Beauty against the beast and another three points.

Firstly, apologies for my absence. I suppose that's what happens when you move, change job and, er, socialise too much. For the record, I now have a 6 hour journey, each way, to see the mighty Arse, so cut me some slack.

Anyway, onto the match.

There's a reason why Bolton's enclosure was half-empty yesterday, and it's not just because they're bottom of the league. They play a strange mutation of football, one which seeks to glorify its worst elements to near ridiculous heights. Fouling and long-balls: that's all Bolton have. And that's not football. People pay to watch football. They travel hundreds of miles to watch teams pass the ball, to score, to create and entertain. They do not want to see a bunch of thugs kick and batter each other. There are plenty of other sports for people if they seek this form of entertainment. Boxing perhaps; dare I say it, rugby as well.

So it was good to get one over Bolton yesterday, and not just because I want Arsenal to win every game they play; it resembled some form of triumph for the beauty of sport over its darker side.

But we made hard work of it, and perhaps should have been down to 10 men early in the first half. Cesc, who can be rattled, was wound up by a particularly disagreeable challenge from McCann, and after receiving a yellow card, proceeded to hack down Campo. Another referee might have sent him off, and it was one of the few sensible decisions Riley took all afternoon to recognise what had happened did not warrant ruining the game.

The profligacy of Ade almost cost us as well. He's a bizarre player to watch at times. He can pull a first touch out that can make you weep with joy, and follow it with a finish that comes straight from the Steven Gerrard in Moscow training manual. He has the talent, but will his need for so many chances cost us in bigger games? I hope not.

The real stars of the show yesterday were Alex Hleb and Theo. Hleb had a wonderfully creative performance, that merited at least an assist. Indeed, it was his ball to Theo that led to our second goal.

Theo himself was a joy to behold, running with pace and verve at a baffled Bolton defence. It summed up Ade's afternoon that he possibly, accidentally, blocked a shot from Theo that might have crept in. Theo's lack of goals doesn't bother me at the moment; they will come in time. The same can be said about Eduardo, who had a far better performance than has been suggested in some of the papers this morning.

It was also good to have Rosicky back. With both him and Hleb in the team, we look far more threatening. I just hope he can stop getting these little niggles which seem to plague him. He will be crucial in our upcoming games against United and Liverpool.

One player who was pretty dire yesterday was Eboue. His passing was poor, he doesn't seem to know what he's doing on the wing, he dives and he blasted a chance over. It might just be rustiness after a prolonged absence, but the diving is nothing new and he's got to cut it out. Remember what shirt you're wearing.

All in all, so far so good. We're currently pretty unstoppable, and whilst we've benefited from an absence of top-four opposition, and a plethora of home games, we've done the business and you can only beat the team in front of you.

A season defining week awakes. How we perform against Liverpool and United will say a lot about how we're going to do this year.

ps - a note to Gunnersaurus.

Overall, I think you're a lovely mascot. In fact, I'd go as far to say that you rule. However I've been asked to request that you either get a new t-shirt firing gun, or that you take better aim. I've seen one t-shirt reach the upper tier this season. That type of finishing just isn't good enough.