Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the table to 5 points today, which a 2-0 win over Blackburn in London. Senderos set them on their way quite early, heading home an Eduardo corner in the 7th minute, after some awful marking from Blackburn. Arsenal then dominated the next 20 minutes or so, without scoring, and that allowed Blackburn to come back into it. Rovers couldn't really fashion any chances though, and the Arsenal defence was excellent. Then late on, Alexander Hleb (who had been very good) found space on the right and squared the ball to Adebayor (who had been very shit), and the Togo-stick took either a really brilliant or awful first touch with his left, and thumped the ball home with his right. Game set and match.

Hleb excepted, the best players on show were the defensive ones. Adebayor can't be expected to be amazing in every match, but he was really crap today, although much improved in the second half. Flamini had a very strong game and was really influential. Cesc was craft, if subdued, and Gilberto and Eduardo were erratic but OK. Gilberto doesn't seem like he will be here next season.

The defence though was excellent. Lehmann was calm and solid, Sagna was his usual supercharged, all-action self, and Clichy was solid and alert. Senderos continues to grow in confidence with every game, and his goal was the icing on the cake in this performance. Gallas however was exquisite. Every tackle and interception was excellent, he read the play flawlessly, and made a few drives upfield trying to spur on and support the attack. He was especially important when the team kept conceding possession and gave Blackburn the advantage - he popped up time and time again to win back the ball, and allowed the team to keep its head.

For the first time in a long while, the main Arsenal centreback has the ability to play on either side of central defence. Gallas normally plays on the left when Kolo Toure is in the side, but has been equally adept and impressive on the right side, something which has allowed the defence to stay sharp and settled.

There were previously always problems on this front. Tony Adams preferred the left side of central defence as well, and this worked fine with Steve Bould or Martin Keown complementing him. Adams was accomplished enough to not let playing on the other side be an issue, but his preference was well known. Sol Campbell then arrived, and he too preferred Adams' part of the defence. However, they overlapped for only 1 season, most of which Adams was injured for. Campbell was truly god awful when played on the right-side of central defence, but luckily this was not a problem, as Kolo complemented him perfectly. Senderos too, like Campbell and Adams before him, prefers the left-side, and as a result the Campbell-Senderos partnership was one of the worst seen in recent years.

So after the hiccups and injury problems of 2006/07, the Arsenal central defence finally looks like a top notch unit. Toure and Gallas were hailed as a potential "dream patnership" when the latter signed, and although it took a season to realise that dream, it has happened. Gallas is imperious at the back, and the club finally have a range of good options in central defence. Because of his versatility, Kolo-Senderos, Kolo-Gallas, and Gallas-Senderos are all viable options.

And don't forget about Johan Djourou. He played on the left-side in Arsenal's win at Old Trafford last season, but plays on the right for club and country when paired with Swiss teammate Senderos. His return from injury will be much appreciated methinks.

Mark Hughes came to Highmirates on Saturday and played a 9-1 formation. One could see the value/logic/patheticness of it in a league game where a dogged draw would be worth a point to beleaguered relegation battlers, but that wasn't the case. This is no longer Blackburn Rovers circa Graeme Souness. This is a Blackburn side that is challenging for Europe, and has been scoring goals and beating teams. Yet they came to Arsenal on Saturday with absolutely no ambition, and made no attempt to win. It was 90 minutes of defending from Rovers, and the closest chance they had was a flukey looping cross-shot from late substitute Matt Derbyshire with his back turned to goal. I can't remember Almunia having to make another save of note.

I don't really understand how the papers get away with describing them as "Gutsy Rovers", and how they "earned a deserved draw". HELLO! Football is about attacking, and defending, and even though you might be better at one than the other, you at least TRY to do both. This was not the case, because if anything, Rovers were completely gutless. And it's an FA Cup tie for f**k's sakes... what have they got other than a replay at home where they've already been outplayed 2-0 by a 10-man Arsenal side? Are they going to attack over there? And if so, why didn't they try attacking in London? The 7 players being out injured for them is a poor excuse. There have been far worse Blackburn sides, that have beaten far better Arsenal sides. Ok, they were missing Gamst and Benni McCarthy, but there was enough attacking talent in the team for them to have a go.

