In the 2006-7 season Blackburn came to the Grove and scored in the third minute. Arsenal went on to win the game 6-2.

Yesterday Blackburn scored in the fourth minute and the result was exactly the same. I don't think it'd be unfair to say Arsenal might have scored more too, in what was probably their best attacking display of the season. Cesc Fabregas was the Catalan Midas, everything he touched turned to goal. His performance was simply outstanding, following on from a great display against Olympiacos he put in the kind of shift which shows why this Arsenal team needs to built around him.

It comes on the back of a couple of relatively poor performances at the start of the season. Those who speculated his imminent departure to Barcelona was little more than a formality because he didn't smile when scoring a meaningless icing on the icing on the cake goal against Wigan were eating humble pie when he spoke after the game. The captain said:

There’s always speculation I don't like it here but I am committed to this club 100 per cent. It’s my seventh season and it’s hard to hear people say they think I’m not committed enough. It was a good time to show them I really love this club.

He kissed the badge and I liked it. He can kiss whatever he wants when he plays like that because it was as complete a midfield performance as you're ever likely to see.

After Blackburn's early goal, a flukey header from Nzonzi which caught Mannone a bit flat-footed, we got back into it. Thomas Vermaelen surged forward, got knocked over, got up, kept going and when he received a pass from Cesc he cut inside and let fly with that left foot of his to make it 1-1. The Belgian has made such an impact in such a short time and remains our leading scorer.

Arsenal began to test Paul Robinson knowing full well how much he likes to concede goals against Arsenal. We all know the record, it's something like 56 goals in the last 16 games, after yesterday it's 14 in the last 3, but it was Blackburn who scored next. We were caught on the break after a Diouf ball out of defence, Spacehopper head Dunn got it at the far post and his shot took a deflection off Gallas which wrong footed Mannone and Blackburn were ahead. 

The lead only lasted three minutes though. Again Cesc was the architect. Picking up a pass from Diaby he slid the perfect ball through to Robin van Persie who slammed it home with his left foot. Three minutes later we were in front, after the ball broke to him Cesc played a very similar pass to put Andrei Arshavin through and the Russian finished with his left foot. Three goals, three left footed strikes and at half-time it was 3-2. 

The second half began very strangely I thought. It was like we were playing in slow motion. There was one bizarre moment when about three of our players were standing around the ball in our area hacking away it yet not clearing it and Blackburn can feel rightly aggrieved they weren't awarded a penalty when Spacehopper head was taken down by Thomas Vermaelen. The ref waved play on and afterwards Walrusdyce was less than impressed calling it a 'turning point'. He also claimed Vermaelen should have had a red card which is ridiculous. Yes it was a penalty but no more than that. He might stop to consider the turning point was the moment when he brought Spacehopper head off as he was clearly their best and most dangerous player on the day.

Anyway, even if it had been awarded you can be sure Arsenal would have won the game. The attacking play we produced was scintillating. Tomas Rosicky fired one just wide and he's getting better and better with every game. Robin van Persie might have had a second when Cesc's pinpoint ball over the Blackburn defence found him right in front of goal but he couldn't connect after controlling it. 

It was only right that Cesc got on the scoresheet and when Rosicky lobbed a ball back over his head the Blackburn defence stood off and Cesc guided a beautiful volley into the top corner with his left foot. No less than he deserved and it was a sublime finish, despite what David Platt said on Sky. 

In the 69th minute the manager brought on Theo Walcott for his first appearance of the season. Within a couple of minutes we'd scored. With Blackburn pressuring Gallas cleared to Cesc, he got it to Arshavin, who took the ball from our half, drove into theirs, played it square to Cesc who had continued his run, he touched it to Theo who finished first time into the bottom corner. A brilliant counter-attacking goal, started by Cesc, who kept going to provide the assist. The finish from Theo was mature as well and it bodes well.

