By Joe Doyle
EPL : Cesc Fabregas, Bolton Wanderers v Arsenal
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A late Tamir Cohen header all but ended Arsenal’s title challenge and consigned the Gunners to a sixth season without a trophy as Bolton took all three points at the Reebok Stadium.
Daniel Sturridge put the hosts in front in the first half, while Arsenal were frequently in control in the second half, dominating possession in their usual fashion following a missed penalty from Kevin Davies and Robin van Persie’s equaliser.
But Cohen’s late, late goal effectively ended Arsenal’s tilt at the title. There is still a mathematical possibility of Arsenal becoming champions, but one only had to look at the faces on the Arsenal bench to gauge how likely that will be.
Much had been said about Jack Wilshere’s return to the Reebok Stadium, and the young midfielder was keen to make an impression on the game early on, with Arsenal on the front foot from the off.
Wilshere looked to get on the ball as often as possible, leading to a very early, and perhaps a touch harsh, booking for Fabrice Muamba after the Bolton midfielder felled his former team-mate.
Cesc Fabregas was pulling the strings in midfield though, sending Theo Walcott through on goal down the inside right of the pitch, but the England winger’s effort was well-saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen.
A finger-tip stop from the Bolton ‘keeper in the 16th minute was all that prevented Fabregas putting Arsenal in the lead, the World Cup winner’s effort going just wide after the faintest of touches from Jaaskelainen.
That’s not to say it was all going Arsenal’s way, however. On-loan Chelsea player Daniel Sturridge was proving to be a thorn in the side for the Gunners’ defence, linking well with Kevin Davies on multiple occasions, with Davies poking an early effort just wide when he really should have done better.
A fantastic ball from Sturridge in the 24th minute gave Bolton their best chance of opening the scoring, but with Lee Chung Yong bearing down on the Wojciech Szczesny, he attempted a baffling pass to Matt Taylor that was easily intercepted by Alex Song.
It was a nervy few minutes for Arsenal, with lapses in defence giving Bolton more confidence. First Djourou missed his kick, giving Taylor a shot that was simple enough for Szczesny to deal with.
Then Taylor whipped in a ball from wide on the left only a minute later, and had a Bolton striker been following in on the ball, they would have profited with a goal after Szczesny spilled it.
Chances were coming in fits and bursts, with Samir Nasri dragging a shot wide at one end before Lee’s shot was well saved by Szczesny after a fabulous through ball from Sturridge, and from the corner Bolton took the lead.
First and foremost, the Arsenal marking was atrocious, as they managed to let Gary Cahill wander in unmarked before crashing in a header that was just cleared off the line by Nasri. But popping up from two yards to nod in was Sturridge, with his seventh goal in nine appearances for the Wanderers.