Gilberto's late strike saves Arsenal

FA Premiership/Arsenal 1 Bolton 1: It sums up Arsenal's problems that barely a murmur of surprise greets their failure to win matches such as this these days. Nor should anyone be shocked when Arsene Wenger's team do not prevail, particularly against sides around them. If one measure of a leading club is how they fare against their closest challengers, Arsenal's record this season confirms how far they have fallen.

Wenger's squad have played nine league games against the teams currently in the Premiership's top eight and won only once - at Wigan.

They have lost twice to Chelsea, taken one point from a possible six against Bolton and West Ham and drawn their sole meetings with Manchester United and Tottenham. That is hardly a run to fill Wenger with hope for tomorrow's crucial game at third-placed Liverpool.

With two games to come against Rafa Benitez's team and one against each of Spurs, Manchester United and Wigan, Arsenal surely need to improve that ratio to claim fourth place.

Arsenal were denied on Saturday only by a clearance in the final seconds by the impressive Ricardo Gardner but their siege of Bolton's goal in the final half-hour followed long periods during which they gave the ball away too easily and lacked inspiration to break down well organised opponents.

Good goalkeeping by Jussi Jaaskelainen and brave defending helped keep Arsenal out until Gilberto swept in a deserved equaliser from a cross by Cesc Fabregas, the team's best player.

More tough situations lie ahead during this defining period of Arsenal's season, with Liverpool followed by successive visits to Real Madrid, Blackburn and Fulham. They will need to start better than here.

Bolton stretched Jens Lehmann and hit the bar inside two minutes and went ahead when the influential Kevin Nolan dinked the ball beautifully over the goalkeeper.

Arsenal's initial problems against a team who retreated in numbers were down to their own failures, a Bolton work-rate epitomised by Nolan and Kevin Davies, and Abdoulaye Faye's protecting of his back four.

Arsenal lost their cool after losing Jose Antonio Reyes to a foul by Faye, who should have been sent off. Reyes will have an MRI scan today to test for a stress fracture to his right leg after X-rays showed no break.

Webb's failure to show Faye a red card or even caution Mathieu Flamini for an awful lunge at Gardner shortly after may see him relieved of fourth-official duties at Liverpool tomorrow.

Lehmann said Arsenal were not pleased Webb was awarded Saturday's game after he took charge of their defeat at Bolton in December. "We were quite unhappy - and he turned up again," he said.

Lehmann was surprised Webb volunteered to Nolan that there were five minutes remaining as Bolton tried to hold on: "I have not heard this before."

Bolton did not hold on, losing a lead for the third game running. "If you want to finish fourth," said Sam Allardyce, "you cannot throw away winning positions."