Gunners back on top

Manager Arsene Wenger saw his Arsenal side move to the top of the Premier League with a mix of breathtaking skill and a solid work ethic in a 3-1 at Bolton.

Emmanuel Eboue
AlexLivesey/GettyImages
Emmanuel Eboue levels the scores at 1-1

It was just the result the Gunners boss craved with Liverpool being held to a draw by Stoke and Chelsea not facing Manchester United until Sunday.

Bolton, however, made a decent fist of it and went ahead through Kevin Davies.

Arsenal's response was swift and majestic. Emmanuel Eboue and Nicklas Bendtner turned the game on its head with two goals in two minutes.

• Clichy injury clouds victory

Then Denilson secured the points late on after another swift and decisive counter-attack.

Eboue's equaliser came after some intense pressure with Emmanuel Adebayor and Alex Song both hitting the post with their efforts.

It was Bolton who almost took the lead in the third minute with a wonderful piece of vision from captain Kevin Nolan.

He spotted Manuel Almunia marginally off his line and tried to chip him from 30 yards.

However, the Spanish goalkeeper got back just in time and tipped Nolan's effort over the crossbar.

Bolton made the breakthrough in the 14th minute when Jussi Jaaskelainen picked out Davies with a long free-kick and he flicked the ball on to Nolan.

The midfielder's effort was deflected to safety and Davies was first to react to Joey O'Brien's corner, heading the ball beyond Almunia for his third goal of the season.

Arsenal were rocked but broke swiftly, only for Denilson's effort from the edge of the area to clear the crossbar.

Kolo Toure latched on to a good touch from Bendtner in 20th minute but saw his shot go narrowly wide of the post.

Arsenal then hit the woodwork twice in the space of two minutes through Adebayor and Song as Bolton found themselves under siege.

The Gunners persistence paid off in the 26th minute with Eboue scoring at the near post after being set up by Bendtner.

They maintained their momentum two minutes later with Bendtner getting his reward for some unselfish work.

He got on the end of a cross from Denilson to give Arsenal the lead with his first Premier League goal of the season.

Eboue almost extended their lead in the 36th minute after linking up with Denilson but his effort was blocked.

Bolton, however, hit back and five minutes later Ricardo Gardner went on a surging run only for Toure to stop him in his tracks.

The ball broke to Nolan and he cracked in a good shot but Almunia was again equal to his effort.

Bolton, however, found themselves on the back foot in the 47th minute when Song raced forward and drilled in a shot that Jaaskelainen did well to parry to safety.

The Finland international had some harsh words for his defence at allowing Song room to manouvre.

Adebayor then got away from his marker a minute later but headed wide at the far post following a cross from substitute Johan Djourou.

Bolton were growing in confidence, however, and Joey O'Brien rattled in a shot from distance in the 59th minute that went narrowly wide.

Riga Mustapha was quickly into the action after coming off the bench and his effort was turned away at the post by Almunia following a glorious through ball from Nolan.

The visitors continued to look dangerous on the break and Bacary Sagna shot wide following a corner from Cesc Fabregas in the 67th minute.

Gretar Steinsson sent a header over for Bolton before Denilson sealed the points three minutes from time, sweeping home a cross from Adebayor.

# Clichy injury clouds victory

Manager Arsene Wenger's delight at seeing his Arsenal side go top of the Premier League was tempered by an injury to Gael Clichy.

The full-back was taken to hospital for X-rays on his shin after a challenge by Kevin Davies, which earned the Bolton striker a yellow card.

However, the good news for Arsenal was the full-back sustained only bruising to his shin and he was able to join up with the rest of the Arsenal squad for the journey home.

While Wenger admitted he did not see the incident, he said: "It it a shin injury which means the tackle was quite high. Was it an accident? Was it mistimed? Only Davies can answer that.

"I did not really see the impact, so I have to watch it on video. We except the physical challenge and we respond well to it. We have no problem with a physical game. It is part of the charm of the game but kicking someone is not in the rules.''

Bolton manager Gary Megson defended Davies, who opened the scoring with a header in the 14th minute before Arsenal took control.

He said: "It was nothing. Kevin has actually won the ball. It is nonsense to suggest anything otherwise.

"It was a fair challenge, a proper football challenge, and he was entitled to go for the ball. We did not try to intimidate Arsenal, that's a complete nonsense.''

Wenger will look on as Chelsea face Manchester United tomorrow and feels his side are in good shape to mount a title challenge.

He said: "It will be interesting again this year. I will watch the game tomorrow with a lot of curiosity. Chelsea have made a good start while you know Manchester United will soon wake up.

"I felt we were very close last year. We were four points behind Manchester United at end of last season and lost only three games.

"Out of those three games we were leading 1-0 with 20 minutes to go. We were really unlucky but we let's go from game to game. The desire is there and I believe in the quality of my team.''

Arsenal roared back with Emmanuel Eboue and Nicklas Bendtner scoring two goals in the space of two minutes to turn the game on its head before half time.

While Bolton continued to make a decent fist of it Denilson sealed the victory with three minutes to go.

Wenger added: "I thought it was a convincing, united, classy performance with strengths everywhere.

"We were strong mentally, physically and technically. It was a complete performance.

"Even in the second half when we needed to defend more we showed resilience. There are aspects of our game that make me think the team is maturing very quickly.

"We can always get better, that is the positive thing. We want to improve. As long as your attitude is right, you can go forward. We did not panic after going behind and that is the pleasing thing.