Aaron Ramsey and Nicklas Bendtner came on for Cesc and Arshavin and it was the big Dane who got the sixth. Cutting in from the left he ran across goal and let fly with a rocket of a shot that went in off the post. After the week he's had it was good to see him finish it in that kind of style. There were other chances too, Theo had one glorious opportunity, Diaby put one just wide with his left foot and I'm sure I'm forgetting others. 

Blackburn had their moments it has to be said, hitting the post, but you just got the feeling that whatever they did (that didn't consist of Robinson hoofing long balls into our box), we were capable of ten times more. A truly outstanding attacking performance. Yes, there were some scary moments at the back and perhaps they warrant discussion but that can wait. We've got a whole Interlull to fill, don't forget. 

You do get the feeling though that if we can get a better grip on things defensively we'll be in clover because this is a team that when it clicks going forward is capable of scoring against anyone. We've now got 24 goals in 7 league games. In all competitions we've scored 36. And the way the goals are being shared around the team is hugely encouraging. We're not reliant on one or two players to get them. That we had six different scorers yesterday tells the story. It's brilliant stuff to watch but without trying to bring anybody down I'd like to see us a bit tighter at the back. 

However, let us not dwell on that. Sam Allardyce came to town and got spanked and that is a rather fine way to begin any week. Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:

When we are confident we have a flow that looks like the goals could come at any moment from anywhere. There are some strengths coming out of this team and we have to add some discipline defensively because we struggled a little bit defensively today. We looked always like we know we will score goals

And on Cesc:

A team goes always naturally through its strong points, the way of the game. So it goes, therefore, through Fabregas.

And it bears repeating how important this young man is to this Arsenal side. The new formation is certainly allowing him the freedom to show what he can do as the playmaker in this side. Like many others I felt he was wasted last season being asked to play, at times, as a second striker. Yesterday showed what he's capable of when we're set up like this. Four assists, one goal and let's not forget the two headers at the back post he might have scored from. 

What's also clear is that he has, this season, better options than last. You can be as good as you want but if you don't have players ahead of you whose movement and ability allows you to make the passes then you're going to struggle. Arshavin and Rosicky are both such clever players, always moving, making space for themselves or others to receive it, and I think Robin van Persie is getting to grips with the centre-forward position now. We've seen the progress he's made in the last few games. Not only because he's getting on the scoresheet but some of his touches in and around the box were fantastic. One backheeled pass to Bendtner to create a great chance the pick of the bunch.

So, overall lots to be happy about. We sit 4th in the table, winning our game in hand would leave us a point off United and three off leaders Chelsea so things are looking a lot healthier than they were after the defeat at Man City. 

Sadly though we're now heading into another Interlull. Our next game isn't until Saturday week, Birmingham at home, so until then we have to keep our fingers crossed that none of the lads get crocked whilst away with their countries. Theo Walcott has rather surprisingly not been called up the England squad while Robin van Persie won't play for Holland on Saturday as Mrs v P is about to have a little v P. He may return for their midweek game, if they have one, I suppose.

And that'll be about that. Have a good one.

Morning all,

it's Blackburn today and if Blackburn were never my favourite team before - the fact that they're now managed by that Walrus looking cunt Allardyce has definitely secured their status as one of the top 19 Premier League teams that I hate.

We know old Walrus's teams like the physical approach and with their 8'7 centre-half promising more of the same today it could well be a bit of a battle. And with their El Hadji Diouf it will surely be a complete cuntfest. I would very much enjoy seeing him get a red card today. Or, if that wasn't possible, shot in the back with a laser cannon. I'm easy.

Although I'd like to see Tomas Rosicky play today I think the manager will take into account Blackburn's pack of cloggers and go with Diaby in midfield instead. So I think we'll line up like this:

Mannone - Sagna - Gallas - Vermaelen - Clichy - Song - Cesc - Diaby - Arshavin - RVP - Bendtner

With Eduardo out for a couple of weeks our attacking options on the bench are two young men who both need to start making a bigger impact this season. Firstly, Theo Walcott. Of him the boss says:

I believe that he is not considered anymore like a youth player. He is considered a senior player, so it is a big season for him as he wants to win. I believe it is very simple - great players make their clubs win. So of course it is important.

