton Wanderers |
| 2 | Goals | 0 |
| 0 | 1st Half Goals | 0 |
| 4 | Shots on Target | 0 |
| 11 | Shots off Target | 1 |
| 8 | Blocked Shots | 1 |
| 5 | Corners | 3 |
| 15 | Fouls | 22 |
| 1 | Offsides | 2 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 5 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 84.8 | Passing Success | 72.9 |
| 24 | Tackles | 21 |
| 79.2 | Tackles Success | 71.4 |
| 61.7 | Possession | 38.3 |
| 57.4 | Territorial Advantage | 42.6 |
| Cards | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Manuel Almunia | 6 | |
| Bacary Sagna | 6 | |
| Kolo Toure | 8 | |
| Gael Clichy | 7 | |
| William Gallas | 6 | |
| Alexander Hleb | 7 | |
| Cesc Fabregas |
|
6 |
| Mathieu Flamini | 6 | |
| Emmanuel Eboue | 6 | |
| Emmanuel Adebayor | 5 | |
| Eduardo | 5 | |
| Substitutes | ||
| Lukasz Fabianski | ||
| Gilberto Silva | ||
| Abou Diaby * | 5 | |
| Theo Walcott ** | 7 | |
| Tomas Rosicky *** | 7 | |
| Cards | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Jussi Jaaskelainen | 6 | |
| Andy O'Brien | 6 | |
| Joey O'Brien | 6 | |
| Abdoulaye Meite | 6 | |
| Gavin McCann |
|
6 |
| Danny Guthrie | 5 | |
| Ivan Campo |
|
7 |
| Ricardo Gardner | 6 | |
| Kevin Nolan |
|
5 |
| Kevin Davies |
|
6 |
| El-Hadji Diouf |
|
6 |
| Substitutes | ||
| Ali Al Habsi | ||
| Nicky Hunt | ||
| Gerald Cid | ||
| Stelios Giannakopoulos * | 5 | |
| Daniel Braaten ** | 5 | |
| Player | Rating | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Kolo Toure | 8.7 | Arsenal |
| Theo Walcott | 8.5 | Arsenal |
| Tomas Rosicky | 8.2 | Arsenal |
| Alexander Hleb | 8.0 | Arsenal |
| Gael Clichy | 8.0 | Arsenal |
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Tuesday 23rd March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | West Ham vs Wolverhampton |
| Wednesday 24th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 19:45 | Aston Villa vs Sunderland |
| 19:45 | Man City vs Everton |
| 19:45 | Portsmouth vs Chelsea |
| 20:00 | Blackburn vs Birmingham |
| Saturday 27th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Birmingham vs Arsenal |
| 15:00 | Chelsea vs Aston Villa |
| 15:00 | Hull vs Fulham |
| 15:00 | Tottenham vs Portsmouth |
| 15:00 | West Ham vs Stoke |
| 15:00 | Wolverhampton vs Everton |
| 17:30 | Bolton vs Man Utd |
| Sunday 28th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:00 | Burnley vs Blackburn |
| 16:00 | Liverpool vs Sunderland |
| Monday 29th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | Man City vs Wigan |
| Friday 2nd April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | Fulham vs Wigan |
| Saturday 3rd April | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Man Utd vs Chelsea |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Wolverhampton |
| 15:00 | Bolton vs Aston Villa |
| 15:00 | Portsmouth vs Blackburn |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 21st March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 2 - 1 Liverpool | |
| Fulham 1 - 2 Man City | |
| Blackburn 1 - 1 Chelsea | |
| Saturday 20th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Aston Villa 2 - 2 Wolverhampton | |
| Stoke 1 - 2 Tottenham | |
| Everton 2 - 0 Bolton | |
| Sunderland 3 - 1 Birmingham | |
| Arsenal 2 - 0 West Ham | |
| Portsmouth 3 - 2 Hull | |
| Wigan 1 - 0 Burnley | |
| Tuesday 16th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Wigan 1 - 2 Aston Villa | |
| Monday 15th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Liverpool 4 - 1 Portsmouth | |
| Sunday 14th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man Utd 3 - 0 Fulham | |
| Sunderland 1 - 1 Man City | |
| Saturday 13th March | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Tottenham 3 - 1 Blackburn | |
| Bolton 4 - 0 Wigan | |
| Chelsea 4 - 1 West Ham | |
| Burnley 1 - 2 Wolverhampton | |
| Stoke 0 - 0 Aston Villa | |
| Birmingham 2 - 2 Everton | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 31 | 69 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 31 | 67 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 30 | 65 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 30 | 55 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 29 | 53 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 31 | 51 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 29 | 50 |
| 8 | Everton | 30 | 45 |
| 9 | Birmingham City | 30 | 44 |
| 10 | Fulham | 30 | 38 |
| 11 | Stoke City | 30 | 36 |
| 12 | Blackburn Rovers | 30 | 35 |
| 13 | Sunderland | 30 | 34 |
| 14 | Bolton Wanderers | 31 | 32 |
| 15 | Wigan Athletic | 31 | 31 |
| 16 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 30 | 28 |
| 17 | West Ham United | 30 | 27 |
| 18 | Burnley | 31 | 24 |
| 19 | Hull City | 30 | 24 |
| 20 | Portsmouth | 30 | 13 |