Arsenal win 2-1 at Blackburn

Posted Sunday, August 29, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

LONDON (SE) - Andrey Arshavin netted the winner as Arsenal avenged last season’s defeat by Blackburn with an impressive 2-1 victory at Ewood Park that will make their title rivals sit up and take notice.

The Russian’s cool finish six minutes after the restart gave the Gunners three points they richly deserved for a dominant second-half performance.

Blackburn were unbeaten at home against the Premier League’s big four last season and had only lost once on their own ground in the previous 11 outings.

But Arsene Wenger’s side were determined to erase the bitterness they felt at last May’s 2-1 defeat on this ground and ended a run of five away matches without a win in the process.

“I was not disappointed, neither by the level of the test nor by our resilience,” Wenger said. “Maybe we were not faultless in the goal we conceded, but overall we had enough resources to come back and win the game.”

Theo Walcott gave the visitors a 20th-minute lead, the winger following up last week’s hat-trick against Blackpool with a clinically-taken opener to take his tally to four in three games, one more than he managed in the league in all of last season.

That advantage lasted just seven minutes, with Mame Biram Diouf capping his first Premier League start with a goal after some fine Rovers build-up play.

Blackburn are not regarded as the Premier League’s set-piece specialists for nothing, and gave signals of their intent in the opening ten minutes as Wenger’s pre-match fears of an aerial bombardment materialised.

Central defender Ryan Nelsen soared to meet Morten Gamst Pedersen’s left-wing corner with a powerful header that Cesc Fabregas cleared off the line before Christopher Samba met a Pedersen long throw with a flicked header that forced an acrobatic diving save from Manuel Almunia.

“Overall we have more experience (than last season) and we were calmer in the box, but anyway no matter who you are they would give a test to any side in the world,” Wenger added.

“It’s difficult to resist and we were a bit lucky at some stages but we needed commitment.”

Arsenal were equally lively in a fascinating opening that showcased the clash in styles between the two sides. Samba made a magnificent last-ditch tackle to deny Walcott, but there was nothing any Rovers player could do to prevent the England man opening the scoring three minutes later.

Arsenal broke swiftly and Robin van Persie threaded a perfect through-ball for Walcott down the right. There was still much for the former Southampton forward to do, but he beat Paul Robinson with a low angled drive into the far corner.

Walcott said: “I’ve had a good think in the summer - I didn’t blame anyone else for not being at the World Cup but didn’t read too much into it because I had a nice break, I’ve not had one for a long time.

“Now I just want to get playing and show people what I can do…it’s for me to push on and get on the goal sheet a bit more often.”

The Gunners were ahead for just seven minutes as Rovers hit back with a skilfully-crafted goal that Arsenal would have been proud of.

Samba broke up an attack in the Rovers half, beat an opponent and then set El-Hadji Diouf clear down the left with a perfectly-weighted ball. The Senegal midfielder embarrassed Thomas Vermaelen for pace and looked up before squaring the ball to give Mame Biram Diouf the simplest of tap-ins.

Rovers boss Sam Allardyce was thrilled with the goal, but wanted more.

He said: “From our point of view the chances created were excellent both from open play and set plays and I was slightly disappointed that we had not taken more in the first half to get us a lead.

“Perhaps defensively we might have been a bit better, but with the quality of Arsenal you cannot switch off for a split-second or they punish you to the full and that’s what happened.”

Van Persie’s earlier assist was his last meaningful action in the game, as he suffered an ankle injury in an innocuous challenge with Phil Jones and made way for Marouane Chamakh after just 34 minutes.

The winning goal came six minutes into the second half. Bacary Sagna collected the ball on the right and his cross was perfect for Fabregas. The Arsenal captain’s goalbound shot hit Walcott, but bounced kindly to Arshavin, who calmly slotted home his second of the season.

The expected Rovers response never really materialised as Nikola Kalinic fired over after some poor defending from Vermaelen.

The fit-again David Dunn came on as a substitute and he wasted Blackburn’s best chance of the second half, weaving his way past two challenges before shooting tamely at Almunia.

In fact, Arsenal should have increased their lead in stoppage time after a three-on-one break. Chamakh and Walcott combined to create a glorious shooting chance for substitute Jack Wilshere but the youngster slipped at the vital moment and Robinson saved easily.