And it's all there in front of him. He's got the profile, the Nike ad, the reputation, but I don't think it's unfair to say we haven't seen the performances on a consistent basis. Obviously today is his first game back this season so he needs time to find his form, to find his touch, but there's no doubt this is a big season for him.

On the other hand we have Carlos Vela who, Carling Cup apart, hasn't made any kind of impact at all on the first team. There's no doubting his ability, he's got great pace, fantastic finishing, lovely skills, but he's no longer a teenager either. He's got to make a step up this season as well. 

In both their favours I think the new 4-3-3 suits them down to the ground so fingers crossed they can start realising their potential. A goal each from the bench today to make Fat Sam blow his gasket would be a nice start.

Whatever happens we've got to stand up to Blackburn's physical threat. If we do that I think we'll have too much for them when it comes to actual football.

The rest of the Sunday papers are full of transfer rubbish. There's a lot of talk about Patrick Vieira coming in January. As others have pointed out the story about him being on the brink of signing just before the transfer window closed is nonsense but The Mail links us with him and Bolton's centre-half Gary Cahill. What is interesting are the whispers already that January might be a busy month for us.

The Sunday Mirror says Stan Kroenke will continue to buy shares but will stop before reaching the 29.9% mark which would require him to make a formal takeover offer.

The News of the World has a piece on Arsene Wenger's legacy. I assume they've cogged this from elsewhere as that's what they usually do. Some interesting quotes from the boss though.

And that's about that. Here's to a performance and three points today, laser cannons, an exploding walrus and more.

Till tomorrow.

Yesterday I said of Blackburn Rovers:

... they can't be written off as just a bunch of cloggers ...

I would just like to apologise to everyone for being so very, very wrong. They are cloggers. And filthy ones at that.

Arsenal's 4-0 win yesterday came in the face of the most deliberate attempts to stop us playing football I I've seen in a long time. While teams have come and set themselves out to stop us scoring, to try and stop us actually playing says so much about Sam Allardyce.

Allardyce's first tactic is to prevent other teams from playing, he is the master of anti-football. We all like a team that gets stuck in, nobody can complain if a game is physical because football is a physical game, but Blackburn were filthy yesterday.

Maybe it's just me but there seemed to be a deliberate tactic to go for the ankles/achilles of Arsenal players. Theo Walcott should have had a penalty when Warnock stood on the back of his foot, Jason Roberts took Kolo's boot off with the same kind of foul and Andrei Arshavin needed four stitches in his ankle at half time. Coincidence? No chance. Scumbags? Yes.

Then there was the cynical blocking, grabbing, shirt pulling to stop our attacks taking place. When Arsenal had the ball they didn't so much want the ball back as to prevent us doing anything with it.

Morten Gamst Pedersen should be banned retrospectively for the worst dive I've seen in years. Truly and utterly pathetic. The ref saw it and did nothing. He bottled it. The FA should be able to hand out some kind of punishment. They have the perfect opportunity to issue a deterrent to other players, but they won't.

And the ref bottled the big decision of the day when El Hadji Diouf tried to break Manuel Almunia's leg  - clip here. Each time I see it, it gets worse. He went around Kolo, dived in and caught Manuel above the ankle on his standing foot. It was deliberate, there was no intent to do anything but play the man, the ball had long gone, and we're lucky we didn't see another Eduardo yesterday.

The ref should have given him a red card and I will never understand how he got away with just a yellow. It was an utterly disgraceful challenge from an utterly contemptible footballer. Again this should be looked at because it was the kind of tackle that could seriously injure a fellow player. And it was deliberately designed to hurt. That it didn't cause serious injury is a blessing, that serious injury didn't occur does not mean he should get away with just a yellow card.

Again there's a fantastic opportunity to set precedent. To show scumbags like Diouf that a challenge like that is unacceptable, that it will be punished and punished severely. Once again the FA will bottle it and it's no surprise that there's been no condemnation from Allardyce. He sends his players out to get 'stuck in', always has done when facing Arsenal, so if Diouf was acting under orders I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe he got a bit carried away, what with being a disgusting excuse for a person, but ultimately it's a manager's job to control his players.

