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Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Celtic's Georgios Samaras misses late penalty in draw at Rangers

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Scottish Premier League

Rangers 0 Celtic 0

Ewan Murray at Ibrox
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 April 2011 14.32 BST

Georgios Samaras collides with David Weir as the goalkeeper Allan McGregor holds the ball tightly. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images

Celtic knew a point at Ibrox would leave them in a strong Scottish Premier League position but will be wounded at not collecting more. Neil Lennon's team have the destiny of the title in their hands after avoiding defeat but did not perform anywhere near their capabilities for long spells of an instantly forgettable Old Firm game, yet had the better chance to claim victory.
Allan McGregor was the Rangers hero. The goalkeeper batted away a penalty from Georgios Samaras, eight minutes from time. After a buildup to the derby which was dominated by madness – primarily security threats towards Lennon – 90 minutes of understandably edgy, nervous stuff ensued.
Rangers enjoyed the better of the first half without creating meaningful chances. Celtic claimed in vain for a penalty as their midfielder Joe Ledley collided with Steven Whittaker, the referee Craig Thomson – rightly, on first glance – waving away appeals. Thomson also appeared correct to dismiss a later Rangers spot-kick claim as Sasa Papac tumbled.
Fraser Forster spilled a 10th-minute cross from the Rangers midfielder Steven Davis, with Nikica Jelavic almost capitalising on the error. Maurice Edu watched a shot deflected wide by Charlie Mulgrew before the only real flashpoint of the opening period. Samaras collected a booking for pushing over David Weir, the Rangers captain also cautioned for claiming a little too strongly that Samaras had fouled McGregor.
Scott Brown almost roused Celtic from their scrappy start with a long-range effort which flew just wide. At the other end, Steven Naismith snatched at a back-post volley. Gary Hooper rather summed up the early Celtic impotence with a goal "attempt" which flew into the top tier of the Copland Road stand.
Kyle Lafferty missed a glorious opportunity to send Rangers in front within six minutes of the restart. The Northern Irishman bundled wide from Greg Wylde's superb cross.
Beram Kayal replied, his 20-yard drive sneaking past McGregor's right-hand post. The goalkeeper's next intervention was crucial, McGregor producing a stunning save to deny Daniel Majstorovic's header.
More was to come from McGregor, who but for a tendency to court publicity would surely be playing in England's top flight by now. Thomson, who was well placed to view the incident, pointed to the penalty spot as Davis challenged the Celtic substitute Anthony Stokes.
Rangers' sense of grievance over the award soon paled into insignificance. Perhaps important to the wastefulness of Samaras was a delay before he stepped up to shoot from 12 yards; McGregor saving by diving to his left.
Celtic closed in strong fashion, without coming close to notching a winner. Stokes picked up a booking for falling too easily in the box, but the visiting support and Lennon still hailed the collection of what may prove a pivotal point.

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Celtic's Georgios Samaras misses late penalty in draw at Rangers

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Scottish Premier League

Rangers 0 Celtic 0

Ewan Murray at Ibrox
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 April 2011 14.32 BST

Georgios Samaras collides with David Weir as the goalkeeper Allan McGregor holds the ball tightly. Photograph: Lee Smith/Action Images

Celtic knew a point at Ibrox would leave them in a strong Scottish Premier League position but will be wounded at not collecting more. Neil Lennon's team have the destiny of the title in their hands after avoiding defeat but did not perform anywhere near their capabilities for long spells of an instantly forgettable Old Firm game, yet had the better chance to claim victory.
Allan McGregor was the Rangers hero. The goalkeeper batted away a penalty from Georgios Samaras, eight minutes from time. After a buildup to the derby which was dominated by madness primarily security threats towards Lennon 90 minutes of understandably edgy, nervous stuff ensued.
Rangers enjoyed the better of the first half without creating meaningful chances. Celtic claimed in vain for a penalty as their midfielder Joe Ledley collided with Steven Whittaker, the referee Craig Thomson rightly, on first glance waving away appeals. Thomson also appeared correct to dismiss a later Rangers spot-kick claim as Sasa Papac tumbled.
Fraser Forster spilled a 10th-minute cross from the Rangers midfielder Steven Davis, with Nikica Jelavic almost capitalising on the error. Maurice Edu watched a shot deflected wide by Charlie Mulgrew before the only real flashpoint of the opening period. Samaras collected a booking for pushing over David Weir, the Rangers captain also cautioned for claiming a little too strongly that Samaras had fouled McGregor.
Scott Brown almost roused Celtic from their scrappy start with a long-range effort which flew just wide. At the other end, Steven Naismith snatched at a back-post volley. Gary Hooper rather summed up the early Celtic impotence with a goal "attempt" which flew into the top tier of the Copland Road stand.
Kyle Lafferty missed a glorious opportunity to send Rangers in front within six minutes of the restart. The Northern Irishman bundled wide from Greg Wylde's superb cross.
Beram Kayal replied, his 20-yard drive sneaking past McGregor's right-hand post. The goalkeeper's next intervention was crucial, McGregor producing a stunning save to deny Daniel Majstorovic's header.
More was to come from McGregor, who but for a tendency to court publicity would surely be playing in England's top flight by now. Thomson, who was well placed to view the incident, pointed to the penalty spot as Davis challenged the Celtic substitute Anthony Stokes.
Rangers' sense of grievance over the award soon paled into insignificance. Perhaps important to the wastefulness of Samaras was a delay before he stepped up to shoot from 12 yards; McGregor saving by diving to his left.
Celtic closed in strong fashion, without coming close to notching a winner. Stokes picked up a booking for falling too easily in the box, but the visiting support and Lennon still hailed the collection of what may prove a pivotal point.

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Hitman Hernandez surprises Fergie

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Updated Apr 24, 2011 8:17 AM ET
Sir Alex Ferguson admits Manchester United match-winner Javier Hernandez's rapid transition to English football has taken him by surprise.
Hernandez's 19th goal of the season provided Manchester United with an 84th-minute winner against Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon that puts them within touching distance of a record 19th league title.

