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England Premier League

Blackburn Rovers 4 Arsenal 3: Same Old Failings Haunt the Gunners

Stewart Flaherty, September 20 2011,
The goodwill caused by Arsene Wenger’s deadline day spending spree did not last long after all.
Arsenal were despondent after defeat at Ewood Park.
Arsenal were despondent after defeat at Ewood Park.
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Related Articles: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Blackburn Rovers
Arsenal beat Swansea City 1-0 in the debut of Per Metersacker and Mikel Arteta. That was followed up by a 1-1 UEFA Champions League draw at the home of German Champions Borussia Dortmund.

It seemed Arsenal were back on course, and set to pile on the misery for Blackburn Rovers who had numerous problems of their own.

Blackburn were bottom of the Premier League, and hundreds of fans performed a protest march before the game to call for the departure of under pressure boss Steve Kean.

It seemed while Wenger was lifting the pressure off himself, he would pile the pressure on to the struggling Kean and hand Rovers yet another defeat.

That still seemed to be the case at half-time during the Premier clash between the two foes at Ewood Park.

Arsenal started strongly and took the lead when Gervinho collected Alex Song’s excellent trough ball and fired home. Yakubu equalized for Blackburn, but Mikel Arteta scored to give Arsenal a 2-1 halftime lead in a game they were dominating.

At that point, few people would have expected anything other than Wenger to continue his resurgence, and Blackburn to continue their struggle. However, 45 minutes later things looked very different for both teams.

Steve Kean managed to silence the protestors and lift some off the pressure of himself. Wenger will have to endure more criticism for not only the defeat, but the manner of the goals conceded.

The signing of giant German center back Per Metersacker, and improved form of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was supposed to make Arsenal less vulnerable at set pieces, and increase their ability to hold onto leads. Clearly that is not yet the case, and more work needs to be done.

Arsenal gave up an equalizer early in the second half when Alex Song turned Ruben Rochina’s free kick into his own net with no Blackburn players near him. Nine minutes later, bustling striker Yakubu turned home a Steven Nzonzi shot to put Rovers in front.

Rovers turned up the pressure and took a 4-2 lead when Martin Olsson’s teasing cross was bundled into his own goal by Laurent Koscielny.

Marouane Chamakh headed home a Robin van Persie cross late on, but it was too little too late for the Gunners.

Arsene Wenger cited a lack of confidence caused by defeat at Mancheter United for the result, that seemed strange seeing as Blackburn were winless themselves and surely struggling for belief also.

Two own goals conceded and three from set pieces means the same old frailty haunts the Gunners and makes a challenge for the Premier League title highly unlikely this season.

Indeed, Arsenal may want to focus on Tuesday’s clash against Shrewsbury in the Carling Cup as they bid to end their trophy drought.

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