For just over two weeks, English football took a very small step towards modernisation. When Ryan Shawcross inadvertently broke Aaron Ramsey's leg, a number of journalists were particularly vocal in their condemnation of the extremely physical approach taken by many teams against, in particular, Arsenal. They said that football was evolving as a sport, and it is now played at a faster speed; ipso facto there is less margin for error if you throw yourself wildly at another player's leg (we're looking at you Ryan) and teams should not be lauded for combating skill and finesse with aggression and brutish, mistimed tackles aimed at kicking their opponents out of the game.

There are some, however, who would like to see football played as if it was still the 1950s. The leather ball would be lumped up and down the muddy pitch, crunching sliding tackles would be encouraged ("What's that Aaron? A broken leg? Well good thing you've still got one that works, we've already used our one substitution. Now hop along after that ball") and the players would be down the pub after the game, pint in one hand, pipe in the other. Phil Brown, manager of Hull City, is one such man it would seem.

Only two weeks on from the Ramsey incident, and with Arsenal again travelling to a Northern team which is near the bottom of the tables, both Premier League and fair play (www.premierleague.com/page/FairPlayTable), you'd have thought the home side's pre-match team talk might go something like this: "Right lads, obviously we're a physical side, and if we're to compete with those fancy dans from North London then we have to do what we do best. That said, I don't want to stoke the fire surrounding the debate about excessive force amongst technically inferior teams, nor do I want to give Wenger a reason to call for further scrutiny of the way we play. Therefore, just be careful how you go about things. Play physical, but do it sensibly."

Obviously Phil Brown was going to struggle with any words of more than three syllables, but he might have come out with something similar. Seemingly though, his advice was to kick the Arsenal players so hard that they'd still be feeling it next season, when Hull are busy trying to get promoted back into the top flight by kicking people in the division below instead. In the end though, as at Stoke, the Gunners were able to sweep aside the bully boys and take all three points back to North London.

The match started brightly enough. Hull's pitch is atrocious (they share it with a rugby team) so it was always going to be difficult for Arsenal to establish their passing game. A more direct approach was therefore the most practical option, but no one expected Arshavin to be the one to bundle the ball past two defenders, although his delightful finish into the corner was entirely predictable. 1-0 to the Arsenal after thirteen minutes, and the sensible money was on the Gunners adding to their lead. The officials had other ideas though. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (how many Hull fans have him on the back of their shirts, I wonder) was clearly offside when the ball was flicked over the defence, and when he gratefully tumbled under Sol Campbell's challenge, the referee pointed to the spot and booked poor Sol. Jimmy Bullard gave Almunia no chance with the penalty, and the home team somehow had a route back into the match.

Whilst all this was going on, the Hull players were dispensing 'Northern Football Justice': Denilson was sent flying by a wild challenge from Andy Dawson which earned the latter a booking, and Sagna was pulled to the floor by his throat by Craig Fagan, which earned him nothing. Whilst the referee was busy booking Dawson for his tackle on Denilson, George Boateng thought it would be a lark to poke Nicklas Bendtner in the eye. Bendtner's reaction was verbal rather than physical, but inexplicably both players earned the same punishment, a yellow card. George was clearly a man on a mission though, and just before half time he hacked wildly at Sagna, catching him on his knee with his studs, and the only question was whether the referee would have the balls to give him the straight red which the challenge warranted. He did not, but Boateng was still sent off for a second bookable offence. That's George Boateng, captain of Hull City, by the way.

It's one of football's clichés that it's harder to play against ten men than it is eleven. Erm, no it's not. It's much easier. There are fewer of them, duh. Sometimes, though, it can galvanise a team to work much harder to defend, and that's what happened on Saturday. For a couple of minutes Hull seemed to want to match Arsenal going forward and committed players to attacks, but this could only last so long. Soon it was backs against the wall, as Arsenal came forward again and again. That said, it was, at least initially, pretty ineffective. It was the sixty fourth minute introduction of Theo Walcott which served to change the dynamic. Only moments after coming on he burst into the box and his pullback found Arshavin unmarked in acres of space, but the Russian was clearly wearing Bendtner's boots from last weekend, and he shot wildly over the bar.

Walcott then picked out Bendtner in the middle but he took far too long to set himself and his shot was blocked. Still, you can't keep a good Dane down, and when Denilson's long range effort was parried by Myhill in the Hull goal, Bendtner pounced and his first time shot found the back of the net in the ninety third minute. Arsenal then held on for what could be an absolutely vital three points come May. Credit to Hull though, they really dug their heels in and still managed to look dangerous even with ten men for the entire second half.

Couple of talking points though, raised by Phil Brown after the game. He suggested that Campbell should have been sent off for his challenge which led the penalty. Er, that's after the striker has incorrectly been ruled onside Phil. Whether Campbell should be sent off is a moot point, as whatever punishment he receives will be unjustified.

Brown also mentioned a robust challenge from Campbell on Kamil Zayatte. This issue opens up a bit of a can of worms unfortunately. The ball is won cleanly, but the force with which Campbell eventually hit the player is enough to injure him and force him out of the game. Critics of Arsenal have suggested that Wenger cannot therefore criticise players who have injured members of his own squad with heavy tackles. This line of argument exposes the inherent hypocrisy within both sides of the debate.