The Mexican has already established himself as a regular member of Ferguson's first-choice starting line-up, which even the Scot did not expect when he lured the 22-year-old to England from Mexican outfit Chivas this summer.
"Javier has done better than everyone expected," said Ferguson.
"We thought that because it was his first year, he would just get used to the English game and get strengthened up.
"He has passed all those tests.
"He is first in, at 9am every morning. He is last to leave. He is a truly dedicated boy."
Hernandez certainly has the priceless knack of scoring goals.
He has scored in six of United's last 12 games and in 16 matches overall this season, compared with Dimitar Berbatov, whose 22 have come in just 10 games.
The contribution pushed the Red Devils a bit closer to their Holy Grail as he headed home Antonio Valencia's cross to leave United seven points from the championship at the start of a fortnight that also includes a Champions League semi-final with Schalke and back-to-back Premier League encounters with Arsenal and Chelsea.

BARCLAY'S PREMIER LEAGUE

Wed., Apr. 20

Chelsea 3-1 Birmingham
Tottenham 3-3 Arsenal | Recap

Sat., Apr. 23

Sun., Apr. 24

Bolton vs. Arsenal

BPL Scores | Table | Fixtures

"The thing that puzzles me is they (the media) keep saying Arsenal and Chelsea have got to play us still, like we're going to lose them. Why shouldn't we win those games?
"As I said to the players, forget all that nonsense. Just try to win your games and you'll be all right, keep your heads and don't get carried away.
"Fixtures are running out for our rivals and the squad are up for it.
"I enjoy this critical stage of a season when we are involved in big games that come think and fast and I think we will be okay."
They should be now after Hernandez came to the rescue. Not that Ferguson had any doubts.
"Everton were very resilient and some of their defending was fantastic," he said.
"Their goalkeeper made two or three great saves and you say to yourself 'this is going to be another late one'.
"But you can smell the history of the club and I could feel the goal was going to come."
After resting skipper Nemanja Vidic and making five changes to his starting line-up, Ferguson reported no injury concerns ahead of Tuesday's first-leg with Schalke at the Vetlins Arena.
The result virtually ends Everton's already outside hopes of securing a Europa League berth for next season.
Toffees boss David Moyes said he had no complaints about a couple of penalty calls that did not go his side's way when Jermaine Beckford and substitute Victor Anichebe went down under pressure from Jonny Evans and Rio Ferdinand.
However, he could not enthuse about Hernandez in the same manner Ferguson had done.
"None," responded the Scot when asked for his thoughts on the Mexican's performance.
"He is not my player. I just wish he hadn't got into that position.
"I couldn't say we played well. We didn't. But there are different sides to football and for 85 minutes it looked as though we had done our job very well."

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Robinho sends Milan eight points clear

Reuters, Saturday April 23 2011 * AC Milan move close to first title in seven years
* Napoli's title hopes crash after 2-1 defeat at Palermo
* Ten-man Inter come back to beat Lazio and go second (Adds late game)
By Richard Allen
ROME, April 23 (Reuters) - AC Milan took a giant step towards their first Serie A title in seven years on Saturday when a late Robinho strike gave the Rossoneri a 1-0 win at Brescia and an eight-point lead with four games to go.
While Milan marched on, champions and city rivals Inter Milan beat Lazio 2-1 to move up to second place, ahead of Napoli who lost by the same score at Palermo, while Bari were relegated.
AS Roma beat Chievo Verona 1-0 to consolidate sixth place and close in on Udinese, three points ahead, and fourth-placed Lazio.
Sent clean through by Antonio Cassano, Robinho finished coolly eight minutes from time to give Milan a hard-earned win over relegation-threatened Brescia, who are now five points from safety.
Cassano should have given Milan the lead four minutes before the break when he somehow nodded over from eight metres after being picked out by Kevin-Prince Boateng's cross.
He missed another gilt-edged chance in the second half, heading badly wide after brilliant skill from Clarence Seedorf.
Milan had goalkeeper Christian Abbiati to thank for late saves from Alessandro Diamanti, whose swerving free kick struck the bar with 10 minutes to go.
"We should have finished them off in the first half," Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri told Sky Italia. "There's nothing to celebrate yet, but we'll have a nice Easter."

INTER WIN
At the San Siro, Inter came back from a goal and a man down to defeat Lazio.
The Nerazzurri made a lacklustre start and were reduced to 10 men after 22 minutes when Julio Cesar was sent off for bringing down Mauro Zarate, who scored from the resultant penalty.
Wesley Sneijder then equalised with a free kick five minutes before halftime and Samuel Eto'o scored the winner, his 20th goal of the season, on 53 minutes after rounding goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
A dispirited Lazio also ended the match with 10 men after skipper Stefano Mauri was sent off on 66 minutes.
"I'm an optimist and I still think it (the title race) is open," Inter coach Leonardo told Italy's Sky channel before the Milan result.
"We had one bad week in four months which can happen. It was an amazing win and showed just how committed this squad is."
Edinson Cavani gave Napoli a second-minute lead with a penalty, his 26th goal of the campaign, against his former club but Palermo hit back through Federico Balzaretti on 38 minutes.
Home coach Delio Rossi was sent from the dugout as tempers flared but Cesare Bovo's penalty on the stroke of halftime after Giulio Migliaccio had been felled in the box turned out to be the winner for Palermo, who stayed eighth.
Napoli slipped to third, nine points behind Milan.
"The boys were a bit tense," said Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri. "We're not used to being so high up the table and some players are able to handle the pressure better than others."
Fifth-placed Udinese failed to take advantage of Lazio's loss, losing 2-0 at home to Parma with an Amauri double giving the visitors three precious points to go 14th.
The Brazilian had already opened the scoring by the time Gokhan Inler was sent off for a second caution on 21 minutes, and added his second in stoppage time.
Bari were relegated after a second-half penalty from Nicola Pozzi gave struggling Sampdoria a 1-0 win in Puglia that lifted them level with third-from-bottom Lecce on 35 points. Lecce lost 4-2 in Genoa.
Cesena climbed two points clear of the drop zone after goals from Emanuele Giaccherini and Dominique Malonga helped the Serie A newcomers to a crucial 2-0 win at Bologna.
In a dramatic finale to the late game between seventh-placed Juventus and lowly Catania, Francesco Lodi curled in an exquisite free kick to give the Sicilian side a 95th-minute equaliser and dent Juve's European challenge.
An Alessandro Del Piero brace had put the Bianconeri in control at half-time but Catania, now two points clear of the relegation zone, hit back through Alejandro Gomez nine minutes from time before Lodi's late finish to make it 2-2. (Editing by Clare Fallon; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Torres tipped for 'fantastic future'

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Updated Apr 24, 2011 8:08 AM ET
Carlo Ancelotti was thrilled for Fernando Torres after the Spain striker finally scored in a Chelsea shirt in the 3-0 victory over West Ham.
The £50million man ended his 15-hour goal drought for club and country just eight minutes after coming off the bench in the champions' Premier League win at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.