The result leaves Blackburn just a point above the relegation zone and for me there would be no greater karma than to see them go down this season. I would relish that. I would laugh my head off because it's no less than they, their disgraceful manager and their poxy fans deserve.

Now that I've got that out of my system let's look at the positives from an Arsenal point of view. A post Champions League 4-0 win is not to be sniffed at, neither is the fact that the four goals yesterday took the tally that Paul Robinson has conceded against Arsenal to 50 (cheers, Ally). Hahaha. 50 goals. Can we, as they say, play you every week?

The first was an own goal after a Theo Walcott cross. It looked as if the Owl had scored his first Arsenal goal but that would have to wait. There was enough of a delay between the first and the second goals for some measure of impatience to grow amongst the fans.

Not least because Nicklas Bendtner didn't have his shooting boots on. And that's a bit of an understatement. He had enough chances to score a hat-trick but in front of goal he was a bit of disaster yesterday. I felt kind of sorry for him, I have to say. Overall I thought he played very well, he was involved in the first goal, but he's obviously severely lacking in confidence when it comes to his finishing.

Let's not forget just 10 days ago though he scored two against West Brom so he is capable. You just feel like he needs a goal or two at home to get his head right because he's obviously aware of the groans of the crowd when another chance goes begging.

And to see what confidence can do to a player look no further than Emmanuel Eboue. He scored two yesterday. The first a tap in after an Arshavin shot was saved (really not sure about the dancing though), and he grabbed the ball for the penalty when Vela was fouled and finished with aplomb. There are those who said he shouldn't have taken it but once the ball goes in it doesn't really matter. Three goals in two games for Eboue. Magical-reverso land again. We're obviously sprinkling something new on his cornflakes.

In the middle of all that though was Andrei Arshavin's first goal for the club and what a goal it was too. Skinning the defender in the box he finished into the roof of the net from the tightest of angles, leaving Paul Robinson on his big, fat arse. A fantastic finish and he's showing why we spent that kind of money on him. He was dangerous and creative all day long.

And overall it was a good performance from us, Alex Song had another good game in midfield, we tore Blackburn apart at times and we were solid at the back when needed. Almunia made a couple of good saves but Blackburn didn't really threaten. It was what you might call a good day at the office.

Arsenalist has the goals and highlights.

So 4-0, which could have easily been 8-0, triumph in the face of filthy Blackburn and their wicked ways, we're up into fourth place, the pressure's now on Villa to get a result against Sp*rs and everything in the garden's looking quite a bit rosier.

I've got a Sunday of more digging ahead but the sun is shining, the Arsenal have won, I'm going to have big bacon sandwich, so it's all good. Enjoy the Sunday, Arsers.

Morning all, a big, big game on the agenda today.

Roma is now done and dusted. It was prestigious, it was glamorous, but it's time to swap the Spaghetti alle Vongole for the bread and butter of the league. A win today against Blackburn would, temporarily at least, see us move back into the top four.

Villa play Sp*rs tomorrow and I think it's the first time in over 6 weeks that we play before them. So it's a chance to put a bit of pressure on Martin O'Neill's side.

There's not much in the way of team news. Eduardo is out as we know, apart from that everyone from the Roma trip is fit and available although Arsene Wenger said there were some tired muscles (pronounced muskels, heh).

Even with the best teams we had winning games after a Champions League game in midweek always provided a bit of an extra challenge so I'm not expecting an easy game at all today. The manager says he expects Blackburn to come and try and frustrate us and we know well how Allardyce's teams operate. They'll be tight at the back, get plenty of men behind the ball and be as physical a side as we've faced all season.

