By Alex Kirkland

Forget Old Trafford, Anfield or Stamford Bridge. There’s only one ground Arsenal fans truly fear, and it’s just off the M61. For the fourth time in five visits, Bolton beat the Gunners at the Reebok, in what could be the defeat that ended our hopes of challenging Manchester United and Chelsea for the Premiership title.

Nicolas Anelka’s two cracking strikes put the game beyond Arsenal, after Gilberto had equalised Aboudalaye Faye’s opening goal. Arsenal were denied by the woodwork three times in that second period, but couldn’t make the breakthrough.

It’s been a topsy-turvy November for Gooners, with fantastic victories against Hamburg and Liverpool interspersed with another disappointing home draw, this time with Newcastle, and the loss away at West Ham. The next two weeks, with Spurs and Chelsea on the horizon, may well decide our season for better or worse.

For this fixture, injuries had robbed Arsenal of four first-teamers in Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie, Tomas Rosicky and William Gallas, which meant Phillipe Senderos again partnered Kolo Toure at the back, Emmanuel Adebayor played up front, and Theo Walcott got a Premiership start for the first time away from the Emirates. Arsene Wenger tried to add some bite to the midfield by playing Gilberto, Flamini and Freddie Ljungberg, with Alex Hleb dropping to the bench.

Arsenal needed a good start, and Walcott came close to providing it, playing a great cross in to Adebayor, whose weak shot was easily collected by Jussi Jaaskelainen. Nicky Hunt almost put the Gunners ahead soon after when his sliced clearance just evaded the Bolton goal. But then disaster struck. A corner by El-Hadji Diouf, a powerful header by the unmarked Faye - 1-0 to Bolton. Wanderers are always a threat from set-pieces - so why was one of their tallest players given the freedom of our six-yard box?

The game got scrappy, and Arsenal seemed on the verge of losing their heads, Ljungberg and Lehmann both being booked for talking back to referee Mike Dean. At this stage Bolton might have gone down to ten men – many referees would have sent off Kevin Davies for pushing Emmanuel Eboue – and the game might have swung back in our favour. But it wasn’t to be.

Shortly before half time, things went from bad to worse. Anelka had the ball on the left and there seemed to be little danger from a man who had yet to score for Bolton since his return to the Premiership. However he turned, made some space and struck a powerful shot past Lehmann into the top corner – a strike reminiscent of his goal for Arsenal against Manchester United at Highbury back in 1997.

And yet minutes later, hope was restored when Cesc Fabregas crossed from the right for stand-in skipper Gilberto to head home. Half time brought a welcome respite, and the prospect of another famous Arsenal comeback in the second half.

Sadly, it was not to be, despite a rally from the visitors. Walcott was showing exactly why he’s rated the best young prospect in English football, crossing first for Ljungberg to head against the woodwork, and then for Kolo Toure to shoot just over the bar. But the breakthrough refused to come, and Arsenal only stayed in the game thanks to a brilliant save by Lehmann to deny Anelka.

Minutes later all this was irrelevant as Anelka won the game for Bolton, slotting Ivan Campo’s pass beyond the German number one. He might have been offside; he might have been just level. Either way, the goal meant there was no way back for Arsenal, although Adebayor and Fabregas both struck the post late on.

So there it is: another trip to the Reebok, another crushing defeat. But there are positives to take from this loss. Gooners should take comfort from the fact that we are playing well, and creating chances, despite the absence of key players. Looking at the second half in particular, we were unfortunate to come away without at least a point.

Then again, we can only continue playing well and failing to win for so long before serious questions begin to be asked. Whether the frailty in this Arsenal team is down to a lack of physical power, mental strength or quality finishing is hard to say. Whatever the root cause, we’re dropping points left, right and centre, and another struggle for fourth place beckons if Arsene can’t get us back on track.

One saving grace is that there’s only a four-day wait until our next Premiership game at Fulham. A win in style would restore confidence in time for the North London derby next weekend, and the vital trip to Porto a few days later.

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