Torres was in danger of becoming the most expensive flop in the history of football after failing to score in his first 13 matches since signing from Liverpool almost three months ago.
Luck appeared to have deserted Torres as he raced onto Nicolas Anelka's pass in the 84th minute, the ball getting stuck in a near-waterlogged pitch.
But it proved a blessing in disguise as the 27-year-old swivelled and fired left-footed into the corner of the net.
Ancelotti was thrilled for Torres, who he insisted last week would open his account before the end of the season.
He said: "It was a fantastic moment. It will help him move on quickly.
"I think that the bad moment is gone and now his future will be fantastic here, at this club with his team-mates.
"He needed to score to move from this moment.
"He scored and the next game will be, for him, really better."

BARCLAY'S PREMIER LEAGUE

Wed., Apr. 20

Chelsea 3-1 Birmingham
Tottenham 3-3 Arsenal | Recap

Sat., Apr. 23

Sun., Apr. 24

Bolton vs. Arsenal

BPL Scores | Table | Fixtures

Ancelotti would have feared the worst when the ball got stuck in the mud and he added: "He was unlucky there but it was fantastic to move quickly, to come back and to shoot well."
Torres had been relegated to the bench for three successive games, with Drogba's vastly superior form impossible to ignore.
The pair have failed to strike up an understanding when they have played together but Ancelotti hinted he might field both against Tottenham next week.
"Considering the performance of Didier today, considering that Fernando scored, we have to try to put both together," he said.
"We have one week to train, we can try and I think that I will take a decision for the next game."
The win maintained Chelsea's slim hopes of retaining the Premier League title but, with leaders Manchester United beating Everton earlier, they are running out of games.
"We have less possibility," said Ancelotti, who lost Michael Essien to a muscle injury and not, as initially feared, a recurrence of his knee problems.
"There are just four games, the gap is the same, so it will be more difficult. But we have to keep trying to believe that we can do something."
A 3-0 defeat was harsh on West Ham, who ended the day back on the bottom of the table, albeit still two points from safety.
The Hammers missed several chances to score and manager Avram Grant said: "I think everybody in this room knows that we deserved better.
"Petr Cech was excellent today (with) two or three great saves. If someone didn't see the game, they think 3-0, Chelsea is much better than us.
"I can be very proud of the players. Without the player of the year (Scott Parker), without Matthew Upson, without Gary O'Neil, and Mark Noble second half, they showed a lot of belief, a lot of spirit."
Substitute Robbie Keane missed a sitter while Chelsea were only 1-0 up, while the visitors' luck was summed up by Torres' goal.
"The pitch gave a good assistance to Torres," Grant said.
Noble was carried off on a stretcher after injuring his knee, with Grant adding: "It's not looking so good."
But he was defiant over his side's survival hopes.
"If we continue to play like this, we will stay in the league," he said.

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Wenger hopes to tie down Nasri

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Updated Apr 24, 2011 6:33 AM ET
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is "very optimistic" Samir Nasri will extend his contract with the Gunners.
The 23-year-old France midfielder Nasri and full-back Gael Clichy are moving towards the final year of their current deals.
Wenger is determined to keep hold of the group, building the team around captain Cesc Fabregas and England teenager Jack Wilshere.

BARCLAY'S PREMIER LEAGUE

Wed., Apr. 20

Chelsea 3-1 Birmingham
Tottenham 3-3 Arsenal | Recap

Sat., Apr. 23

Sun., Apr. 24

Bolton vs. Arsenal

BPL Scores | Table | Fixtures

The Gunners boss said: "We are talking to Nasri and his agent already and we have the same situation with Clichy. We have agreed to speak about it during the summer.
"The players have the opportunity here to do it in their own way, with their own philosophy, with their own togetherness.
"When you sign a contract for four or five years, you are committed through your contract to win trophies with the club where you sign.
"It is in no contract that if you do not win a trophy the first year, you can leave."
Wenger maintains Arsenal will continue to have an "absolute commitment to youth" as they look to stay ahead of the likes of big-spending Manchester City.
However, the Gunners boss also suggested he was ready to add "what was needed" this summer to keep his squad competitive.
"Nobody asks them to wait. We can win straight away," Wenger continued.
"You speak like the players are not responsible for winning trophies. They are as well responsible, as I am, as the fans are.
"Why do you think we pay the players? A club, a football team, is a togetherness between the manager, the players, the club, the philosophy, and a commitment.
"After that you can have some individual situations, but it cannot be a philosophy that if at any time we do not win I should move on.
"It is down to belief, the direct consequence of the motivation you put into your next game.
"If your belief is very low, your feeling is very low.
"What I think we can get from our performances is the belief that we have the quality."
Wenger takes his side to Bolton on Sunday afternoon fighting to stay in the title race after another missed opportunity to close the gap on leaders Manchester United when they drew 3-3 at Tottenham having at one stage held a two-goal lead.
The Gunners boss, however, maintains all is not yet lost.
"We are fighting for the championship and I am always sitting in a position where you force me to explain why we fail," Wenger said.
"For me it's not a comfortable situation because we are fighting in a period where the most important thing is to have belief in what we do and you keep saying 'why have you failed to win?'.
"Let's just play for it first and have a go.
"For me it is important to give absolutely everything until the last game of the season, to be proud, and then, as I have said many times, if there has been somebody better we will have to accept that.
"But at the moment I don't accept that there is somebody better."

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Reds' unity delights Dalglish

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Updated Apr 24, 2011 6:46 AM ET
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish praised the teamwork and togetherness of his side after they demolished Birmingham 5-0 at Anfield.
Maxi Rodriguez scored his first hat-trick for the club, Dirk Kuyt hit his seventh goal in six Premier League matches and substitute Joe Cole added a late fifth on Saturday.

Coincidentally, the scoreline also matched that which Dalglish had the only other time he met Birmingham when he was Reds boss first time around.
It was Liverpool's biggest win since beating Hull 6-1 in September 2009, a result which briefly took them top of the table.
Rodriguez, who replaced injured £35million striker Andy Carroll, grabbed the headlines but it was the quality of the team's play which stood out.
"Maxi is a very intelligent footballer. He's not a direct replacement for Andy but he's got more goals than him in that one performance," he said.
"Maxi has not played for a few weeks and came on and did a fantastic job for us. Joe also got his reward because he has trained well and he came on and got a goal.
"It won't do Joe or Maxi any harm and the joy the players got from Maxi scoring his hat-trick and Joe scoring his goal reflects how close a group they are and that is great for the club.

