Rovers only lost 3 at home last season so this was always going to be a tough one.
The usual time-wasting and towelled long throws from Pedersen, long pumped free kicks from their own half, a fair number of long punts and all the usual leave your foot in tackles. But the boys were not intimidated, gave as good as they got and never looked at all shaky in the air. Laurent Koscienly must have found the whole thing rather alien but stuck to his task well for most of the match. Two 80-yard balls down the middle set the tone for them, as did a goal-bound shot from Andrey that hit a defender and could have gone anywhere for us.
After ten minutes Blackburn's only ploy had been long throws or pumped free-kicks, but they had seen Cesc head off the line from Nelson. Another half decent header saw Almunia save. Manuel had a good game throughout with just the one punched ball which wasn't cleared as well as he'd have liked. Cesc to Theo with an almost ball, then Blackburn caught offside on the break. Samba headed over from a corner. Arshavin with a shot blocked. Song to Arshavin to Robin who laid it on for Theo to hit a well paced powerful low drive beyond Robinson at the far post. 0-1 Arsenal, a great goal and one, which as was discovered later, actually broke the netting.
Arsenal remained on top for most of the match after this but despite our quality possession Blackburn were not without their chances and we still had plenty to do at both ends. Samba did well for Blackburn before finding the despicable Diouf wide left. With Sagna stranded upfield Diouf out-muscled Koscielny on the run before crossing to his namesake Biram Diouf who netted the equaliser. 1-1. Robin down injured in his 200th game for Arsenal and holding a heavily strapped ankle, he came back but not for too long before being replaced by Chamakh.
A quick free kick was well on its way upfield for Arsenal when referee Foy pulled play back because Pedersen was down in our box with what was clearly not a head injury, having taken one in the cods from Koscielny. A poor decision with a good advantage lost. We were giving away too many loose balls in midfield but possession stats still pointed to 58% for the good guys. Blackburn's sting lessened as the half progressed and it was only when awarded free kicks, as they laughably were when Kalinic backed into the Verminator, that they had chances. On this particular occasion Pedersen shot straight at our wall. Long throws were also still dangerous but less worrying than on past occasions at Ewood Park. It should perhaps be mentioned that despite leaving the grass long in a crude attempt to minimise our flowing football we were clearly the better team, even though the scores were level at the break.
The second half saw us even more dominant despite Cesc still playing as if in a pre-season match. But Fabregas improved as the match went on and almost seemed to be gaining fitness during the game. Pedersen had a long shot off target. A decent Sagna cross saw Cesc's shot cannon off Theo to block a possible goal-bound chance. But the ball fell to Andrey who picked his spot well through a crowd of players. 1-2 Arsenal, and from then on in I thought we looked pretty comfortable.
Diouf with a wild shot. Cesc set up Chamakh who saw his effort deflected. Kalinic shot over following sloppy play from Vermaelen. Dunn replaced Grella. Song looking powerful, Theo looking sharp for the watching Capello. Diaby beginning to show his true worth. Chamakh strong in the air and Arshavin looking even fitter than last week. Some great play by Diaby but his shot was well over. More attacking play followed from Arsenal as Kalinic was replaced by Olsson(?). An Arshavin solo in their box. Chamakh showed his strength by holding off some fouls and playing through them. An Arshavin backheel was backheeled over by Koscienly following an Arsenal corner. Cesc replaced by Rosicky and the armband went to our keeper. Doh!
The second half stats were showing our possession to be well in excess of 65%. Givet carded for clinging onto Walcott's shorts. Great saving clearance from Sagna as he covered around the back of our central pairing. Almunia out well to clear beyond his area. Biram Diouf replaced by N'Zonzi. More long throws before Salgano fired over on the stretch. Wilshere replaced Arshavin late on. Samba offside as Rovers got desperate for an equaliser. Rosicky shot well over following a Walcott break. In injury time Wilshere should have scored our third when he was set up while well open, but he slipped as he shot. Good play by Chamakh and Walcott had set Jack up.
A hoof by Robinson ended the game pretty well much as it had begun. Ironically Rovers goal had come from a well-worked move rather than an up and under. But Arsenal matched them in the air today, never panicked at the back and maintained control for most of the match. Four points away to Pool and Rovers is a fairly reasonable start from our opening pair of away games. We're not quite firing on all cylinders just yet but we're looking like contenders and have quite a few players beginning to look the part.
Pick the bones out of that one Hansen!