Arsenal produced a resilient performance against Blackburn to secure victory thanks to Andrey Arshavin.
Arshavin claims winner as Wenger's men battle to victory
Arsenal produced a resilient performance at Ewood Park to secure victory thanks to Andrey Arshavin's second-half winner.
Arsene Wenger's side, who cruised past Blackpool last weekend, showed a battling spirit, which was missing in large parts last season, to claim all three points.
An exciting encounter opened with a sequence of goalline clearances. Abou Diaby's early effort was deflected against the legs of Rovers' goalkeeper Paul Robinson, then Cesc Fabregas had to head a Ryan Nelsen effort off the line.
Arsenal took the lead after 19 minutes following a superb flowing move which allowed Robin van Persie to pick out the in-form Theo Walcott, whose angled drive was so good that it broke the netting.
However, the lead didn't last long as the hosts drew level seven minutes later thanks to a lightning counter. Christopher Samba released El-Hadji Diouf down the left and the Rovers captain squared for namesake Mame Biram Diouf to restore parity.
Ten minutes before the break, Arsenal were dealt a blow when Van Persie hobbled off with an ankle knock following an innocuous challenge on Phil Jones.
There was plenty of ebb and flow to a high-tempo encounter and six minutes into the second half, the visitors regained the lead.
Fabregas' shot was blocked into the path of Arshavin, who poked past the advancing Robinson to notch his second league goal of the season.
Walcott's speculative long-range strike just cleared the crossbar with 15 minutes remaining, while David Dunn should have levelled, but his tame effort was easily collected by Manuel Almunia.
Rovers, who only lost three times at Ewood Park last season produced a late onslaught but Arsenal held on to secure an impressive win.
Positive
Rovers started positively, with Morten Gamst Pedersen's long throw causing Almunia to enter the action early to pluck the ball off the head of Samba.
The Gunners came close to an opener in the third minute when Diaby's shot in a crowded box took a heavy deflection off Vince Grella and rather fortuitously struck goalkeeper Robinson.
But Rovers set about peppering the Arsenal box with high balls and their tactic nearly paid off in the ninth minute when Nelsen's header was headed off the line by Fabregas.
In a promising opening spell Fabregas then split the Rovers defence with a through-ball towards Walcott, only for Samba to get in with a superb saving challenge.
El-Hadji Diouf failed to pick out namesake Mame in acres of space in a Rovers counter-attack then in the 15th minute Samba headed just over from another Pedersen corner.
Walcott's 19th minute strike was so powerful it required lengthy half-time repairs to the net - but when Arsenal threatened to go on and win at a canter it was the home side who struck back.
Samba set off a swift counter-attack which sent El-Hadji Diouf tearing down the left where he cut inside the hapless Laurent Koscielny and squared for Mame Biram Diouf to sweep home.
Wenger was forced to make his first change in the 34th minute when Van Persie hobbled off with an apparent knee injury and was replaced by Marouane Chamakh.
Winning goal
Confidence continued to bleed back into Blackburn after the break and Pedersen was not too far away with an audacious long-range effort in the 50th minute.
But the Gunners went back ahead one minute later when a Fabregas effort in the box was blocked only to squirt clear to Arshavin, who poked past the advancing Robinson.
Nikola Kalinic blazed a left-foot shot over the bar before Allardyce made his first change introducing Dunn in a bid to add some creativity to his midfield.
However as the game wore on Wenger's men looked increasingly to be finding their rhythm and Nelsen and Samba were working overtime to repel Arshavin and Chamakh.
But it was Walcott who always looked the biggest threat and the young striker came close to a second on 75 minutes when he lofted a long-range effort inches over the bar.
Walcott thought he had knocked home the Gunners' third at the other end only to be deemed inches offside, then substitute Jack Wilshere missed a sitter in injury time.
| Blackburn Rovers |
Team Statistics |
Arsenal |
| 1 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
5 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 5 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 4 |
Corners |
8 |
| 9 |
Fouls |
6 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 65 |
Passing Success |
80.5 |
| 26 |
Tackles |
27 |
| 88.5 |
Tackles Success |
66.7 |
| 35.6 |
Possession |
64.4 |
| 47.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
52.9 |
|