BARCLAY'S PREMIER LEAGUE

Wed., Apr. 20

Chelsea 3-1 Birmingham
Tottenham 3-3 Arsenal | Recap

Sat., Apr. 23

Sun., Apr. 24

Bolton vs. Arsenal

BPL Scores | Table | Fixtures

"They are all playing for each other and the players are going to play better if they are confident and if they are happy going to work they will get better results."
Liverpool were in control from the moment Rodriguez put them ahead in the seventh minute and apart from a 10-minute spell from Birmingham after they conceded, the hosts were rarely troubled throughout.
"Getting a goal early doors set us on our way," added Dalglish.
"They put us under pressure after that without us being over-worked.
"We then got the second goal but the third was the most important.
"I think we were deserved winners, we played some fantastic football and we have had a good day and it was very enjoyable for us."
Dalglish played down the absence of Carroll, who injured a knee in last Sunday's draw at Arsenal.
"He's not too bad. We'll just have to wait and see," said the Scot, whose next match is against Carroll's former club Newcastle.
"It will be a big game for him next week but a bigger game for the club."
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish bemoaned his side's defending early on, admitting it ruined their game plan from the off.
"The first goal for us was a killer blow, losing it so early because you are coming here to frustrate," he said.
"It disrupted totally our plans. The first two goals were really soft, we have to do better.
"For the second goal there was a big hole in the centre of our defence and that is most unlike us.
"Quite simply the boys have got to get back to their best.
"We know today was a bad day at the office but I don't believe it will affect morale."

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

The Reebok Stadium

Bolton Wanderers v Arsenal – live!

• Hit F5 because autorefresh is broken. Sorry
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Premier League

Bolton Wanderers 1

Sturridge 38

Arsenal 1

van Persie 48

Simon Burnton
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 April 2011 15.00 BST

Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Bolton Wanderers' Johan Elmander compete for the ball. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

