Blackburn fly over Arsenal

Ayegbeni Yakubu scored twice to turn up the heat on Arsene Wenger as Blackburn twice came from behind to defeat Arsenal 4-3 at Ewood Park on Saturday. Results

Ayegbeni Yakubu scored twice to turn up the heat on Arsene Wenger as Blackburn twice came from behind to defeat Arsenal 4-3 at Ewood Park on Saturday.

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It leaves Arsenal with just four points from their opening five games and means Wenger’s side have now conceded 12 goals in the last two away games in the Premier League.

The Gunners had taken the lead on 10 minutes, Alex Song splitting the defence with a weighted pass to find Gervinho who rifled a low angled shot shot beyond Paul Robinson.

But despite dominating play Arsenal were unable to add to their lead and were rocked on 25 minutes when Yakubu conjured a goal out of nothing, picking up David Hoilett’s pass to finish past Wojciech Szczesny.

Arsenal were back in front within nine minutes, when new signing Mikel Arteta swept in Aaron Ramsey’s cross with aplomb to put Arsenal 2-1 up.

However, the Gunners’ age-old defensive problems returned to haunt them as two own goals from Alex Song and Laurent Koscielny put Blackburn 4-2 up.

Marouane Chamakh ensured a nervous finish for Rovers when he headed in Robin van Persie’s cross to pull one back for Arsenal on 85 minutes, but the home side hung on for their first win of the season.

The defeat leaves Arsenal with four points from five games, just two points above the relegation zone, and eight points behind leaders Manchester United, who face Chelsea on Sunday.

Ferguson wary of Chelsea threat
Sir Alex Ferguson believes Chelsea still represent one of Manchester United’s sternest challengers for the Premier League despite manager Andre Villas-Boas’s relative lack of experience.

The spotlight has been off Chelsea, who have been challengers for the last seven years, and switched closer to home with Manchester City joining near-neighbours United at the top of the Premier League. “They will be there at the end of the season, there is no doubt about that,” Ferguson said.

“At the moment, the two Manchester teams are enjoying the publicity that comes from the predictions that they are going to be involved in the winning of the league. In the background lurks Chelsea. They don’t need the publicity. They will be enjoying being out of the profile at the moment.”