After equalising at Liverpool in added-on time a week earlier, Arsenal were on a high when they hosted Premier League newcomers Blackpool on this day in 2010 as they looked to bring the debutants back down to earth after their extraordinary effort on the opening weekend of the season.
The Seasiders had been tipped to finish bottom of the standings in May but they began life in the top flight with a 4-0 victory away at Wigan Athletic. However, playing at the Emirates Stadium was a whole different obstacle and manager Ian Holloway was under no illusions about the task in hand in North London.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger resisted the temptation to start the game with Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie - who were still being eased back after their efforts at the World Cup in South Africa - and the opening 10 minutes suggested that they might be missing their star duo.
However, after Blackpool had wasted a free kick in dangerous territory, Arsenal broke up the other end to open the scoring at the Emirates. Tomas Rosicky and Andrey Arshavin combined before the ball was played into the path of Theo Walcott, who finished coolly inside the penalty area.
That goal failed to discourage Blackpool, who almost equalised within a minute through Gary Taylor-Fletcher, but after Matthew Gilks had kept the North-West outfit in the game, they suffered a huge blow shortly after the 30-minute mark when Arsenal won a penalty and Ian Evatt was dismissed for a professional foul, but it appeared as though the offence took place outside of the area.
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Arshavin made no mistake from 12 yards and moments after being competitive, Blackpool had a huge task on their hands to prevent Arsenal from running riot, but it took just seven minutes for the Gunners to put the game to bed before half time.
After being denied by Gilks in the previous attack, Marouane Chamakh played the ball to Jack Wilshere, who proceeded to play a perfectly-weighted pass to the onrushing Walcott, with the England winger wasting no time before lashing the ball past the goalkeeper.
Walcott was terrorising the Blackpool backline at any given opportunity but when he was had the chance to complete a first-half treble, he could only curl the ball into the grateful hands of Gilks, who was fighting a lonely battle in the visitors' goal.
However, it took just three minutes after the restart for Arsenal to make it four. Bacary Sagna had made inroads down the right flank before firing over a cross for Abou Diaby, who had got the better of his marker to provide a first-time finish from close range.
Blackpool were struggling to provide an answer to anything that came their way as Arsenal camped themselves in their half, but it was only going from bad to worse as the Championship playoff winners were beginning to experience the harsh reality of the Premier League.
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Walcott was frequently probing for his third goal of a one-sided contest and it came shortly before the hour when, once again, he ghosted in behind the Blackpool defence before applying the finish past a helpless Gilks.
That goal allowed Wenger the chance to introduce Fabregas and Van Persie for a leisurely introduction after their extended pre-season break, but it was summer signing Chamakh who completed the scoring with seven minutes remaining to register his first goal for the club.
A corner was swung over into the middle and the Moroccan forward was there to power a header into the corner, and that proved to be the final act of the afternoon as Arsenal made an early statement in the race for the title.
The Gunners maintained their unbeaten start until the middle of September but five defeats before Christmas derailed their chances of the winning the Premier League title and they eventually finished in fourth position, 12 points off champions Manchester United.
As for Blackpool, their stay in the top tier of English football was a short one as a 4-2 defeat to United on the final day of the season saw them miss out on Premier League survival by one point.
Darren Plant