88mins: Davies finally collects his booking, for a not particularly terrible challenge on Koscielny.
86mins: Arsenal have had 75% of the possession over the last 10 minutes. Seventy-five per cent!
85mins: Arsenal take off Wilshere – who gets an ovation from the entire ground – with Aaron Ramsey replacing him. Bolton swap Daniel Sturridge for Tamir Cohen.
84mins: Another attempted one-two breaks down on the edge of Bolton's penalty area. "It may only a matter of time, Kevin Phillips, before Arsenal score, but only if the amount of time were infinite, rather than a few minutes," rages Mac Millings. "By that logic, I suppose it's only a matter of time before Kevin Phillips says something sensible."
83mins: Van Persie attempts and fails in a return pass to Nasri in a crowded penalty area. For all that their goal came from one, I do wish that Arsenal would stop trying these one-twos all the time.
82mins: "The difficulty you had in (incorrectly) naming the Bolton goalscorer is exactly why review-based video technology is useless," writes Patrick Rennie. "Don't want to open the debate, nor side with Sepp, but had to chip in as i think i'm the only one in the World against video technology." I don't think it's a convincing argument – as in cricket, if the video evidence is inconclusive you stick with the referee's original decision (but I think some other way of telling when the ball crosses the line would be much better than clumsy, slow old video).
80mins: Chamakh brings down Robinson, who looks to be in a fair degree of pain, and gets booked.
79mins: Arsène Wenger has shocked nobody by whingeing about time-wasting. He thuds the ball into the turf in frustration at the time Bolton take to reclaim it off him (and unlike bottle-booting Mark Hughes yesterday, gets away with it).
77mins: "Did we learn nothing from Mark Morrison? The Return of Chamakh is terrible," puns Niall Mullen.
75mins: Arshavin's through-ball releases Nasri, who ... well ... I'm not sure what he was doing, possibly shooting badly, or maybe passing badly, but either way the ball bobbles limply into Jaaskelainen's arms.
74mins: Lots of indescriminate pressure being exerted on the Bolton defence. "It's just a matter of time now before Arsenal score," says Kevin Phillips.
73mins: As Arshavin replaces Walcott, here's a link to the Van Persie goal.
71mins: The ball is sent high into Bolton's penalty area where Chamakh decides not to head at goal, and instead attempt to square the ball for Nasri. Wrong decision.
70mins: Van Persie's ball over the top of Bolton's defence finds Nasri racing clear. A great chance, but Nasri's effort is all power and no subtlety, blasted down the middle of goal, straight at the keeper. It bounces back to him, but too quick for him to react and he tries a shot from an acute angle that Cahill blocks.
68mins: Chamakh's first touch, in Bolton's penalty area, is an attempted return pass to Nasri that is utterly hopeless, and instead loops five feet in the air before dropping six yards behind the Frenchman.
67mins: The game's going through a bit of a messy period. Mildly Arsenal-dominated, but we've not had a decent chance for a while. Van Persie attempts a 25-yard shot from the corner of the penalty area, but without either accuracy or great venom.
65mins: And Chamakh comes on, with Alex Song making way.
64mins: Wiltshire's booked, despite winning the ball, after his knees run into Lee's legs.
63mins: Chamakh is being readied on the Arsenal bench.
60mins: Djourou miscontrols, and in a fairly decent recreation of the Lee incident Elmander steals the ball, the Swiss sticks out a leg and the Bolton player goes over. Elmander did hurdle Djourou's legs, so there was no contact, and this time the referee doesn't even give a foul.
53mins: Song sees Lee steal the ball from his toe, and pokes out a leg to bring the Korean down. Certainly a foul, and a borderline booking, though I wonder if he'd have been shown the yellow card if Lee wasn't running so fast, and therefore fell less explosively. Anyway, Lee was running that fast, and he is booked.
51mins: Van Persie has now scored in Arsenal's last seven away league games, a Premier League record.
50mins: Arsenal are scenting blood now. They're streaming forward, though not really doing anything particularly exciting when they get there, as of yet.
GOAL! BOLTON 1 ARSENAL 1 (VAN PERSIE 48) Incredible scenes! Van Persie jinks, cuts back, runs across the penalty area, passes to Fàbregas on the penalty spot, accepts the return and then shoots low and hard into the bottom right corner while Jaaskelainen, expecting the ball to go the other way, is flat-footed. What a zany start to the half!
47mins: SAVED! Davies sidefoots the ball pretty much down the middle. If Szczesny had dived full-length to his left, he wouldn't have got it. Anything else and it was an easy save. Very poor penalty, but folk will talk about justice.
46mins: PENALTY! Djourou maybe just about touches Sturridge, and the referee points to the spot!
46mins: Peeeeeeeep! They're off! Again!
Half-time: "Trophies don't really matter that much to clubs? You're obviously not a Liverpool fan then," protests Lee Purchase. "The five European cups are a massive deal to their fans, certainly considering their relative lack of success in recent years. And every Arsenal fan I know is getting fed right up at the minute and would kill for a cup of some sort." Yes, because trophies are an indicator of success. They're shorthand for past happiness. And winning trophies is quite fun. But would Arsenal swap their current position for, say, an FA Cup win but a 13th-place finish in the league? Because the trophy-worshippers would suggest that they would be more successful then than now, and I would disagree.
Anyway, I digress. Pretty good game, this. What might have happened last Sunday if Sturridge hadn't been cup tied?
I should also add that in the early stages I was busy typing when Matt Taylor brought Theo Walcott down in the penalty area without touching the ball. Should have been a penalty. Might have changed things, obviously.
45+2mins: Peeeep! The first half comes to an end. Breathless stuff. Arsenal have come from behind to win twice in their last three games here (the third they won without that inconvenience).
45+2mins: Which, after a very long delay, Van Persie thunders into the top tier.
45mins: We're set for two minutes of stoppage time, and Arsenal are set for a tasty free-kick situation on the edge of the area.
44mins: Fàbregas thuds a 20-odd yarder across Jaaskelainen's goal and against the meat of his right-hand post.
40mins: It's been a very open game, but Bolton have had the three best chances and the best player in the shape of Sturridge, and thus deserve their lead. Replays are entirely inconclusive – Nasri's entire body is blocking the camera's view of the ball – so maybe Sturridge will keep the credit after all.
GOAL! Bolton 1 Arsenal 0 (Cahill 38) Arsenal clear for a corner. Lee sends it into the penalty area and Cahill, his run unchecked, rises alone to head goalwards. Nasri clears off the line, but Sturridge follows up to thud a header home from a yard. Sky are giving it to Sturridge, but I think the ball probably crossed the line before Nasri got in the way and Cahill will get the nod in the end.
37mins: Lovely chipped pass by Sturridge finds Lee's run, the Korean pokes the ball goalwards on the volley and Szczesny blocks.
37mins: Fàbregas sets up Nasri, who has time and space to line-up his shot from just outside the penalty area, but he drags it wide of goal. A good chance.
34mins: Sturridge is given offside, an extremely tight decision, when he would otherwise have been clean through. He's having a pretty good game, the striking tyro.
33mins: "Personally the only reason I care about any kind of silverware is the sword of damocles – Fàbregas to Barcelona," writes Linda Howard. "Also the quality that is fantastic to watch deserves accolades beyond people nodding there heads and saying, 'Yes, yes, Arsenal are entertaining.' They players themselves deserve more, don't you think?" Well, perhaps. Unlike fans, players get a tangible reward from the accumulation of trophies in the shape of medals, and players like to have accumulated lots of medals by the time they retire. I totally understand that motivation, and players like Fàbregas are certainly capable of actually winning stuff. But I really think that, in the long term, trophies are pretty meaningless for fans (and clubs, even).
30mins: Wilshere's scamper forward is halted when Davies' leg appears from behind him and prods the ball away. A totally fair, utterly clean challenge – but one he'd surely never have dared attempt if he was already on a booking. Just saying, like.
28mins: Apparently commentators in Spain think Bolton should have been down to nine by now. "On that last lunge by Taylor the one announcer said 'Roja, roja. Es Roja!'" writes Nathaniel Davies. "Before lapsing into comedy English: 'only - yellow - card.'"
27mins: Taylor crosses from the left, Szczesny tries his very best to fumble the ball in rather than gathering, but doesn't quite manage it.
25mins: Djourou's air-kick allows Matt Taylor to race into Arsenal's penalty area, but his left-foot blast is from too silly an angle to worry Szczesny.
24mins: Sturridge's excellent pass releases Lee, running through the Arsenal defence. Instead of shooting, though, he tries a bizarre backheel square-ball to Davies and Arsenal intercept and clear. Great pass, and the best chance of the game.
21mins: Bolton do what Bolton do – hump the ball up to Davies, he flicks it on, and Sturridge scampers away. Only Djourou's excellent intervention stops him from getting a shot in.
20mins: Now Taylor's been booked, for a late, high-legged sliding mess of a challenge.
18mins: "I think the 'unsuccessful' issue is that their seasons of late tend to mirror their matches – lots of fantastic praise-worthy action and no ultimate result," writes Linda Howard of Arsenal. "Think of that winners' circle as a six yard box they piddle around time and time again. Not a 'successful' feeling." Yeah, maybe. There's more to life (and sport) than the accumulation of trophies. Fun as that might be for a while, titles are only of interest to statisticians. Other humans should surely be more interested in being entertained – and Arsenal do that job pretty well, while still winning most of their matches.
16mins: Can these players just stop doing things I have to write about and give me a moment to type? Now Fabregas's 20-yarder is turned round the post at full stretch by a diving Jaaskelainen. This is good stuff.
15mins: Sturridge plays Steinsson into space on the right, and his cross is met, just ahead of the near post, by Kevin Davies. The first-time shot zips wide.
14mins: It's not all one-way traffic. Sturridge does well to ferry the ball out of defence and Bolton briefly have 4v4, but Lee's cross doesn't cut much mustard.
13mins: Song, who must be pretty relieved to still be on the pitch, is booed by the home fans for overdoing his reaction to Davies' horror challenge.
12mins: Kevin Davies absolutely ploughs into Song, arriving slightly after the ball had departed. A disgraceful challenge, though not quite a red card. The referee doesn't even book him. Utter madness. Whatever Kevin Phillips said about Mike Jones, I agree.
9mins: Lovely run by Wilshere, keeping possession and bringing the ball out of defence, but he's brought down by Muamba. An absolute, cast-iron certain yellow card from where I was sitting, and the referee Mike Jones agrees, but he's getting a bit of a kicking on Sky's commentary (though I must say I'm loath to disagree with the great Kevin Phillips, todays co-commentator).
6mins: Theo Walcott seems set for an enjoyable afternoon, given that he is up against a left-back in Paul Robinson who he can both outrun and outjump. Anyway, he finds space again before passing the ball along the edge of the area to Fábregas, who blasts over.
4mins: Walcott escapes down the inside right channel, sends in a low cross which, while never looking likely to actually go in, is still too hot for Jaaskelainen to hold. The ball rebounds to Nasri, but his effort is blocked.
3mins: Jack Wilshere, the subject of much focus on his return to the club where he enjoyed a profitable loan spell last season, scurries down the right before sending in a decent cross which, inevitably, no team-mate fancies getting on the end of.
2 mins: The first minute's commentary throws up this double-whammy: "2011 has been a terrible year for Arsenal" ... "they're the only unbeaten team in the Premier League." I do hope that one day my team can be as unsuccessful as Arsenal.
1min: Peeeeep! And they're off!
3.59pm: Inevitable interesting pre-match @optajoe stat: Bolton have hit the woodwork least often this season (five times), Arsenal the most (20).
3.56pm: Bolton's players are lining up in the tunnel. Lots of people in the crowd are wearing silly outfits. The Arsenal players are there too. It's action time.
3.49pm: Sky are hosting a debate about whether we need a winter break. Pur-leese, I thought that hoary old chestnut was done with for eight months or so.
3.41pm: Gary Naylor responds to our continuing auto-refresh crisis. "The Guardian have had this obvious problem for ages now and still haven't done anything about it," he notes. "Who's in charge of your IT? Arsène Wenger?"
3.39pm: Thanks to Richard Eloli for this Australian bloopers compilation, which includes possibly my favourite goal celebration of the season (zip straight to it by clicking here). The lad looks genuinely delighted, for a short while.
3.25pm: Of course, there was a time when Bolton were something of a bogey team for Arsenal. No more, though: Arsenal have won their last eight games against the Trotters, including three here, and the clubs' Premier League head-to-head reads: Played: 23, Arsenal wins: 14, Draws: 5, Bolton wins: 4.
3.17pm: In no way related to this game question of the day: Fiorentina have a 16-year-old Brazilian striker called Jackson Beckham Diego Socrates da Silva Jesus. Is he the first professional footballer named after England's own David Beckham? It certainly shows just how old the LA-based midfield veteran is getting...
3.14pm: The teams are in – and we're told that Johan Elmander will line up in central midfield for Bolton.
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Elmander, Muamba, Taylor, Sturridge, Kevin Davies. Subs: Bogdan, Petrov, Mark Davies, Klasnic, Moreno, Cohen, Wheater.
Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Walcott, Fabregas, Nasri, van Persie. Subs: Lehmann, Ramsey, Squillaci, Arshavin, Eboue, Gibbs, Chamakh.
Referee: Mike Jones.
3.10pm: Well, Arsenal probably can't win the title this season. That situation won't change even if they win today, but if they don't, we'll be able to exchange the word "probably" with "definitely". Bolton, arses still stinging from last week's FA Cup semi-final hiding from Stoke, simply must be beaten.
3pm: Good afternoon, world. I hope you're out somewhere, enjoying the bumper bank holiday sunshine and preparing to follow this afternoon's game and engage in some email-based banter via a mobile device. I'll sit inside and watch TV, friends, so you don't have to.

