Gunners rally for impropable win Sunday, March 30, 2008
Arsenal kept its title hopes very much alive on Saturday as the Gunners rallied from two goals down with 10 men to score an impressive 3-2 win over Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.
Matthew Taylor scored twice in the first half for Bolton and Abou Diaby was sent off in the 30th minute for Arsenal. However, the Gunners responded with three goals in the second half, including an own goal in the 90th minute, to steal all three points and move two clear of Chelsea in second place ahead of the Blues' match on Sunday with Middlesbrough.
The first half could not have gone any better for the home side, but they sat back and allowed Arsenal to bring the game to them, a mistake they would pay for.
William Gallas got Arsenal on the scoreboard in the 62nd minute when he got to a corner kick at the back post and knocked the ball home from close range to make it 2-1.
Things got worse for Bolton six minutes later when Gary Cahill was called for a trip inside his own box on Arsenal's Alexander Hleb. Robin van Persie then stepped to the spot and sent Bolton keeper Ali Al Habsi the wrong way to level the match.
Bolton seemed content to settle for a draw and showed little in attack, but Arsenal got a bit of luck in the 90th minute to take the maximum points back to London.
After Van Persie missed a pair of good chances to put Arsenal in front, a cross from Hleb was poked towards the far post by Francesc Fabregas. The ball was headed well wide but it took a deflection off of one Bolton defender before hitting Bolton's Jlloyd Samuel and ending up in the back of the net.
It was a terrible break for Bolton, who now sit four points from safety, while Arsenal can still count itself very much in the title race.
League-leaders Manchester United remained six points ahead of Arsenal after putting on a show in a 4-0 win against Aston Villa. Cristiano Ronaldo was in brilliant form with a goal and three assists while Wayne Rooney bagged a pair of goals himself.
The relegation battle took another turn on Saturday as strugglers Birmingham and Sunderland both secured three huge points with wins.
Birmingham got two goals from Mauro Matias Zarate to beat Manchester City 3-1, helping them go four points clear of the drop zone, while Sunderland now looks all but safe after beating West Ham 2-1 on a stoppage time goal from Andy Reid.
The win moves the Black Cats all the way up to 13th, while Reading climbed to 14th after earning a 0-0 draw against Blackburn.
Derby will officially be relegated at the end of season, but they hurt Fulham's hopes of survival on Saturday as Emanuel Villa scored twice to earn the Rams a 2-2 draw. Fulham is now six points from safety with just six games to play.
Jermain Defoe scored a pair of goals in Portsmouth's 2-0 win over Wigan in Saturday's other match to help Pompey close the gap on fifth-place Everton.
