Arsenal 1 - 0 Bolton.
On a very cold afternoon at the Emirates Stadium Arsenal dominated the stat sheet but only managed to win the match with a goal in the 84th minute by substitute Nicklas Bendtner.
It was so freezing cold throughout England that over twenty football matches were postponed due to frozen pitches including Portsmouth v Manchester City and Fulham v Blackburn in the Premier League. Most players in the Arsenal v Bolton match wore long sleeve shirts and gloves.
It did not take the Gunners a long time to get warmed up in the cold weather. Match play was about even for the first five minutes or so but then Arsenal came to dominate possession of the ball. Furthermore most of that possession was in the Bolton half of the pitch but this came to naught as the first half ended. Arsenal went into the break goalless with just one shot on target out of eight shots taken despite time of possession of 79%. Bolton did not have a single shot at goal in the first half so the score at half-time was nil-nil.
The second half picked up right were he first half ended. The Gunners continued to dominate possession and seemed to be getting better scoring chances. Nicklas Bendtner entered the game in the 75th minute as a substitute for Emmanuel Eboué. Nine minutes later Bendtner scored on a cross from Robin van Persie. Bendtner got a foot on the ball just as he was falling to the ground with a defender on him, the low shot got by the goalkeeper for what turned out to be the lone goal of the match. The goal seemed to wake up Bolton who then had several decent chances in the remaining time.
Arsenal needed this win just to maintain their position in the league table, currently they are in fifth place. Next Saturday the Gunners travel to play Hull City.