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

The Reebok Stadium

Bolton Wanderers v Arsenal live!

Hit F5 because autorefresh is broken. Sorry
Email simon.burnton@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts
Check out fixtures and results, plus the latest tables

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Premier League

Bolton Wanderers 1

Sturridge 38

Arsenal 1

van Persie 48

Simon Burnton
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 April 2011 15.00 BST

Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Bolton Wanderers' Johan Elmander compete for the ball. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

88mins: Davies finally collects his booking, for a not particularly terrible challenge on Koscielny.
86mins: Arsenal have had 75% of the possession over the last 10 minutes. Seventy-five per cent!
85mins: Arsenal take off Wilshere who gets an ovation from the entire ground with Aaron Ramsey replacing him. Bolton swap Daniel Sturridge for Tamir Cohen.
84mins: Another attempted one-two breaks down on the edge of Bolton's penalty area. "It may only a matter of time, Kevin Phillips, before Arsenal score, but only if the amount of time were infinite, rather than a few minutes," rages Mac Millings. "By that logic, I suppose it's only a matter of time before Kevin Phillips says something sensible."
83mins: Van Persie attempts and fails in a return pass to Nasri in a crowded penalty area. For all that their goal came from one, I do wish that Arsenal would stop trying these one-twos all the time.
82mins: "The difficulty you had in (incorrectly) naming the Bolton goalscorer is exactly why review-based video technology is useless," writes Patrick Rennie. "Don't want to open the debate, nor side with Sepp, but had to chip in as i think i'm the only one in the World against video technology." I don't think it's a convincing argument as in cricket, if the video evidence is inconclusive you stick with the referee's original decision (but I think some other way of telling when the ball crosses the line would be much better than clumsy, slow old video).
80mins: Chamakh brings down Robinson, who looks to be in a fair degree of pain, and gets booked.
79mins: Arsène Wenger has shocked nobody by whingeing about time-wasting. He thuds the ball into the turf in frustration at the time Bolton take to reclaim it off him (and unlike bottle-booting Mark Hughes yesterday, gets away with it).
77mins: "Did we learn nothing from Mark Morrison? The Return of Chamakh is terrible," puns Niall Mullen.
75mins: Arshavin's through-ball releases Nasri, who ... well ... I'm not sure what he was doing, possibly shooting badly, or maybe passing badly, but either way the ball bobbles limply into Jaaskelainen's arms.
74mins: Lots of indescriminate pressure being exerted on the Bolton defence. "It's just a matter of time now before Arsenal score," says Kevin Phillips.
73mins: As Arshavin replaces Walcott, here's a link to the Van Persie goal.
71mins: The ball is sent high into Bolton's penalty area where Chamakh decides not to head at goal, and instead attempt to square the ball for Nasri. Wrong decision.
70mins: Van Persie's ball over the top of Bolton's defence finds Nasri racing clear. A great chance, but Nasri's effort is all power and no subtlety, blasted down the middle of goal, straight at the keeper. It bounces back to him, but too quick for him to react and he tries a shot from an acute angle that Cahill blocks.
68mins: Chamakh's first touch, in Bolton's penalty area, is an attempted return pass to Nasri that is utterly hopeless, and instead loops five feet in the air before dropping six yards behind the Frenchman.
67mins: The game's going through a bit of a messy period. Mildly Arsenal-dominated, but we've not had a decent chance for a while. Van Persie attempts a 25-yard shot from the corner of the penalty area, but without either accuracy or great venom.
65mins: And Chamakh comes on, with Alex Song making way.
64mins: Wiltshire's booked, despite winning the ball, after his knees run into Lee's legs.
63mins: Chamakh is being readied on the Arsenal bench.
60mins: Djourou miscontrols, and in a fairly decent recreation of the Lee incident Elmander steals the ball, the Swiss sticks out a leg and the Bolton player goes over. Elmander did hurdle Djourou's legs, so there was no contact, and this time the referee doesn't even give a foul.
53mins: Song sees Lee steal the ball from his toe, and pokes out a leg to bring the Korean down. Certainly a foul, and a borderline booking, though I wonder if he'd have been shown the yellow card if Lee wasn't running so fast, and therefore fell less explosively. Anyway, Lee was running that fast, and he is booked.
51mins: Van Persie has now scored in Arsenal's last seven away league games, a Premier League record.
50mins: Arsenal are scenting blood now. They're streaming forward, though not really doing anything particularly exciting when they get there, as of yet.
GOAL! BOLTON 1 ARSENAL 1 (VAN PERSIE 48) Incredible scenes! Van Persie jinks, cuts back, runs across the penalty area, passes to Fàbregas on the penalty spot, accepts the return and then shoots low and hard into the bottom right corner while Jaaskelainen, expecting the ball to go the other way, is flat-footed. What a zany start to the half!
47mins: SAVED! Davies sidefoots the ball pretty much down the middle. If Szczesny had dived full-length to his left, he wouldn't have got it. Anything else and it was an easy save. Very poor penalty, but folk will talk about justice.
46mins: PENALTY! Djourou maybe just about touches Sturridge, and the referee points to the spot!
46mins: Peeeeeeeep! They're off! Again!
Half-time: "Trophies don't really matter that much to clubs? You're obviously not a Liverpool fan then," protests Lee Purchase. "The five European cups are a massive deal to their fans, certainly considering their relative lack of success in recent years. And every Arsenal fan I know is getting fed right up at the minute and would kill for a cup of some sort." Yes, because trophies are an indicator of success. They're shorthand for past happiness. And winning trophies is quite fun. But would Arsenal swap their current position for, say, an FA Cup win but a 13th-place finish in the league? Because the trophy-worshippers would suggest that they would be more successful then than now, and I would disagree.
Anyway, I digress. Pretty good game, this. What might have happened last Sunday if Sturridge hadn't been cup tied?
I should also add that in the early stages I was busy typing when Matt Taylor brought Theo Walcott down in the penalty area without touching the ball. Should have been a penalty. Might have changed things, obviously.
45+2mins: Peeeep! The first half comes to an end. Breathless stuff. Arsenal have come from behind to win twice in their last three games here (the third they won without that inconvenience).
45+2mins: Which, after a very long delay, Van Persie thunders into the top tier.
45mins: We're set for two minutes of stoppage time, and Arsenal are set for a tasty free-kick situation on the edge of the area.
44mins: Fàbregas thuds a 20-odd yarder across Jaaskelainen's goal and against the meat of his right-hand post.
40mins: It's been a very open game, but Bolton have had the three best chances and the best player in the shape of Sturridge, and thus deserve their lead. Replays are entirely inconclusive Nasri's entire body is blocking the camera's view of the ball so maybe Sturridge will keep the credit after all.
GOAL! Bolton 1 Arsenal 0 (Cahill 38) Arsenal clear for a corner. Lee sends it into the penalty area and Cahill, his run unchecked, rises alone to head goalwards. Nasri clears off the line, but Sturridge follows up to thud a header home from a yard. Sky are giving it to Sturridge, but I think the ball probably crossed the line before Nasri got in the way and Cahill will get the nod in the end.
