Blackburn Rovers had made a poor start to the 2011-12 Premier League season when they hosted Arsenal at Ewood Park in their fifth fixture of the campaign.
After suffering defeats in their first three matches of the season, a 1-1 draw with Fulham the week before left Steve Kean's side propping up the table with just one point from a possible 12 ahead of the visit of the Gunners.
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Arsene Wenger's side were also below par at the start of the season, losing two of their opening four games, including a humiliating 8-2 defeat to Manchester United just three weeks before this fixture.
The visitors opened the scoring just 10 minutes after kickoff, with Gervinho firing the ball past Paul Robinson from near the penalty spot after a dominant start from Arsenal.
Blackburn were back on level terms midway through the first half when Yakubu marked his debut for the club with a goal. It was Arsenal who were in front again before half time though, with Mikel Arteta rifling the ball in from the edge of the box after Aaron Ramsey cut the ball back to the Spaniard.
The hosts started to see more of the ball at the start of the second half as they tried to find an equaliser again, and were gifted a second goal when Alex Song turned the ball into his own net from a Ruben Rochina free kick just five minutes after the restart.
Blackburn continued to look the more likely in the second half, with Rochina forcing a save from Wojciech Szczesny moments later, before Steven Nzonzi unleashed a wayward shot.
Their persistence paid off as Kean's side took the lead for the first time just before the hour mark when Yakubu latched on to a loose ball into the box, just beating the offside trap before slotting in his second of the match.
Blackburn's lead was doubled when Arsenal scored their second own goal of the afternoon, with Laurent Koscielny mistiming a clearance to put the ball past Szczesny after a quick break from Martin Olsson.
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Robinson started to come under pressure in the Blackburn goal in the final 20 minutes as the visitors tried to salvage something, but the England international made a reaction save to deny Robin van Persie.
Arsenal did get one back though, with Van Persie turning provider to set up Marouane Chamakh for a simple header at the near post inside the final five minutes.
Per Mertesacker came close to rescuing a point in stoppage time as the resurgent Arsenal desperately pressed for the equaliser, but the defender managed to head over from close range, while Theo Walcott was denied a penalty after being challenged by Robinson in the box with just seconds remaining.
The result, which lifted Rovers off the bottom of the table, eased the pressure on the Blackburn manager, with fans threatening to protest at full time over the club's poor performance in their opening four games prior to the victory.
However, a 7-1 loss to Arsenal in the reverse fixture later in the season, followed by eight defeats in their final nine matches of the campaign resulted in Blackburn being relegated after an 11-season stay in the top flight.
By contrast, Arsenal lost just twice more before New Year, and went on to finish third in the Premier League table, securing qualification for the Champions League for a 14th straight season.
Sian Cowper
