Arsenal kept the heat on Chelsea at the top of
the Premiership table with a hard-earned victory over Birmingham.
Robert Pires' strike from the edge of the area
put Arsenal in control after an error-strewn opening half-hour.
Thierry Henry burst through on 80 minutes to
double their lead and his simple header soon after wrapped things up for the
defending champions.
Birmingham offered little going forward and
seldom troubled Manuel Almunia, in for the dropped Jens Lehmann.
Arsenal dominated possession early on, but
looked nervous as misplaced passes and poor first touches prevented them
establishing any rhythm.
Birmingham suffered a similar lack of
composure, with long balls to Emile Heskey the limit of their initial
attacking threat.
As both sides struggled to string passes
together there was some light relief for the crowd when Robbie Savage was
laid out after Pires' cross caught him full in the face. But with so much
of the ball the Gunners did work some openings, despite the energetic
defensive efforts of Birmingham's five-man midfield.
Pires fired high on 10 minutes and soon after
Jose Antonio Reyes' intelligent header put Henry in space on the right, only
for the Frenchman's cross to drift harmlessly out of play.
Almunia, who had barely touched the ball as
Birmingham continued to toil, had to be sharp on 30 minutes as a misjudged
Cesc Fabregas backpass forced him to boot the ball out. And two minutes
later, Pires settled Arsenal's nerves with the opener.
Pires played the ball in from the left of the
area to Ljungberg, took a stabbed return and delivered a superbly-struck low
shot that just eluded Maik Taylor's reach.
Birmingham began to press forward after the
interval, but their ambition simply provided the space for Arsenal that had
proved so elusive in the first half.
It was almost an hour before Birmingham had
their first shot on goal and it was a tame - and wide - effort from Heskey.
Birmingham brought on striker Clinton Morrison
to partner Heskey in attack, and the Republic of Ireland international
almost embarrassed Almunia with his first touch.
A long ball from Savage found Morrison in space
and his first-time shot on the turn crept through Almunia's grasp and
towards the goal-line but the keeper recovered just in time.
Birmingham continued to probe for an equaliser
but never got close to seriously testing Almunia again.
