Two own goals add to Arsenal woes

Arsenal players react after conceding a goal against the Rovers during their match at Ewood Park in Blackburn, England, on Saturday. [AP/YONHAP]

LONDON - Arsenal crashed to a 4-3 defeat against the Blackburn Rovers on Saturday despite leading the game twice in the first half, while all three promoted clubs had wins in the Premier League on the same day for the first time since February 2007.

Yakubu Ayegbeni hit two goals in his debut and Arsenal’s hapless defense added two own goals as Blackburn registered its first win of the season to ramp up the pressure on Gunners manager Arsene Wenger.

Swansea romped past West Bromwich Albion with goals from Scott Sinclair, Leroy Lita and Nathan Dyer, while Joey Barton, Alejandro Faurlin and D. J. Campbell gave the Queens Park Rangers a 3-0 win at the Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Norwich completed the trio of victories for the promoted clubs, with Anthony Pilkington and Bradley Johnson getting first-half goals in a 2-1 win at Bolton. Martin Petrov cut the deficit with a 64th-minute penalty.

In other matches, Newcastle recovered to draw 1-1 at Aston Villa to preserve both sides’ unbeaten starts to the season and Everton scored two late goals to beat Wigan 3-1.

Arsenal’s troubled start to the season deepened despite goals from Gervinho in the 10th minute and Mikel Arteta in the 34th twice giving Arsene Wenger’s team the lead.

Ayegbeni equalized in the 25th and an own goal from Alexander Song just after halftime pulled Blackburn level again as Arsenal’s shaky defense self-destructed under the pouring rain at Ewood Park.

“It is terrible, it is just not good enough,’’ Wenger said. “Of course we are very frustrated. The spirit in the team is quite willing but, if you look at the number of goals we have conceded, that is not good enough.’’

Ayegbeni added a third in the 59th and Laurent Koscielny became the second Arsenal player to put the ball into his own net following Martin Olsson’s burst down the right in the 69th.

“We had to press, we had to fight, and we played on the counterattack, and I think our second-half performance shows what we’ve got in that dressing room which is 100 percent team spirit,’’ Blackburn manager Steve Kean said. “The boys are really working hard for each other and I’m delighted.’’

Several hundred Blackburn fans had demonstrated their dissatisfaction with Kean outside the ground before the match started, but the home side’s win meant it was Wenger who was fielding questions about his job.

AP

한글 관련 기사 [일간스포츠]

'박주영 새둥지' 아스널, 왜 이러나…

박주영이 결장한 아스널이 리그 최하위 블랙번에 역전패했다.

아스날은 17일(한국시간) 이우드파크에서 열린 2011~2012 프리미어리그 5라운드 경기에서 블랙번에 3-4로 졌다. 지난 두 경기에 뛰지 못한 박주영은 이번에도 출전 명단에서 제외돼 데뷔전이 불발됐다.

먼저 골 문을 연 것은 아스널이었다. 전반 10분, 송이 전방으로 밀어준 침투패스를 제르비뉴가 반대편 골문을 향해 오른발 슈팅을 날려 첫 골을 성공시켰다. 블랙번도 전반 25분 야쿠부가 골이 터뜨리며 승부를 원점으로 되돌렸다. 그러나 아스널은 34분 램지의 패스를 이어받은 아르테타의 슛이 골망을 가르며 2-1로 전반을 마무리했다.

후반전은 블랙번의 무대였다. 후반 5분, 아스널의 로치나가 올려준 프리킥이 송의 무릎에 맞고 자기편 골문에 들어간 데 이어 후반 14분엔 역전골이 터져나왔다. 은존지가 오른쪽에서 올린 크로스를 야쿠부가 마무리 지었다. 야구쿠의 이 날 두 번째 골이었다. 후반 24분 또 다시 아스널의 자책골이 나오며 승부가 기울었다. 종료 5분 전 샤막이 만회골을 터뜨렸지만 팀의 패배를 막기엔 역부족이었다.

아스널은 이로서 1승 1무 3패를 기록, 승점 4점으로 리그 13위로 떨어졌다.