Nonda was playing alone up front, and he scored twice against Arsenal in Blackburn's 6-2 defeat at Ashburton Grove earlier this season. There were also two strikers on the bench - Jason Roberts and Matt Derbyshire. Roberts has scored against Arsenal before, and given our defence loads of problems when he was at West Brom and Wigan, and Derbyshire is a young striker in fantastic form, who looked dangerous in that same 6-2 defeat. It was header that bounced of the bar for Nonda to score from, and almost scored later but miskicked his shot. Both of those could have really troubled an Arsenal defence with a tired Kolo Toure and Philippe Senderos - who is very prone to pace.

In midfield, they might have been short of options, but they still had Brett Emerton, David Dunn and David Bentley. Ex-Arsenal boy Bentley has been one of Blackburn's brightest attacking talents over the last two years. Dunn is a player of oustanding talent who was instrumental in Blackburn's 3-2 victory at Highbury in 2001/2002, and even in a 4-5-1 he could have easily driven forth from midfield to provide an attacking threat. Emerton, although he's been deployed at right-back this season, is a player who can dribble, cross and pass, and made his name as an attacking right-winger.

The point is that Blackburn could very easily have put their injury excuses aside and tried to win. They were WOEFUL. It was an Arsenal side without Rosicky, Hleb, Gilberto, Eboue, Adebayor and Baptista, and with Aliadiere and Flamini filling in, and a rusty Freddie Ljungberg putting in his first start since December. Arsenal were vulnerable today, but Blackburn didn't try to counter-attack, didn't try to put in crosses... they didn't try anything at all. Arsenal played their part by not testing the Blackburn defence enough. They were, as Arsene Wenger described - "flat", and with all the changes made there was a little sharpness lacking. Henry was absent, although Aliadiere was tidy up front, and they didn't really test Blackburn until the end, but unfortunately Brad Friedel was more than equal with a couple of stunning saves.

I think the root logic behind Hughes' strategy was this - he knew that Arsenal didn't want a replay and another game on their already hectic schedule. They have already played in excess of 40 games this season, and they will be well near the 70 mark by the end of it. Be assured that with Premiership and Champions League commitments, there will be another "rotated" Arsenal side out there, but there was one of those at Bolton, and two of those against Tottenham, so I don't think the Arse will be too fussed. Here's to hoping that the replay ends in normal time and that there's not another 120 minute extravaganza - if there hadn't been one at Bolton, Baptista, Denilson, Diaby, Adebayor and co would have quite likely have impacted the game against Rovers.

Arsenal had Gilberto sent of with just under a quarter of an hour gone, yet they still comfortably dominated the possession and beat Blackburn 2-0 away from home. Both goals were excellent, with Kolo Toure showing fantastic hunger and determination to plant an unstoppable header past Friedel from a Thierry Henry freekick just before half time. Arsenal then relieved the pressure with an excellent counter-attacking goal late(ish) in the second half, with Henry sprinting down the left flank, exchanging passes with Cesc, and then curling a terrific shot into the far top corner that Friedel could only get a touch on.

The sending off of Gilberto had been very harsh. He retaliatedly stupidly with a little kick-out at Robbie Savage (the 'Peroxide Mongrel' - Good work Myles), after the Welsh c*nt had taken two horrible hacks at the back of his legs without even trying to win the ball. Savage really is a hideous little fucker, and he proved this by rolling around like a "foreigner" after Gilberto had flicked his leg at him. The referee showed Gilberto a red for his (stupid) retaliation, but Savage got only a yellow even though both his "attempts to win the ball" were much worse than what poor Gilberto had done. It's tough on the Brazilian because he is probably one of the nicest and most-mild mannered players in the Premiership (once went almost one year without a booking, and he's a defensive mid!), and now he's suspended for 3 games, including next weekend's fixture against Manchester United, against whom he has been oustanding in recent games. Something really needs to be done about the refereeing because although you can understand punishing someone for reacting, how can you not sufficiently punish the provocation in the first place? Rob Styles could (and should) have shown common sense and just booked both players, but a red card was very harsh. Later in the match, Tugay quite purposefully stamped on Cesc's right foot, a challenge that could easily have been a leg-breaker, but by the laws of the game it was a a yellow, even thought it was 10 times as severe as Gilberto's tackle. Still, the FA are a bunch of idiots, and so blah blah blah. Here are the ratings:

