Bolton - 2 Arsenal - 2:PREMIERSHIP: These are the most melancholic days of Arsenal's season. Arsene Wenger's aggrieved state of mind seeped out in his brusque response to questions and the unusually long time he spent remonstrating with his players.
But it was the TV picture of a distraught fan wiping away tears that betrayed the true emotions.
A successful defence of the FA Cup will feel depressingly hollow for Wenger's players if their league campaign is to end in recriminations and, when the final whistle shrilled, every Arsenal follower must have realised the title race had taken a long swing in Manchester United's direction.
The overwhelming conclusion from Saturday's capitulation is that, however lavish the talent at Wenger's disposal, there is a stark difference in the philosophy between the skilled artistes of Highbury and the driven individuals of Old Trafford.
In the context of trench warfare, Alex Ferguson has half a dozen players who would be on the front line while some of Wenger's would be stamping envelopes back at HQ.
"That's rubbish," retorted Wenger to the suggestion his side were struggling to cope. "I would stand by my players in any situation. Anyone who believes my team are bothered by the pressure must be a childish person."
How else to explain how an eight-point lead turned into a five-point deficit in seven weeks and a shotgun-to-foot collapse on Saturday? Wenger said his players had "wanted to do the minimum to win" - not a sentence Ferguson would ever voice.
"The sun was shining, they were winning 2-0 and I guess they thought the job was done," said Gudni Bergsson, the Bolton captain. "Maybe the pressure is getting to them. I wouldn't say they looked nervous but once we had made it 2-1 a bit of apprehension crept in. I don't think United would have lost a two-goal lead to anybody."
"We are disappointed, and rightly so. We've made things so much more difficult for ourselves," said Wenger, after a 50-minute lock-in with his players. "We've given away two bad goals and, with our experience that is disappointing. For the first time it is out of our hands, which is hard to take."
Wenger will focus not only on Martin Keown's own-goal but the shabby defending when Youri Djorkaeff followed up Per Frandsen's shot off the post to make it 2-1 and the hesitancy of David Seaman. It is a fair presumption, too, in the aftermath of Florent Laville's sending-off he might have expected his side to create a chance in the six minutes added by the referee Andy D'Urso.
To dwell too much on Arsenal, however, would be a grave injustice to a Bolton side who matched their guests for all but the 20-minute spell early in the second half when Thierry Henry's sense of adventure, the quick feet of Robert Pires and the predatory instincts of Sylvain Wiltord established Arsenal's lead.
Allardyce accused D'Urso of bias towards Arsenal and seemed to agree with Ferguson's accusations of "bragging and over-confidence" in the Arsenal camp. "Earlier this season he (Wenger) said they would go through the season without losing," said Allardyce. "Those words might be coming back to haunt him now."
Guardian Service
BOLTON: Jaaskelainen, N'Gotty, Bergsson, Laville, Mendy (Andre 71), Campo (Nolan 71), Frandsen, Okocha, Gardner, Djorkaeff, Pedersen (Salva 83). Subs Not Used: Poole, Charlton. Sent Off: Laville (90). Booked: Laville, Campo. Goals: Djorkaeff 74, Keown 84 og.
ARSENAL: Seaman, Lauren (van Bronckhorst 72), Cygan (Keown 67), Campbell, Cole, Ljungberg (Luzhny 58), Parlour, Silva, Pires, Henry, Wiltord. Subs Not Used: Bergkamp, Taylor. Booked: Henry, Parlour. Goals: Wiltord 47, Pires 56.
Referee: A D'Urso.
