Arsenal survived a major second-half scare against Charlton to increase their Premiership lead to a seemingly unassailable nine points, following a 2-1 win over Charlton at Highbury today.
Arsenal looked to have sealed a routine victory at home to Alan Curbishley's side within just four minutes. Robert Pires struck his 50th goal for the club on his 157th start with just two minutes gone and Thierry Henry took his Premiership tally to 20 before Charlton could recover their heads.
Thereafter, however, Arsenal went through their full repertoire of tricks and flicks without ever making the most of their clear advantage. And they were made to pay for relaxing their grip when Claus Jensen pulled a goal back with a free-kick 30 minutes still left to play.
It could all have gone horribly wrong for Arsenal when Charlton substitute Jonatan Johansson struck the post deep into injury-time. But while Arsenal squandered numerous leads last season in allowing their title advantage to slip away, this time they held on.
With just over 90 seconds gone, Alan Curbishley's side were on the back foot as Pires capped a superb flowing move, finishing off a cross from Fredrik Ljungberg after the Swede had exchanged passes with Henry. Charlton had not even recovered their composure from that blow before Arsenal struck again, with Patrick Vieira bursting clear down the left flank.
The French international crossed to his compatriot, Henry, who outwitted Jonathan Fortune and Hermann Hreidarsson with his instinctive control and finish.
Arsenal thereafter rather toyed with their over-run opponents, with some of their one-touch play being exquisite. But while shots rained down on Kiely's goal from all angles, Ljungberg,
Vieira, Edu and Henry all failed to beat the keeper again before the break.
Instead, the Gunners started to relax on their lead, while Charlton desperately tried to raise the tempo on the break. While Paolo di Canio half-volleyed just wide and Jensen sent a chip just over the bar, there was nothing they could do to disrupt Arsenal's flow before the interval.
But the second half was nevertheless a rather different story. Arsenal still retained the edge in class yet Charlton simply refused to give up. Ashley Cole had to produce a fine covering tackle on his Charlton namesake Carlton, while Graham Stuart and di Canio both had fierce shots blocked.
When Lauren was harshly penalised for a tackle on di Canio, Jensen promptly curled the ensuing free kick past Jens Lehmann from 20 yards out. Arsenal were at least now awoken from their complacency.
Within a minute, Henry was denied by Kiely's legs and Vieira then headed wide from a free kick with the goal at his mercy. Kiley also tipped Henry's free kick around the post, while the Frenchman clipped the bar with a cross-shot as snow began to fall.
There was no way that Arsenal could take anything for granted, with Cole's deep cross evading Lehmann only for Stuart to head the ball back across goal.
Arsenal had chances of their own, with Reyes flashing a shot wide, but the title looked inexorably bound for Highbury when Johansson's shot bounced, as if in slow motion, against the post and out to safety.
Filed by Mark O'Neill-Cummins
