It was a tale of two matches this week; the best of times on Wednesday, coming from 2-0 down to trounce Bolton Wanderers 4-2, followed by the worst on Sunday, being dumped out of the FA cup by Stoke.

All things considered, if Arsenal were set to lose one of those games and win the other, they probably got things the right way round, at least as far as Wenger is concerned. His team selection on the weekend suggested that he's more concerned with winning his first league title since 2004, and with another three points last Wednesday, people are again talking about a three horse race for the Premiership crown.

Just like Rocky II, Arsenal v Bolton II starts out with the protagonist (Arsenal, in case you're wondering), up against it. Rocky loses the big fight, Arsenal go two goals down. Uncanny. Unfortunately, the similarities pretty much end there. Instead of going out and buying a 1979 Pontiac Trans Am like Rocky, Arsenal set about digging themselves out of the hole they were in.

The two Bolton goals were immensely avoidable. Clichy looked a bit rusty (unsurprisingly really after a few months out) and his sliced clearance dropped to Kevin Davies, whose header fell to Gary Cahill to prod home. Fàbregas missed a good chance to level before Denilson felled a Bolton player in the box, allowing Matty Taylor to smash home the resulting penalty.

Perhaps worried about the possibility of another half time shouting fest, a la Anfield, the home side started showing a lot more desire, and their efforts were rewarded when Rosicky beat Jääskeläinen at his near post with a thunderous drive. There were chances to equalise, but at the break, the teams went in still at 2-1. Just a few minutes into the second half, Arsenal were level, but with no small amount of controversy. Gallas went into a challenge late and caught Mark Davies, the Bolton midfielder, on the ankle with his studs. With the referee waving play on, and after some comical defending, Fàbregas broke clear and with supreme impudence he rolled the ball through the keeper's legs from the narrowest of angles.

After 65 minutes Vermaelen was on hand to volley in a loose ball from 8 yards out, and after 85 Arshavin made the points safe following an interchange of passes with Eduardo which allowed him enough room to get his shot away from close range. A fortuitous three points, perhaps, considering the circumstances surrounding the second goal, but an Arsenal comeback always looked extremely likely, and the gulf in quality was always going to tell. One alarming aspect of the matches was the three clear penalties that should have been awarded to Arsenal which were ignored by the two referees. With the Gunners having received just one penalty all season, one possible explanation is that they might still be feeling the backlash from the Eduardo incident against Celtic right back at the start of the season. Still, no penalties were needed to take maximum points against Bolton, but an alarming trend all the same.

The result briefly put Arsenal at the top of the league, and if the players keep showing as much determination and spirit as they did on Wednesday night then there's no reason they can't sustain this title challenge. That said, they face a tough trip to Villa this Wednesday evening, followed by Manchester United at home, Chelsea away, Liverpool at home and then Porto in the Champions League. Should be a doddle. Song is coming back from Africa and Bendtner, Walcott, Nasri, Ramsey and Diaby are all back or due back soon, so we can go into each one of those games knowing we can win it.

With Fàbregas in the best form of his life, it's time our own Arsenal's own 'Spanish Inquisition' started asking questions of our rivals.