37mins: Lovely chipped pass by Sturridge finds Lee's run, the Korean pokes the ball goalwards on the volley and Szczesny blocks.
37mins: Fàbregas sets up Nasri, who has time and space to line-up his shot from just outside the penalty area, but he drags it wide of goal. A good chance.
34mins: Sturridge is given offside, an extremely tight decision, when he would otherwise have been clean through. He's having a pretty good game, the striking tyro.
33mins: "Personally the only reason I care about any kind of silverware is the sword of damocles Fàbregas to Barcelona," writes Linda Howard. "Also the quality that is fantastic to watch deserves accolades beyond people nodding there heads and saying, 'Yes, yes, Arsenal are entertaining.' They players themselves deserve more, don't you think?" Well, perhaps. Unlike fans, players get a tangible reward from the accumulation of trophies in the shape of medals, and players like to have accumulated lots of medals by the time they retire. I totally understand that motivation, and players like Fàbregas are certainly capable of actually winning stuff. But I really think that, in the long term, trophies are pretty meaningless for fans (and clubs, even).
30mins: Wilshere's scamper forward is halted when Davies' leg appears from behind him and prods the ball away. A totally fair, utterly clean challenge but one he'd surely never have dared attempt if he was already on a booking. Just saying, like.
28mins: Apparently commentators in Spain think Bolton should have been down to nine by now. "On that last lunge by Taylor the one announcer said 'Roja, roja. Es Roja!'" writes Nathaniel Davies. "Before lapsing into comedy English: 'only - yellow - card.'"
27mins: Taylor crosses from the left, Szczesny tries his very best to fumble the ball in rather than gathering, but doesn't quite manage it.
25mins: Djourou's air-kick allows Matt Taylor to race into Arsenal's penalty area, but his left-foot blast is from too silly an angle to worry Szczesny.
24mins: Sturridge's excellent pass releases Lee, running through the Arsenal defence. Instead of shooting, though, he tries a bizarre backheel square-ball to Davies and Arsenal intercept and clear. Great pass, and the best chance of the game.
21mins: Bolton do what Bolton do hump the ball up to Davies, he flicks it on, and Sturridge scampers away. Only Djourou's excellent intervention stops him from getting a shot in.
20mins: Now Taylor's been booked, for a late, high-legged sliding mess of a challenge.
18mins: "I think the 'unsuccessful' issue is that their seasons of late tend to mirror their matches lots of fantastic praise-worthy action and no ultimate result," writes Linda Howard of Arsenal. "Think of that winners' circle as a six yard box they piddle around time and time again. Not a 'successful' feeling." Yeah, maybe. There's more to life (and sport) than the accumulation of trophies. Fun as that might be for a while, titles are only of interest to statisticians. Other humans should surely be more interested in being entertained and Arsenal do that job pretty well, while still winning most of their matches.
16mins: Can these players just stop doing things I have to write about and give me a moment to type? Now Fabregas's 20-yarder is turned round the post at full stretch by a diving Jaaskelainen. This is good stuff.
15mins: Sturridge plays Steinsson into space on the right, and his cross is met, just ahead of the near post, by Kevin Davies. The first-time shot zips wide.
14mins: It's not all one-way traffic. Sturridge does well to ferry the ball out of defence and Bolton briefly have 4v4, but Lee's cross doesn't cut much mustard.
13mins: Song, who must be pretty relieved to still be on the pitch, is booed by the home fans for overdoing his reaction to Davies' horror challenge.
12mins: Kevin Davies absolutely ploughs into Song, arriving slightly after the ball had departed. A disgraceful challenge, though not quite a red card. The referee doesn't even book him. Utter madness. Whatever Kevin Phillips said about Mike Jones, I agree.
9mins: Lovely run by Wilshere, keeping possession and bringing the ball out of defence, but he's brought down by Muamba. An absolute, cast-iron certain yellow card from where I was sitting, and the referee Mike Jones agrees, but he's getting a bit of a kicking on Sky's commentary (though I must say I'm loath to disagree with the great Kevin Phillips, todays co-commentator).
6mins: Theo Walcott seems set for an enjoyable afternoon, given that he is up against a left-back in Paul Robinson who he can both outrun and outjump. Anyway, he finds space again before passing the ball along the edge of the area to Fábregas, who blasts over.
4mins: Walcott escapes down the inside right channel, sends in a low cross which, while never looking likely to actually go in, is still too hot for Jaaskelainen to hold. The ball rebounds to Nasri, but his effort is blocked.
3mins: Jack Wilshere, the subject of much focus on his return to the club where he enjoyed a profitable loan spell last season, scurries down the right before sending in a decent cross which, inevitably, no team-mate fancies getting on the end of.
2 mins: The first minute's commentary throws up this double-whammy: "2011 has been a terrible year for Arsenal" ... "they're the only unbeaten team in the Premier League." I do hope that one day my team can be as unsuccessful as Arsenal.
1min: Peeeeep! And they're off!
3.59pm: Inevitable interesting pre-match @optajoe stat: Bolton have hit the woodwork least often this season (five times), Arsenal the most (20).
3.56pm: Bolton's players are lining up in the tunnel. Lots of people in the crowd are wearing silly outfits. The Arsenal players are there too. It's action time.
3.49pm: Sky are hosting a debate about whether we need a winter break. Pur-leese, I thought that hoary old chestnut was done with for eight months or so.
3.41pm: Gary Naylor responds to our continuing auto-refresh crisis. "The Guardian have had this obvious problem for ages now and still haven't done anything about it," he notes. "Who's in charge of your IT? Arsène Wenger?"
3.39pm: Thanks to Richard Eloli for this Australian bloopers compilation, which includes possibly my favourite goal celebration of the season (zip straight to it by clicking here). The lad looks genuinely delighted, for a short while.
3.25pm: Of course, there was a time when Bolton were something of a bogey team for Arsenal. No more, though: Arsenal have won their last eight games against the Trotters, including three here, and the clubs' Premier League head-to-head reads: Played: 23, Arsenal wins: 14, Draws: 5, Bolton wins: 4.
3.17pm: In no way related to this game question of the day: Fiorentina have a 16-year-old Brazilian striker called Jackson Beckham Diego Socrates da Silva Jesus. Is he the first professional footballer named after England's own David Beckham? It certainly shows just how old the LA-based midfield veteran is getting...
3.14pm: The teams are in and we're told that Johan Elmander will line up in central midfield for Bolton.
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Elmander, Muamba, Taylor, Sturridge, Kevin Davies. Subs: Bogdan, Petrov, Mark Davies, Klasnic, Moreno, Cohen, Wheater.
Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Walcott, Fabregas, Nasri, van Persie. Subs: Lehmann, Ramsey, Squillaci, Arshavin, Eboue, Gibbs, Chamakh.
Referee: Mike Jones.
3.10pm: Well, Arsenal probably can't win the title this season. That situation won't change even if they win today, but if they don't, we'll be able to exchange the word "probably" with "definitely". Bolton, arses still stinging from last week's FA Cup semi-final hiding from Stoke, simply must be beaten.
3pm: Good afternoon, world. I hope you're out somewhere, enjoying the bumper bank holiday sunshine and preparing to follow this afternoon's game and engage in some email-based banter via a mobile device. I'll sit inside and watch TV, friends, so you don't have to.

