Arsenal Do Enough To Go Five Clear

It was one of those rare games that left The Emirates faithful frustrated for large parts.

However, the end often justifies the means, as the saying goes, and few Arsenal fans would have left the stadium disappointed after their team took a five point lead in the title race on the back of a deserved, if at times ugly, 2-0 win.

Philippe Senderos opened the scoring, breaking clear of marker Benni McCarthy and crashing in a 4th minute header from an Eduardo corner.

However after a strong first ten minutes, the Gunners failed to up the ante, and Blackburn grew into the game, slowly but surely.

The rest of the half was more of a midfield scrap than a display of clean football, which played into the visitors' hands. They almost made the most of it just before the break, but McCarthy headed over after being picked out by a cross from David Bentley.

There was more trouble just after the re-start, as Jens Lehmann - handed another start - had to scramble to turn a low Bentley effort around for a corner.

Arsenal were having positive spells, but were unable to get that all-important second goal, which meant that Blackburn were never quite out of it despite being second best.

However, Senderos and William Gallas were having a great game, meaning that there was very little change for Roque Santa Cruz and McCarthy.

Alexander Hleb almost sealed the result with ten minutes to go, but his stinging drive thundered into the near post with Friedel well beaten.

Blackburn made one final push, but it was Arsenal who finally got that all important goal in injury time as Adebayor picked up a pass from Helb and beat Friedel at the near post to put the result beyond doubt.

The Gunners are now five clear of Manchester United with 12 games to go. They next face The Red Devils in the FA Cup, before taking on Milan in the Champions League.

Neal Glew, Goal.com