Freddie brace sinks Addicks
Arsenal maintained their dogged pursuit of Chelsea as Freddie Ljungberg netted
twice as the Gunners claimed a vital 3-1 victory at Charlton.
The pressure was on the Gunners before kick-off at The Valley, with Chelsea
having temporarily extended their lead to eight points by winning at Liverpool.
However, despite a relatively inexperienced line-up and amid pouring rain,
Arsenal showed they will not give up their title without a determined fight.

Even when Talal El Karkouri equalised Ljungberg's opener on the stroke of
half-time with a superb free-kick, they refused to buckle.
Just three minutes after the restart, Ljungberg struck again before Holland
Under-21 international Robin van Persie showed his rich potential with his
side's third goal.
But, while Ljungberg excelled along with Cesc Fabregas and Patrick Vieira, it
was van Persie who perhaps best summed up his side's display.
His introduction to life in the Premiership has been mixed at best, however, he
looked every inch the long-term replacement for Dennis Bergkamp as Arsenal coped
with the absence of not only the Dutchman, but also Lauren, Jose Antonio Reyes,
Gilberto Silva and Edu.
They were also up against an in-form Charlton team, with four wins and a draw in
their past five league games.
The home side certainly made a bright start, with Manuel Almunia required to
produce a neat reaction save inside the first minute from Dennis Rommedahl.
However, Arsenal increasingly came into the game as Thierry Henry evaded the
offside trap to latch on to Kolo Toure's throughball only for Dean Kiely to save
his snap-shot.
As the rain started to pour down, Arsenal continued to press, although van
Persie was at this stage being denied the space in which to link up effectively
with Henry.
Then again, there is far more to this effective Charlton side than just hustle
and bustle, for they were also showing considerable assurance in possession,
with some neat moves out of defence.
While Almunia was fortunate to escape punishment when he dropped a seemingly
routine catch, it was left to the experienced figure of Swedish international
Ljungberg to lead by example.
With 10 minute left before half-time, Ashley Cole won back the ball with
persistence and Arsenal immediately sped on to counter-attack.
Van Persie fed Vieira on the overlap, but even when the Frenchman cut the ball
back to Ljungberg, the Swede was still standing with his back to goal.
However, despite the close attentions of at least two defenders, he produced an
instinctive turn before sweeping his shot past Kiely from close-range, via a
slight deflection off Danny Murphy.
That should have sealed Arsenal's half-time lead, only for El Karkouri to
respond by striking a thunderbolt free-kick in injury-time to bring the home
side level.
Arsene Wenger was angered, presumably by the decision to award the free-kick for
a foul by Vieira on Murphy, and continued his remonstrations with referee Mark
Halsey as the teams left the pitch.
Arsenal were nevertheless back in the lead just three minutes after the restart
and again it was Ljungberg who provided the cutting edge.
While the Swede's finish was assured, he was still indebted to Van Persie for
nipping ahead of the worryingly static figure of Jonathan Fortune, and Fabregas,
who played an inspired flick into his path.
But, while Jerome Thomas had the ball in the net, Shaun Bartlett had been
flagged offside several seconds beforehand and it was Arsenal who created the
better chances.
But, while Jerome Thomas had the ball in the net, Shaun Bartlett had to head
Henry's free-kick off his own goal-line, before Charlton's defence failed to
cope with a clearance by keeper Almunia, and van Persie was left clear to fire a
superb shot into the far corner from a tight angle with 23 minutes left.



But I'm not a slave to a god
that doesn't exist
But I'm not a slave to a world
that doesn't give a shit






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