Arsenal reminded of their mortality

Arsenal - 2 Bolton Wanderers - 1 When a Roman general was being rewarded by Caesar with a triumphal procession, a slave stood behind him in the chariot to whisper in his ear, "Remember you are mortal."

Bolton Wanderers do much the same job for Arsenal. Indeed, Sam Allardyce's team got so carried away with that specialist role a year ago they virtually polished off the Highbury club's championship ambitions with a 2-2 draw.

They might well have had the same result on Saturday. An equaliser should have come early in the second half, when Kevin Davies wasted a free header, and it might still have been delivered in stoppage time had Ivan Campo been able to land a half-chance on target. Although their nine-point lead remains intact, this was a refresher course in fallibility for Arsenal.

Thierry Henry admits their luck is better this season but there are other types of improvement as well. "The difference is we're playing more as a team. It's not a case of expecting two or three players to do something."

Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure, tussling to clear as the ball veered in the high winds, were as important to the cause as the gaggle of virtuosos in front of them.

"The second half was a Hitchcock one - no one knew what was going to happen next," Henry remarked of the unexpected tension.

The Arsenal stylists were not wholly cut from the screenplay and a third goal would have relieved the strain had it not been for Jussi Jaaskelainen's excellent save from Henry and, later, a comical loss of balance by Freddie Ljungberg when put through by Dennis Bergkamp.

No one supposed that such a lapse would be any more than an insignificant detail when Arsenal began the game in such swaggering style. As it was, the match came to a close with even Arsene Wenger in a state of panicky agitation. "I am not the master of relaxation," the Arsenal manager said, admitting that the usual air of Zen-like detachment is misleading.

With the win secured, this could be seen as ideal preparation for the two-legged Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea that starts on Wednesday. Arsenal are still in good form but had their durability checked by a Bolton side striving to avoid a fourth consecutive Premiership defeat.

Allardyce knows there is work to be done if his team are to remain aloof from the relegation dust-up, so he ought to be encouraged by the character shown here. Bolton had to recover from the early stages, in which they were no more of an impediment to Arsenal than the bits of rubbish being blown around the Highbury pitch on a stormy day.

After 16 minutes Bergkamp laid the ball back and Robert Pires took a touch before directing a drive from the fringes of the area that curled inexorably inside the far post. There was the same air of predestination once Pires had sprung a rickety offside trap with a pass on the left eight minutes later to Henry, whose chipped cross was smacked in first time by Bergkamp.

Such authority was restricted to Arsenal's outfield players. While Bolton were more competitive after the interval, they also drew hope from the indecisiveness of Jens Lehmann, who scarcely dealt satisfactorily with a single cross.

Wenger cited the weather as a mitigating factor, but his goalkeeper was also so poorly positioned that he could not even challenge for a corner from Stelios Giannakopoulos after 41 minutes. The Greek's inswinger was cleared from the line, but Bruno N'Gotty fired the ball back in and Campo drove home from close range.

There are suggestions Lehmann will be allowed to start Germany's friendly with Belgium at the end of this month in place of Oliver Kahn, but unless he is more commanding than he was here he may just vindicate coach Rudi Völler's usual preference for the Bayern man.

Wenger will care only that Lehmann is secure at Stamford Bridge, but Arsenal, in equalling the record of 29 matches unbeaten in the league from the start of a season, rise to most challenges. "You don't do that without an outstanding spirit," the manager said. "I am more sensitive to that than I am to the record."

He is also alert to the predicament of his opposite number at Stamford Bridge. Irrespective of results, it seems Chelsea will dismiss Claudio Ranieri if any of their preferred candidates agrees to take the job. "This rumour has hung around," said Wenger, "and I do have sympathy."

On Wednesday, however, Ranieri will not expect mercy.