Some fans suggest that Arsenal need to be protected from tackles which injure their players, when Arsenal players are sometimes (but not often) guilty of doing the same thing to the other team. Other fans claim there's nothing wrong with aggressive tackling, and that severe injuries are a unfortunate side effect, ergo there's nothing wrong with Campbell's challenge, so there's no reason to criticise him or Arsenal.

First and foremost, Sol won the ball, so it can't have been that bad a tackle. Secondly, I think that the levels of debate that have raged on over the last couple of weeks are a good enough reason for the FA to really address this issue and make it very clear where they stand. Will they though? Unlikely. The FA couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, so expect nothing but silence from them.

Bad challenges and fake tans aside, Saturday was a hard fought and important win for the Arsenal. With any luck we'll never play Hull again, and they'll have to look up from the second tier of the football league at the Gunners being crowned champions of England. Fingers crossed eh?

It's Monday evening, which must mean that members of the British media have sat down and decided which team they'll predict to win the league. Until next Monday, that is when they'll meet to decide on a new team.

It's testament to the unpredictable nature of the title chase this season that no one seems happy to back a side, or stick by the one they chose last week. The Guardian sports writers especially must be nervously wondering if people have started to forget that they picked Liverpool to finish first, and Arsenal to finish fifth. Good call by the way guys. Journalists must be cursing Arsenal's resilience though, as their dogged efforts to stay in the hunt means the whole things is much harder to call. Well I'm going to draw a line under the whole thing and say that I think Manchester United will win the league this season. Not because I think they're the best team, mind, but because United crawling their way to another title while their competitors are busy imploding seems like a horrible inevitability. Like death. At least in death I wouldn't have to look at Gary Neville dancing around the trophy like a goblin around a toadstool.

Anyway, on Saturday Arsenal squared off against the team with the worst away record in the football league. Burnley had taken one point from a possible forty two going into this game, conceding forty three and scoring just ten. The form book suggested that this would be the easiest game the Gunners would play all season. Well the form book could not have anticipated Nicklas Bendtner mistaking his shooting boots for his clown shoes. The big Dane missed a host of chances. Instead of scoring the perfect hat-trick (left foot, right foot, header) he managed to miss with all three instead. It took an inspired display from Walcott and Nasri (I don't think anyone saw that coming) to bag all three points.

Arsenal started brightly and Bendtner was soon played in behind the visitor's defence, but a good tackle and a good save took the ball away from him and behind the goal. An impudent flick from Eboué allowed Fàbregas the room to hit a shot across the keeper but wide of the goal. It wasn't long before the breakthrough however, as Nasri deftly chipped the ball over a static defence, and Cesc was on hand to roll it through the goalie's legs. He has now equalled Robert Pirès's record of 14 goals from midfield. He also has 15 assists. He turns 23 in May.

The Spaniard tweaked a hamstring and was withdrawn before half time, but not before his pinpoint pass allowed Eboué to run beyond his defender and square for Bendtner, who succeeded only in stabbing the ball wide from close range. The afternoon would not get much better for him: shortly after the restart he headed an excellent Walcott cross wide from six yards. It was the sort of chance that I could have finished, and I close my eyes when the ball is coming at me. It seemed as though the home side would be made to pay for Bendtner's wastefulness in front of goal when a clearance was headed straight back towards the Arsenal box, bypassing both central defender, which allowed David Nugent to shin the ball over Almunia for an unlikely equaliser.

Bendtner made a hash of another chance when Walcott cut the ball back to him in the box, only for the Dane's touch to take the ball away from goal, and his eventual shot was easily blocked by a defender. Theo clearly decided to take matters into his own hands, and after his driven effort was successfully saved by Brian Jensen, he went for placement with his next one. Despite striking the ball from the edge of the area and with his left foot, he saw it curl into the far corner to restore Arsenal's lead.

Burnley came close to equalising for a second time but their player shot wildly over the bar after Almunia spilled a corner. The miss paled in comparison to another Bendtner special however, as he contrived to miss an absolute sitter at the other end; Walcott's first time cross was played right to his feet, but from only five yards out the Danish striker managed only to roll the ball wide. He was withdrawn soon after to applause from the crowd, who are still collectively feeling guilty about the awful treatment of Emmanuel Eboué last season. Eventually the points were made safe by Arshavin, who had started the game on the bench after a spell on the treatment table, as he smashed in a left footed shot from inside the box. Three points and smiles all round, but talk about making heavy weather of it.

I think we can chalk up Bendtner's performance as a one off; every striker will have a game like that at some point, and before Saturday he had three goals in three games for club and country. The really pleasing performances came from Nasri and Walcott, two players who have been mired in mediocrity of late. Little Samir has looked extremely lightweight this season, scoring just once and often looking extremely anonymous. The same had been said of Walcott, but both players bossed their respective positions. Walcott's crossing was top notch, and he should have had a handful of assists to compliment his finely taken goal. Nasri's ball in to Fàbregas to set up the first goal was sublime, and after the captain had gone off, he assumed the bulk of the creative responsibilities in midfield, a task which he accomplished with great success. Eboué continues to impress at right back, providing Walcott with the kind of support he needs to be effective, and Sagna will struggle to dislodge the Ivorian after a run of good performances. All in all, a trying afternoon, but we'll take the three points thankyouverymuch.

The Ramsey saga rumbles on meanwhile, as the media are determined to milk every last drop out of it. I've already said what I wanted to say, but I think this article hits the nail on the head, and more than covers any further comments I'd care to make:

www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/35100/Ramsey_reaction_Written_press_deafened_by_shrill_chorus_of_ex-players.aspx