So we've got to try and find a way through as well as giving as good as we get in the tackle. They've got some dangerous players too, they can't be written off as just a bunch of cloggers because in Roque Santa Cruz, Benny McCarthy (heh, Benny), David Dunn (the man with the largest head in the world) and Jason Roberts they have players who can score goals. You'd expect them to be particularly strong from set-pieces so we're going to have to be on our toes.

We need to ensure that the importance of the game is hammered home to the players. There should be no lack of motivation here. Roma was a fantastic result, well done, but it's over and the most important game is always the next game.

Andrei Arshavin is 6-1 for first goalscorer, I might just have a little punt on that.

In the light of the unshocking revelation that Kolo Toure and William Gallas don't get on, the manager said players don't need to be friends to play football together. At his pre-game press conference he said:

To be professional is to do what it takes for your team to be successful, no more than that. It does not mean that you go to paradise together. The most important thing is the big players respect the game. They put that respect for the game at a higher level than any other situation - if the game needs me to give you the ball now, even if I do not like you, then I give you the ball.

Which is exactly what you'd expect him to say but you just have to wonder about the whole situation from a long term point of view. To have two of the senior players at the club be so publicly at odds with each other isn't a healthy situation.

Every time something happens at the centre of defence people will point fingers and ask questions. Even when playing with guys you do like 'discussions' about mistakes or goals conceded can get quite fraught so when you have two players who obviously don't get on then that can escalate or get blown out of proportion.

For now, with both of them playing better than they were, the right thing to say is that you don't have to be friends, but come next August I would be very, very surprised of one of them hadn't gone elsewhere during the summer.

Meanwhile Kolo talks about the penalty shoot-out and what lies ahead for the rest of the season. 

The manager revealed that both Adebayor, and more importantly, Cesc, would be fit and available for selection after the international break. After today's game we have Hull on St Patrick's Day, then Newcastle on the Saturday, then an international break. We return with a home game against Man City and the captain could be back for that, which would be fantastic.

Right, that's yer lot. I've got to go coz some bloke is coming to dig up my garden. I found a treasure map, see, and we're after ... well ... we're just digging it up a bit.

Up the Arse today! More tomorrow. 

Well that was a nice way to get things going again, eh?

Blackburn away is never easy, it wasn't easy yesterday, but we spanked home 4 goals meaning in the last 3 games we've scored 11 and conceded none. It's good preparation for the midweek trip to the Ukraine and we didn't suffer any kind of Interlull hangover which we are prone to now and again.

We started very brightly in the face of a physical Blackburn team. Their lad Andrews was very lucky to stay on the pitch, I thought, after a shocking raking tackle down van Persie's ankle and a studs-up tackle on Cesc. He was obviously told to put himself about by Paul Ince but Mike Dean's refereeing was weak and the bloke didn't even get a yellow card. When you add the challenge on Eboue to the mix that's three very bad tackles on our players since the start of the season and not one of them was punished. Typically the cretinous Blackburn fans started singing 'Same old Arsenal, always cheating'.

Nevertheless we went in at half time two goals up. The first from van Persie after nice work from Walcott and right on the stroke of half-time Adebayor headed in a Denilson cross. Robin might have had a couple more in the first half and had Adebayor decided he'd even try to stay onside he might have too. All the same Blackburn looked dangerous when they came forward. Pedersen and Emerton whipped in a series of crosses from either side which had our central defence panicking. It was slightly worrying, I have to say. You always felt we could score more than them if they did get one but a better team would have taken those chances. Something to work on at the training ground.

We coped better in the second half though and beyond one very good save late on from Benni McCarthy, Almunia was relatively untroubled. I know the Spaniard has his critics but that he was alert when needed is a good sign. And keeping clean sheets behind a central defensive pairing that really doesn't quite work is good going.

Ally on the Arseblog forums worked out that in 14 games against Paul Robinson we have scored a total of 46 goals. Incredible. It was something the 'holic pointed out in the Arsecast on Friday and it was no surprise to see another couple go in. He made a decent save from a very good Eboue shot but could do nothing about the third, a penalty won by a ridiculous Eboue dive, and the fourth when fine play from Ramsey put Adebayor clean through for his perfect hat-trick (header, right foot, left foot). Typically the Arsenal fans started singing 'Same old Arsenal, taking the piss'.

