Blackburn 4, Arsenal 3 - Match Report - 17/08/11

Arsène Wenger looks on as the Gunners fall at Ewood Park.

by Stuart Matthews

Wet, wondering, and quite possibly worrying, Arsène Wenger did not mince words in describing his side's quirky 4-3 loss at soggy Ewood Park on Saturday.

"Terrible," Wenger said, after Arsenal surrendered two late own goals, as well as a pair of soft ones, despite dominating much of a free-for-all of a contest. The Gunners are now trailing their hosts in the table, with a tally of just four points from five league matches.

Said Wenger with a weary and wry touch: "It is very disappointing to lose a game when we have scored five goals."

Indeed. But the telling ones came off the bodies of Wenger's own players, and the Arsenal boss conceded his recently refashioned defence had not been up to the task against Rovers.

"It is just not good enough," the manager said. "If you look at the type of goals we are conceding, it is not good enough at all."

It looked good enough at the start. Despite the conditions, the Gunners came out flying and were ahead 1-0 after newcomer Gervinho gathered Alex Song's pass and slotted past Paul Robinson in the 10th minute.

To look at the final match statistics would suggest a rampant Arsenal victory. For the match, Wenger's side had nearly 70 percent of the possession. The Gunners had 11 more corners than Blackburn (13-2) and nine shots on target to their opponents' four.

But the scoreline would not lie. Blackburn levelled on the first of a brace from Yabuku Ayegbeni - with the Nigerian hit man tucking away a through ball from the livewire Junior Hoilett past a stranded Wojciech Szczesny into the Arsenal net on 24 minutes.

Arsenal ramped it up a gear just nine minutes later, with fellow new signee Mikel Arteta putting his side up 2-1. A cutback from Aaron Ramsey found Arteta free and the Basque playmaker pelted home with a flourish for his first goal in an Arsenal shirt.

But it was a day that seemed destined not to go right for Wenger's men. Song, normally the most reliable of Wenger's defensive hard cases, allowed Ruben Rochina's free-kick to ping off his knee past a bemused Szczesny and Blackburn were level.

After the interval, Yakubu struck again, poaching a goal by connecting with a fizzed shot from an unmarked Steven Nzonzi off of a rare Blackburn corner. Yakubu was possibly offside, but it was 3-2, and Arsenal's palpitations turned into something resembling parody.

Wenger had to be puzzled after what ensued. Another own goal, after Martin Olsson had bursted the length of the pitch, racing by Johan Djourou, and cutting back only for Gunners' centre-back Laurent Koscienly to bump into Szczesny's net.

Arsenal still had 20 minutes plus added time to level, and pulsed with purpose. Marouane Chamakh brought the Gunners to within 4-3 with a proper centre-forward's headed finish with six minutes remaining. Blazing forward, the Gunners were denied: Per Mertesacker edged a header over the crossbar from a matter of feet, and Robin Van Persie, Chamakh and Theo Walcott all found themselves thwarted by Robinson who rose large between Blackburn's posts.

The Arsenal captain shook his head. "We were so much better than them, and even now I can't see how they scored four goals against us. It shouldn't be possible. It is very frustrating," Van Persie said.

The under-fire Blackburn manager Steve Kean shook off suggestions that his Arsenal counterpart could be in danger so early into the campaign. "There is no doubting what that man (Wenger) has done for that club and for football," said Kean. "Any talk of him going anywhere is pure nonsense."

Resigned in defeat, Wenger was blunt: "We dominated the game but in our weak moments we were not strong enough to resist. We didn't have many weak moments in this game but every time we had one, we paid for it," he said.

With a seemingly simple job to do on Tuesday evening against Shrewsbury Town in the Carling Cup at the Emirates, it may be wise for Wenger and crew to pay-and-display in advance.