Campbell takes charge to arrest Arsenal drift

Arsenal 2 Middlesbrough

Should the Premiership pennant remain flying above Highbury at the season's end, few will include Saturday's visit of Middlesbrough in any mental review of the campaign.

It was not a ruthless statement of intent, like the four-goal despatch of Leeds. There was no mesmerising goal, such as Thierry Henry's against Tottenham. No dramatic revival, like the draw at West Ham. Not even a 10-man recovery, speaking volumes about character, as at Chelsea.

No, this workmanlike victory over mundane opponents was not one for the scrapbooks. True, there were flashes of skill and decent goals from Sol Campbell and Robert Pires. It was certainly better than doing Christmas shopping on Oxford Street. But will any Clock End regular, come May, turn to their neighbour and say: 'Remember that Middlesbrough game?'

And yet, on a gloomy day, there was a glowing intensity about Arsenal's performance which was not insignificant. The defenders, while rarely engaged, never let their concentration slip. The offensive players, though still searching for form, were prepared to make good the deficit through hard labour.

After drifting through several matches, and suffering adverse results as a consequence, Arsenal have resumed the relentless approach required of champions. Matches like these, against solid but unexceptional opponents, have to be won by contenders. Once Campbell had pierced Boro's well-constructed defence there was never any doubt that this match would be.

While the revival of Manchester United will have concentrated a few minds, the team have also received a rare admonishment from Arsène Wenger. The Arsenal manager is not one for hyperbole when criticising his players, in public or private, but admitted: "I have been concerned that when matches could go one way or the other they have gone the other way. That is down to concentration and the players have realised that as well."

Wenger went on to intimate he had addressed the team's recent habit of attempting to pace themselves by coasting through matches when he added: "There is a long way to go and we have decided to go from game to game. It is difficult to maintain the level of concentration and commitment for 11 months. You have dips, subconscious ones. When you realise this you assess it and it comes back. Today we were much more focused on defending well. The concentration was high, even when it was difficult the team had a right attitude."

Campbell said: "We've recognised that we can't get carried away with things. Everybody is pushing us now, and it's up to us to respond. All the players are ready for what we have to do now. The hunger is still there and so is the ambition. Losing the way we did at United hurt all of us."

Boro did their best to stretch Arsenal's winless run to four matches. They arrived with the defensive organisation expected of a Steve McClaren side and allowed Arsenal very little space. It soon became clear, though, that like so many sides, from West Bromwich Albion to Liverpool, their defensive solidity came at the expense of attacking penetration. They managed one shot on target in the entire match and never forced David Seaman to muddy his knees. That was partly down to the excellence of Sol Campbell and Martin Keown but also due to another larcenous outing from the £63,000-a-week Alen Boksic.

The Croatian has now cost Boro more than £10m, £2.5m for his transfer, the rest in wages. This outlay has reaped 21 goals in 28 months, including just one in the last nine. Something for the suitors courting Gabriel Batistuta, 34 in February and requesting a similar wage, to consider as the transfer window beckons.

It is safe to assume that Boksic, 33 next month, will not be offered a new contract in the summer even though McClaren, when asked if he "would have liked more" from Boksic, growled: "He was magnificent last week and a threat again today."

Not to Arsenal he was not, which was presumably why Dean Windass, the journeyman's journeyman, replaced him after 70 minutes with Boro one-down. But then, McClaren also claimed: "In the second half we went three-up and took the game to them. They had a few breakaways but we were bold and we caused them problems."

McClaren is not the only one-eyed manager, it goes with the job. He was on firmer ground when he said Middlesbrough were making progress and they can be expected to continue doing so. Géremi disappointed on Saturday but is a smart addition; Juninho is on the way back; Jonathan Greening is blossoming and Massimo Maccarone, despite a lean spell, is likely to prove a shrewd acquisition.

So was George Boateng and, had he not been carried off after an innocuous challenge by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Boro may even have rebuffed Arsenal's challenge. With the post denying Campbell, they held on until first-half injury-time. Then Luke Wilkshire gave the ball away to Van Bronckhorst and fouled him, earning a caution, as he attempted to win it back. The Dutchman took the kick himself and Campbell evaded Gareth Southgate to head powerfully in.

With Sylvain Wiltord rediscovering his touch and Pires, given a floating role, finding space as Boro opened up, Arsenal should have swamped the visitors in the second period. A combination of Henry's profligacy, Mark Schwarzer's agile brilliance, and Wilkshire's goal-line clearance from Gilberto Silva kept Boro in with a nominal chance until the final minute. They were down to 10 men by then, Wilkshire having been harshly dismissed for mis-reading Pires's sleight-of-foot.

Then, with the early leavers on the way to the tube, Van Bronckhorst, Ashley Cole and Henry combined for Pires to steer in a second.

So Arsenal are top at Christmas. This is not necessarily something for Gooners to toast over the turkey. Arsenal have won four championships in the last two decades yet, the two seasons they led the table on Christmas morning, in 1986 and 1989, they finished fourth. On each occasion Tottenham were third.

Goals: Campbell (45) 1-0; Pires (90) 2-0.

Arsenal (4-4-1-1): Seaman 6; Lauren 6, Keown 7, Campbell 8, Cole 6; Wiltord 5, Gilberto 7, Van Bronckhorst 8, Ljungberg 5; Pires 7; Henry 6. Substitutes not used: Parlour, Jeffers, Luzhny, Shaaban (gk), Kanu.

Middlesbrough (4-4-2): Schwarzer 8; Parnaby 5, Ehiogu 5, Southgate 5, Queudrue 4; Geremi 4, Boateng 6 (Job 5, 25), Wilkshire 4, Greening 4; Boksic 3 (Windass 4, 70), Nemeth 4 (Vidmar, 78). Substitutes not used: Maccarone, Crossley (gk).

Referee: S Dunn (Bristol) 5.

Booked: Arsenal: Cole. Middlesbrough: Greening, Wilkshire, Quedrue. Sent Off: Wilkshire.

Man of the match: Campbell.

Attendance: 38,003.