Incredible. Absolutely incredible.
The first half started well enough, with Arsenal creating a few chances, and generally dictating the play. However, Bolton played a quick counter-attack, and yet another ball in the air beat our defense, and just like that it was 1-0 to Bolton.
Things got worse around the half-hour mark when Abou Diaby made a very dumb, very dangerous tackle for which he received a straight red. 1-0 down and reduced to ten men, things looked pretty bleak for the Gunners on a rainy day in Bolton. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Mathieu Flamini got caught in possession on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, the ball found its’ way to Matthew Taylor whose shot deflected in off of William Gallas for his, and Bolton’s, second goal of the game.
2-0 at halftime and I was really beside myself. I remember thinking, “This team has given up. They’ve just given up.” The start of the second half did nothing to ease my fears, as Bolton came out of the gates looking for a third, hoping to kill off the game. Somehow, Arsenal withstood a number of corners, and Manuel Almunia made several good saves while Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott began warming up on the sidelines.
With about thirty minutes to go, Adebayor and Walcott came on to replace Bendtner and Senderos respectively. That changed the game dramatically. Within moments, Arsenal won a corner, and William Gallas found himself unmarked at the far post to slam the ball home. 2-1 Bolton with 27 minutes to go.
Five minutes later, and Adebayor found Flamini in space in the Bolton penalty area. The Flamster’s shot was saved and came back out to Alex Hleb. Hleb got to the ball, only to be taken down just a few feet from the penalty spot. The ref pointed to said spot, and up stepped Robin van Persie.
van Persie slammed the ball home, scoring his first goal in months, to pull the ten-men Gunners level at 2-2 with just over twenty minutes to go.
Now the Gunners had Bolton on the back foot, and several chances came Arsenal’s way, but the scored stayed level going into stoppage time.
Suddenly, Hleb made a great pass to put Super Cesc Fabregas in on goal. Cesc’s shot bounced off a defender and in. 3-2 Arsenal. The comeback was complete, and my whole neighborhood knew it.
If you didn’t see this game, then you really won’t be able to appreciate the enormity of the turnaround. For the first hour, Arsenal looked flat and disinterested. Then,after the substitutions, the confidence seemed to grow. Adebayor put the fear of God in those Bolton defenders, and Walcott was much more involved, using his speed to good advantage.
So, back to second, for a few hours anyway, and staying within shouting distance of Man U. Now it’s all Liverpool, all the time. At least for the next 10 days or so, as we play them three times in a row, starting with this Wednesday’s Champions League Quarter-Final at the Grove. Kickoff is at 2:45 PM ET, and the match will be shown live here in the States on ESPN2.
