Arsenal dismantled Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium as the Gunners ran out 4-1 victors in the Premier League this afternoon. Laurent Koscielny opened the scoring before Johan Elmander grabbed an equaliser late in the first-half. Arsenal turned on the style as captain Cesc Fabregas laid on assists for Marouane Chamakh, Alex Song and Carlos Vela after Gary Cahill was sent off midway through the second half.

The first chance of the game fell to Andrey Arshavin with five minutes played, Tomas Rosicky threaded a beautiful through-ball between the Bolton centre-backs and Arshavin burst beyond the defensive backline. Advancing into the left-hand side of the box, the Russian found himself one-on-one with Adam Bodgan who stood firm to deny Arshavin’s tame effort as the ’keeper managed to push the ball out for a corner.

Rosicky combined with Arshavin in Arsenal’s next attacking gusto. The Russian, taking up a position on the right flank, cut the ball inside for Rosicky who drove goalwards. The Czech midfielder unleashed a rasping drive from the edge of the penalty area but it zipped safely over Bogdan’s crossbar.

Bolton weren’t content to sit back and absorb pressure, and they pushed forward to probe Arsenal’s much changed defensive line. They were pressing well in the early stages but struggled to penetrate, despite a couple of nervous touches from Arsenal defenders. This approach was underlined when Kevin Davies was booked in the 18th minute for persistent fouling after a clumsy challenge on Jack Wilshere.

Arsenal took the lead in the 24th minute; Wilshere played a lovely cross from the right-hand edge of the box into the back post area where Cesc Fabregas nodded the ball back into the six-yard box. Koscielny arrived ahead of his marker to scramble it over the line from close range to score his first goal for Arsenal.

In typical fashion, Arsenal continued to pile forward as Arshavin pestered Bolton from all angles. Just after the half hour mark, he burst into the right-hand side of the box with Zat Knight flailing behind him. He went for goal with a right-footed effort and beat the onrushing Bogdan, but could only find the side-netting.

Bolton responded with a couple of testing set pieces into the Arsenal penalty area, first with a Martin Petrov corner swung deep into the box which the home side struggled to deal with. There was a scramble and the ball fell to Elmander who smashed a snapshot goalwards, but Manuel Almunia made himself big to deny the shot and Arsenal managed to clear.

At the other end, Arshavin had another chance on goal which was almost a carbon copy of his last attempt. Fabregas played the Russian into space behind the Bolton defence and he put his shot into the side-netting from the right-hand side of the box.

Arsenal were punished for their poor finishing just before half-time as they conceded a sloppy goal. Bogdan hoofed the ball upfield and it was nodded on by Davies, then Koscielny inexplicably headed the ball wide into his own penalty area. Chung-Yong Lee was the quickest to react, and despite being forced wide by Almunia the South Korean kept his cool, dinking the ball back into the middle where Elmander leapt above his marker to head home beyond the sprawling Almunia and level the scores.

As the teams emerged for the second half, Almunia and Koscielny were in deep counsel with debutant Sebastien Squillaci in close attendance. Koscielny seemed to be blaming poor communication for his wayward header that lead to Bolton’s equalising goal.

Arshavin continued to be Bolton’s tormentor and was signalled offside twice in the early stages of the second half after lovely build-up play by Arsenal. On the second occasion the Russian had jinked past Bogdan effortlessly to leave himself with an open goal, but he had just made his move too early as Chamakh slotted the ball through.

Chamakh was the next Arsenal player to have an opportunity for the Gunners. The Moroccan charged through on goal and hit a venomous strike on goal that was tipped wide by Bogdan. Arsenal retook the lead from the corner; Fabregas’ initial cross was cleared only as far as Arshavin who quickly slipped in the Arsenal captain. Fabregas crossed into the centre where Chamakh rose confidently and hammered his header beyond Bogdan to hand the home side the lead once again.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors as Gary Cahill was dismissed in the 64th minute for a two-footed swipe at Chamakh. The English defender came through the back of the Arsenal forward and though Chamakh wasn’t hurt it was a risky challenge. Bolton players surrounded the referee, as they felt Song had committed a foul on the edge of his own penalty area moments before.

Another heavy challenge came in minutes after the sending off, substitute Abou Diaby was caught by Paul Robinson and the Frenchman was furious with the left-back. The Arsenal midfielder tried to continue but was soon withdrawn by manager Arsene Wenger, who brought on Denilson to replace him.

Arshavin engineered another opportunity for Arsenal as he sprayed an exquisite pass from the left to Rosicky on the right flank. The Czech Republic midfielder took a touch and went for goal with a vicious strike, it deceived some of the fans inside the ground as it appeared to ripple the back of the net, but it had actually gone narrowly wide of the target.

Arsenal fans didn’t have to wait long for the genuine article as Song extended Arsenal’ s lead minutes later. Arshavin, under pressure inside the box, played a cute ball inside for Song whose first touch took him past Knight and his second was a delicious chip to lift the ball over the onrushing Bogdan. It was an excellent goal from an unusual source, and gave Arsenal some breathing space at last.

Vela didn’t take long to get in on the act, soon after his introduction Fabregas chipped the ball over the back four and Vela pounced onto the through ball. The Mexican gave Bogdan no chance, as he finished coolly into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal to give the scoreline a more emphatic feel.

Arsenal coasted through the remaining minutes, seemingly content with their three goal margin as the Gunners collected another three points from the Emirates Stadium.