Arsenal (4-4-2)

Jens Lehmann (7.5/10) - Did all that was expected of him, including a great save from a Morten Gamst Pederson left-footer. Showed good judgement in coming out for long balls, crosses and set pieces, but didn't really have too much to do.

Hoyte (7/10) - Showing signs of improvement, but also the same old glaring mistakes. Is positionally still a bit naive, but defended well, and is learning how to get forward much better. It helps to be playing behind an intelligent guy like Hleb, and they combined very well.

Toure (8.5/10) - Great, solid performance at centreback, and took his goal fantastically. Was the only Arsenal player in the box for that free-kick, but he was hungry enough to score the header even with 5 Blackburn players around him.

Senderos (8/10) - Top stuff from Big Phil. Good man to have around when the long balls are being pumped in, and even though he wasn't 100% comfortable, this was still his best showing of the season, and a great way to build on his good performance at Anfield in the FA Cup. Solid.

Clichy (8/10) - Gael was terrific today. OK, he gets a bit out of position at times, but his energy, dribbling and tenacity are fantastic. Dealt well with the on-form Emerton, overlapped as well as he could, and was unlucky with his execution of a few long passes. Still rediscovering his game after over a year out of football, and doing so well. Needs work on his passing, but he was terrific today. Exactly the kind of performance needed when you're down to ten men.

Hleb (8/10) - Great stuff from Alex. Unmatchable close control, great movement, and great understanding with his fellow players. His passing involved the occassional stray/hospital ball, but he links up brilliantly with Cesc and Rosicky, and makes his fullback 40% better. Tracked back and defended very well, and his composure on the ball, especially under Blackburn pressure was superb.

Cesc (8.5/10) - Super stuff from the little man again. Really, really stepped up and dominated the game. When Gilberto was sent off it was clear that a lot of pressure would be on Cesc, but he handled it with no problems. Sprayed the ball around with ease as always, and provided a cute pass for Thierry's goal. You have to love his appetite for the game - for a little technical guy like him, he is never phased, never brushed off the ball, and always up for a challenge. Even when Tugay stamped on his ankle, he was back on the field and getting into Lucas Neill's face. Just the kind of play and performance you need against a bunch of thugs (although Blackburn were not really violent at all today). Now leads the league with 10 assists.

Gilberto (3/10) - Harsh red card, but he reacted stupidly. Only 14 minutes into the game, so didn't really do too much. Will be missed against United.

Rosicky (7.5/10) - Terrific energy and link-up play. No really end product, and he lost the ball a few times, but together with Cesc and Hleb, he forms a majestic midfield trio. Was sharp and dangerous, but never really produced anything.

Van Persie (6/10) - Very subdued performance from him. He hasn't looked terrific since Henry came back, and you have to say there is something conflicting in their playing styles. He was fouled for the free-kick that Kolo scored from. Didn't have too much luck, but his touch let him down on occassion.

Henry (7.5/10) - Was not really that good, maybe not back to his best yet, but he comes out of the game with an assist and a very nice goal. He was kind of dawdling at times today, inefficient with the ball, but he came up with the goods when we needed it. He was very lively after that, but was tired and got subbed off for Adebayor.

Subs:

Flamini (5.5/10) - Came on for Robin to shore things up. Worked had but didn't really do anything.

Adebayor (5/10) - On for Henry, didn't do much. Things he attempted didn't come off, and he crossed too high with Flamini in a good position. Just a cameo though.

Djourou - Came on for Cesc very late on to prevent the Spaniard from getting more injured/involved.