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

The Reebok Stadium

Bolton Wanderers v Arsenal – live!

• Hit F5 because autorefresh is broken. Sorry
• Email simon.burnton@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts
• Check out fixtures and results, plus the latest tables

#content > .six-col { float: none; }.m-sport { border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(0, 128, 0); }.m-sport #tabs { border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); }.m-sport h2 { margin-top: 0pt; border-top: 0pt none; font-size: 14px ! important; padding: 9px 0pt 12px ! important; }.m-sport th { padding-right: 30px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 150px; }.m-sport li { display: inline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); }.football .article-attributes { border-top: medium none ! important; }

Premier League

Bolton Wanderers 2

Sturridge 38,
Cohen 90

Arsenal 1

van Persie 48

Simon Burnton
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 April 2011 15.00 BST

Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Bolton Wanderers' Johan Elmander compete for the ball. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

90mins: The good news for Arsenal, such as it is – there'll be five minutes of stoppage time.
GOAL! BOLTON 2 ARSENAL 1! Bolton win it in the last minute! And it's another header from a corner, Tamir Cohen's sprightly run to the near post ending in a free header on goal. Calamity.
89mins: After all their pressure over the last 20 minutes, finally a chance. And it goes to Bolton. A collective misjudgement from the Arsenal defence lets Elmander run through, but his shot is turned round the post.
88mins: Davies finally collects his booking, for a not particularly terrible challenge on Koscielny.

Rutashubanyuma · Apr 24, 2011

Premier League

Bolton Wanderers 2

Sturridge 38,
Cohen 90

Arsenal 1

van Persie 48

Simon Burnton
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 April 2011 15.00 BST

Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Bolton Wanderers' Johan Elmander compete for the ball. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

90+3mins: They're an unhappy-looking bunch, that Arsenal lot. Understandable, mind, in many ways. It's a horrible, if fitting, way for their season to effectively end.

Michezo magazetini leo...

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