LONDON, Jan 29: Kolo Toure kept Arsenal in the FA Cup as his late goal salvaged a 1-1 draw against Bolton in the fourth round on Sunday. Arsene Wenger’s side were in danger of being eliminated after falling behind to Kevin Nolan's goal early in the second half.
But Toure popped up with a header 12 minutes from full-time to preserve Arsenal's unbeaten record at their Emirates stadium and set up a replay next month.
Sam Allardyce's side have tormented Arsenal in recent seasons, winning three of their last four meetings and knocking the Gunners out at this stage of the FA Cup last season.
It looked as though Nolan's strike would enable Bolton to repeat the trick, and, although Arsenal deserved to equalise, they won't relish a trip to the Reebok Stadium, where they have already lost once this season.
Bolton's ability to trouble Arsenal at set-pieces has been the foundation of their success against Wenger's team and it nearly paid dividends again after just two minutes.
Stelios Giannakopoulos whipped in a corner and Kevin Davies, left unmarked by Toure, should have done better than direct his header straight at Manuel Almunia.
It was a similiar story soon afterwards as Arsenal struggled to get to grips with Bolton's aerial prowess from another corner.
Stelios sent in a delivery that was easily flicked on by Davies to Ivan Campo, but the Spaniard volleyed over just six yards from goal.
Arsenal's fluid passing game invariably seems to run dry when confronted by Bolton and, with the same story unfolding again, it took a misjudgement by Ricardo Gardner to gift Arsenal a rare chance just before half-time.
Gardner's header back to Jussi Jasskelainen fell short of the Bolton goalkeeper and Thierry Henry pounced to cleverly back-heel the ball goalwards, only for Abdoulaye Meite to slide in and clear off the line.
Arsenal were just as sluggish after the interval and they were made to pay in the 50th minute.
For all the criticism aimed at Bolton for their lack of finesse, they possess players capable of creating as well as destroying and their goal might have drawn admiration from even Wenger if it had been against any team but his own.
A swift exchange of passes between Nolan and Nicolas Anelka that cut Arsenal apart was reminiscent of the Gunners at their most eye-catching and ended with the French striker picking out Davies on the right side of the penalty area. Bolton had a moment of fortune as Davies's wayward strike fell kindly for Nolan, who held his nerve and calmly shot past Almunia from close range.
Allardyce's side could have been further ahead moments later as Campo slipped a perfectly-weighted pass through to Nolan, but this time Almunia was able to deny the midfielder with brave save.
After a fairly turgid first-half the game was suddenly full of drama and Walcott was only just off-target with a volley from Emmanuel Adebayor's cross.
Jaaskelainen plunged to his left to turn away a fierce strike from Cesc Fabregas in the 64th minute as Arsenal poured forward in search of an equaliser.
Stung by the prospect of losing their unbeaten home record, Arsenal were far more purposeful in the final half an hour and deservedly drew level after 78 minutes.
Fabregas curled in a free-kick and Gary Speed's attempted clearance only directed the ball to the far post, where Toure was on hand to direct a header that bounced off the turf and looped over Jaaskelainen.—AFP