Caretaker Manager Archie Knox decided to reinstate captain Kevin Nolan to the Bolton line up with this being the only change from the side which lost to Chelsea a fortnight ago.

Top scorer Nicolas Anelka was the player who Nolan came in for with the Frenchman unable to face his former club due to picking up an injury on international duty.

Arsenal deserved their victory in the end but the Trotters put in a battling and organised performance that will give them some hope in the weeks that lie ahead.

Wanderers are now bottom of the Premier League due to Derby County's draw with Fulham whilst Arsenal extend their unbeaten start to the season which has seen them at their strongest since the 2003-2004 campaign.

The hosts got forward well and the likes of Emmanuel Eboue and Aleksander Hleb troubled Bolton down the flanks on numerous occasions.

Hleb nearly got in the first shot of the game on eight minutes with Wanderers having centre half Andy O'Brien to thank for taking the ball away from the Belarus international following Emmanuel Adebayor's cross.

Adebayor then got a head onto a cross from full back Bacary Sagna but fortunately for Bolton the giant African failed to trouble keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Gunners summer signing Eduardo da Silva blazed over from distance and on 20 minutes the game threatened to boil over when referee Mike Riley booked Bolton's Gavin McCann for a challenge on Sagna.

A few players got involved in the incident unneccesarily and the culmination was that El-Hadji Diouf of the away side and Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas where cautioned.

McCann and Kevin Davies showed their defensive mettle after the half hour mark. Former Aston Villa midfielder McCann threw himself in the way of Adebayor and then Davies cleared away Eduardo's dangerous cross.

Adebayor failed to get enough power on his header to trouble Jaaskelainen three minutes before the break and temporary charge Knox was pleased with his sides efforts in the opening period.

Shortly after the interval Arsenal missed a glorious chance to take the lead through Eboue who blazed over after Gavin McCann had been caught in possession for Bolton.

Jaaskelainen saved the Wanderers by blocking Fabregas shot and Adebayor scuffed his shot wide after making an excellent run into the danger zone.

The turning point in the game came shortly after the hour when Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger brought Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott on for Eduardo and Eboue.

These two newcomers lifted the home side up a gear and within five minutes of their introduction Arsenal's persistance finally paid off.

Defender Toure, who scored against Wanderers during their first visit to the Emirates last season, gave the Gunners the lead when driving Cesc Fabregas short free kick through a posse of Wanderers players.

Arsenal pressed and pushed for a second in the final twenty minutes and Adebayor who had already missed a couple of chances fell over in the box where Walcott was handily placed to tap home.

The goal that sealed the game came nine minutes before time with substitutes Walcott and Rosicky combining well with Aleksander Hleb.

Hleb fed Walcott down the flanks and the England international squared the ball to Czech midfielder Rosicky who made no mistake to put the ball past Jaaskelainen.

Bolton now play three home games within the next eleven days, firstly Portuguese side SC Braga head to the Reebok on Thursday and then there is a league game against Aston Villa sandwiched in between a League Cup tie against local rivals Manchester City.

BOLTON WANDERERS: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Joey O'Brien, Andy O'Brien, Abdoulaye Meite, Ricardo Gardner, Danny Guthrie (Stelios Giannakopoulos), Kevin Nolan, Ivan Campo, Gavin McCann, El-Hadji Diouf (Daniel Braaten), Kevin Davies

SUBS NOT USED: Nicky Hunt, Gerald Cid, Ali Al-Habsi (GK)

ARSENAL: Manuel Almunia, Bacary Sagna, Kolo Toure, William Gallas, Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Eboue (Tomas Rosicky), Mathieu Flamini, Cesc Fabregas, Aleksander Hleb (Abou Diaby), Eduardo da Silva (Theo Walcott), Emmanuel Adebayor

SUBS NOT USED: Gilberto Silva, Lukas Fabianski (GK)

REFEREE:

Mike Riley

ATTENDANCE:

59,442

BOOKED:

McCann (Bolton)

Diouf (Bolton)

Fabregas (Arsenal)

Nolan (Bolton)

Davies (Bolton)

Campo (Bolton)

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