Bolton Wanderers v Arsenal seems almost like a playground fight; the muscular, lumbering, brutish bully picking on his small, intelligent but wiry classmate. You can sit them down and make them talk out their problems, but they just won't get on; despite being in the same class, they're from different worlds.

For a number of years matches against Bolton did not guarantee three points, home or away; Sam Allardyce employed his 4-3-3 with great effect, and the two Kevins, Nolan and Davies, took it in turns to torment Arsenal with their direct style of play. When Gary Megson took the helm the side lost its way somewhat, and their 7th place finish in the 2006-7 season seemed a distant memory. Recent seasons have seen Arsenal dominate the fixture, and would no doubt have found things just as easy if Megson were still in control on Sunday. Instead they came up against a Bolton team reinvigorated by the appointment of Owen Coyle, previously of Burnley, and with a point to prove to their new manager.

The home team started much more brightly: Kevin Davies was played into a promising position but was let down by his touch, and Ivan Klasnic had a goal correctly ruled out for offside after only two minutes. Chung-Yong Lee was causing plenty of problems for Armand Traoré down the left (this would go on all afternoon) and his crossing was a constant danger.

With Fabregas back though, Arsenal were always going to threaten a goal, and his pin-point pass almost played in Eduardo, Jaaskelainen only just reaching the ball ahead of the striker. A few minutes later the Spaniard should have won a penalty; Eduardo whipped a ball in to the Arsenal captain who was in turn tripped by the Bolton keeper. The referee Phil Dowd waved away the appeals, but there was no controversy about Fabregas' finish soon after.

With the ball loose in the Bolton box, the midfielder exchanged passes with Eduardo before rolling a shot into the far corner of the goal beyond Jaaskelainen's despairing dive. He has promised twenty goals this season, and you'd be a fool to bet against it happening. He might have taken another step towards that tally when Arshavin turned the ball back across the area, and had Eduardo not darted across his field of vision he would almost certainly have buried the chance.

To Bolton's credit they created a number of opportunites; Matthew Taylor was twice played in behind Arsenal's back four, first blazing over from close range before shooting wide from distance when he might have had a run at goal. Klasnic came close several times but Gallas and Vermaelen were able to cover for another disappointing performance from Traoré at left back. Clichy came on late in the game so Armand looks set for a spell on the bench where we hope he can recover his composure.

On another day Matty Taylor might have had a hattrick, but Owen Coyle's men squandered their chances and Arsenal were able to close the gap at the top to three points. They will go top if they beat Bolton in the rescheduled return fixture this Wednesday, which is more than likely, but a rejuvinated Bolton will have a real go at upsetting the form book, and if they continue to play like they did on Sunday, Coyle should have no problem keeping them up this season.

With Torres injured and Gerrard looking piss-poor, Fabregas and Drogba have been the two most dynamic players in the premiership this season. However, one is 31, the other 23. This season looks increasingly likely to be remembered as the one where Fabregas staked his claim for 'best player in the premiership'. And who's going to argue with him?