Anelka struck a goal in each half to give Bolton their first league victory in over a month of trying and the manner in which the goals where taken shows exactly why the Trotters shelled out a club record £8 million for his services just three months ago.

Bolton put on a performance similar to that of the corresponding fixture between these two clubs last season and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger must wonder what his side have to do to defeat one of their biggest bogey teams.

Of course, the Gunners may well look towards the absences of the likes of Thierry Henry, William Gallas and Tomas Rosicky to name but a few as they look for some answers, but there was no denying that Bolton where a team hungry to win, and not by long ball, bully boy tactics either.

The game started at a fast pace and Arsenal understandably wanted to get their front three forward line of Freddie Ljungberg, Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott on the ball.

Walcott picked the ball up on the right flank and probed his way into the Bolton penalty area before delivering an accurate low cross which Adebayor could not convert.

This missed opportunity later came back to haunt the Gunners as Bolton took the lead in the ninth minute when El-Hadji Diouf's inswinging corner from the left was headed home at the near post by midfielder Abdoulaye Faye for his first goal of the campaign.

It was somewhat ironic that Faye's only other goal in Bolton colours came when these two sides met in the corresponding Premiership fixture just under a year ago.

The Trotters looked to make their home advantage count and they had a large amount of possession in the opening period which lead to goalkeeper Jaaskelainen having little to do.

On 22 minutes the game livened up for all the wrong reasons when Bolton forward Kevin Davies was cautioned for shoving Emmanuel Eboue to the ground. Eboue had protested strongly after Davies had tackled him and this lead to a small melee between both sets of players.

Referee Mike Dean managed to restore order without any real fuss but the incident managed to add some extra spice to what is historically an entertaining fixture.

The extra added edge came at a price for Bolton as both Nicky Hunt and Quinton Fortune didn't reappear for the second half. Fortune, making his first appearance in over a month, pulled up in the far corner with a hamstring problem and Hunt never recovered fully from an earlier challenge by opposite number Freddie Ljungberg.

Shortly before the break though came the game's magical moment as Anelka netted his first Premiership goal in nearly two years against the club who gave him his big chance in the English game.

Kevin Davies switched the ball from right to left to pick out the Frenchman and he responded by cutting inside and lashing the ball past keeper Lehmann into the roof of the net from distance.

Arsenal responded with a goal of their own within a matter of seconds to reduce the arreas when Brazilian midfielder Gilberto Silva nodded home a cross from the edge of the area by teenager Cesc Fabregas.

The second period saw Arsenal come of the blocks fighting and the Gunners looked to take advantage of Bolton's makeshift back four which saw Tal Ben-Haim back in the unusual position of left back and midfielder Ivan Campo playing as an emergency right back

Young striker Walcott saw a lot of the ball down the Bolton left side and although his pace and trickery gave the hosts numerous problems he could not turn his possession into goals

The Gunners had the first clear cut chance of the closing half on 50 minutes when Fabregas was given time on the ball to test Jaaskelainen from a good twenty yards out.

Four minutes later an excellent pinpoint cross by Walcott was met by Ljungberg and his diving header was to come back off the Wanderers upright for the first of three Arsenal chances that where to hit the woodwork

With 25 minutes of the game to play substitute Campo was seemingly felled in the area by left back Gael Clichy but referee Dean waved away any appeals submitted by the former Real Madrid man

A free kick by Diouf from the left caused problems in the Arsenal area a few minutes later but goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was quick to parry the shot and the resulting follow up shot by the onrushing Anelka

Anelka made up for the chance by sealing the victory with just a quarter of an hour to play. An excellent diagonal ball by Campo was met by the forward and he comfortably placed the ball past Lehmann.

Arsenal hit the crossbar through Adebayor and Fabregas late on but without any success. This win will give Bolton a huge amount of confidence going into the midweek home game against Premiership holders Chelsea

Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt (Stelios Giannakopoulos), Tal Ben-Haim, Abdoulaye Meite, Quinton Fortune (Ivan Campo), Kevin Nolan, Abdoulaye Faye, Gary Speed, Kevin Davies, Nicolas Anelka, El-Hadji Diouf (Ricardo Vaz-Te)

Subs Not Used: Idan Tal, Ali Al-Habsi (GK)

Arsenal: Jens Lehmann, Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure, Philippe Senderos, Gael Clichy, Freddie Ljungberg (Alexander Hleb), Gilberto Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini (Julio Baptista), Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor

Subs Not Used: Johann Djourou, Justin Hoyte, Manuel Almunia (GK)

Referee:

Mike Dean

Attendance:

24,409

Booked:

Kevin Davies (Bolton)

Freddie Ljungberg (Arsenal)

Jens Lehmann (Arsenal)

Quinton Fortune (Bolton)

Ivan Campo (Bolton)

Philippe Senderos (Arsenal)

Kolo Toure (Arsenal)

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