A word about Eboue. He had his best game in a very long time yesterday. He looked good offensively, made good decisions in the final third, but then managed to injure himself diving for the penalty. Just classic Eboue, I suppose. He, Clichy and Nasri are all doubts for the Champions League game on Wednesday.

Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:

I am happy we didn't concede and that we always looked fluid going forward. It was a well-accomplished away game.

And the result was all important yesterday. There are definitely things we need to look at from a defensive point of view but going forward we look dangerous all the time. Walcott is playing with more confidence, Eboue is/was contributing, van Persie got another goal and Adebayor, despite having what I thought was a pretty poor game, ended up with three. In midfield I thought Cesc was quiet but he has such presence it calms the team and Denilson put in another good shift alongside him. There are plenty of positives to take from it.

And not only did we win the game, handsomely, history was made when Jack Wilshere became the youngest ever player to play for Arsenal in the league when he came on as a sub with about ten minutes to go. Cesc still holds the overall record, his appearance in the Carling Cup, but well done to young Jack and may it be the first of many.

It's good to have football back, isn't it? It makes the Sunday papers so much more enjoyable. Now we just regroup and get ourselves ready for Dinamo Kiev.

Till tomorrow.

I wish you all a happy and *boilk* free Saturday in the vain hope that the universe will reward my good wises and thoughts and render me free of the *boilk* which is *boilking* the shite out of me. Not literally though. Well, not yet, at least.

Still, at least there's football today to help me through. I was expecting a whole lot more team news but I can't seem to find any beyond what we knew yesterday. At least the team will be a bit of a surprise then. We have to wait and see about Nasri and the thinking about Threeo is that he'll probably start on the bench after playing two games in a week for England. 

The boss has been talking about Theo again, revealing he knew he wanted to sign him after seeing him play against us in the FA Youth Cup. Apparently we'd sent scouts to watch him more than 50 times. Which must be boring as fuck for a scout.

'What have you got lined up for me today, boss?'

'Go to Southampton and report back on Theo-'

'Walcott, yeah yeah. I know'. 

Back to today though and it's traditionally a tricky fixture. The tired old media lines about how Arsenal don't like travelling to the north-west will be spewed out again but Blackburn are a tough, physical side. As well as that this is the first time that Paul Ince will have faced one of the top clubs in his short Premier League management career and he'll be desperate to show he's got what it takes. I expect a very motivated Blackburn side today and we're going to have to be 100% focussed with no international hangover if we want the three points.

I think we've got the quality to do it, we have Robin van Persie who loves scoring against Blackburn, and we know that we don't want to be playing catch-up this early in the season. Three points an absolute must today, especially in light of the lack of transfer activity. Things have calmed down a lot and as I've been saying good performances and good results will keep things that way. 

Speaking of Robin van Persie he has ruled out any move to Moneybags City and reveals that the manager did try to bring in a certain player but the price being asked was too high. I think we all know who that was but it's interesting to hear it from one of the players. 

I know you know this already, what with Arseblog having exclusively given you the news yesterday, but here's confirmation that Mineiro took part in a behind closed doors friendly at the training ground this week.

There was some bad news about Tomas Rosicky as well. His return had been earmarked for the middle of this month but it seems he's as far away as ever. The Czech national coach, Petr Rada, says:

Tomas has started another stage of recovery, including training with the ball. But recently his knee reacted badly to that.

While Rosicky's agent says:

Without the permission of Arsenal I am not allowed to be more specific on Tomas' health.

The injury he suffered was very serious and very, very rare, I'm told, so nobody really knows how to estimate the recovery period for it. However, at this stage I think I would be surprised if we saw Rosicky in an Arsenal shirt again. I think we need to plan for life without him and if he does make it back then it's a nice bonus. Fingers crossed he can beat this though.

And that's really about it. The game is on TV over here today, which is most excellent. Here's to the three points, talk to you tomorrow.