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Arsenal captain Thierry Henry returned to the first 11 and netted as Arsenal moved above Bolton and into 4th place in the league thanks to goals from their captain, Justin Hoyte and a double from Robin Van Persie.

Arsene Wenger knew the importance of winning this game and maybe their was even a question of revenge on Alan Pardew himself after the two got involved in a touchline fight when West Ham won 1-0 at Upton Park earlier in the season but it was Charlton who could have taken the lead early on but Dennis Rommedahl fired wide.

However Arsenal were soon in control and Gilberto fired wide before Philippe Senderos had his header cleared off the line by last gasp winner from the Aston Villa game Bryan Hughes and then Robin Van Persie sent through Fabregas but Carson saved his shot and it looked a all too familiar story for the Arsenal fans dominating games but failing to kill teams off.

It didn’t get any better for Arsenal as Henry saw his header come back off the post and Fabregas had a long range shot hit the bar but Arsenal were awarded a penalty seconds after this as Robin Van Persie had been hauled down and the man that had done it Sankofa got his marching orders.

“Cometh the hour� “Cometh the man� Up stepped Thierry Henry and he converted the penalty and he raced to celebrate on the sidelines with Arsene Wenger who was clearly delighted to see his side take the lead. Arsenal haven’t dropped points at the Emirates when they’ve gone a goal up.

Marcus Bent fired over as Chartlon attempted to grab an equalizer and they must have been thinking that if they did win at the Emirates then they’d go above West Ham in the Premiership but it was Arsenal who nearly doubled their advantage when Henry’s free kick was tipped wide by Scott Carson who was on top form however Arsenal did go 2 up when a neat 1-2 beetween Henry and Hoyte ended up with Hoyte sticking the ball past Scott Carson who had rushed out.

Arsenal came out after half time in the mood for more and Robin Van Persie came close but then Charlton nearly pulled a goal back but Lehmann managed to hold Darren Ambrose’s low drive and Tomas Rosicky hit the post from a long ranged shot and Arsenal should have been allowed a goal when Hleb sent through Henry and he tapped home but the linesman called offside even though replay’s showed he was level.

Arsenal were still looking for more goals and Scott Carson made a save from a Robin Van Persie shot and then he had to block Fabregas one on one but his best save of the night came when he leaped into the air to palm away an Henry curling shot that looked destined for the top corner.

Arsenal won a penalty when Henry had his shirt held by Diawara after he had gone past him and Van Persie stepped up to ram the penalty home and put the points beyond doubt and he managed to get on the scoresheet again when he was set up by Mathieu Flamini and he fired the ball past Carson to leave Charlton 6 points away from the safety of 17th place.

Credit: Socca Critics