Arsenal:
                    Lehmann
            Lauren Toure Cygan Cole
Hleb Gilberto Flamini (Cesc 60) Pires (van Persie 72)
             Bergkamp Reyes

Boro attacked on 3 minutes when Maccarone was put through, but Cygan did well to cover his run and help make sure the ball ran through to Lehmann.

A minute later, Hleb and Bergkamp combined well on the right wing, exchanging passes a couple of times before Hleb slipped past a defender with ease to get into the side of the box. He cut the ball back to Reyes whose first touch made space nicely for his left foot, and he side-footed it past the keeper only to see it come out off the foot of the post.

Two minutes later, and Reyes won a free kick on the edge of the box on the left. It had to be taken twice (shame, because Toure was clearly pushed in the box the first time, although it's doubtful that the officials would have both seen it and given the penalty). The second time it went long and Cygan headed it back into the box from beyond the far post. It was heading to a yellow shirt but got a lucky (for Boro) deflection off a defender and was half cleared to Reyes outside the box who hit a snap shot which blasted high over the bar.

And just another 2 minutes later Reyes did realyl well to stretch and hook the ball forward for a clever diagonal run behind the defence by Pires. He struck the ball goalwards but a defender just managed to get a foot to it to deflect for a corner.

All this in the first 10 minutes. Arsenal were attacking in style and Boro defending nervously.

Toure whacked a free kick from distance which was charged down by Parlour and spun out for another corner. Schwarzer fisted it away well at the near post. Then we broke quickly from a Boro corner only for Hleb to be pulled back by Boateng who got a yellow card for his trouble - probably a small price to pay.

Halfway through the half and the home side started to attack with a bit more purpose. Quedrue's looping cross from the left was heading towards Maccarone in space on the far side of the box but Lehmann was able to come out and pluck it out of the air. Then there were two more Boro attacks both of which were cut out by Cole coming in to a central position, the second of which being another dangerous looking Quedrue cross towards Maccarone. Then Cygan had to head clear from a corner.

Up the other end and a lovely touch by Reyes on the left wing nutmegged Xavier and allowed Reyes forward into space. He took it on and squared to Bergkamp whose first time side-footed effort looped over the bar; a difficult half-chance.

Then Xavier beat Cole on the same wing and hit a looping cross towards the far post where Yakubu was lurking. Lauren did well to block for a corner.

On 35 Dennis was put clear by a long high ball which he brought down brilliantly on the right. He ran on and instead of shooting from a narrow angle near the edge of the box decided to pause to look for support. But there was none and a defender came across to rob him of the ball.

On 38, sloppiness by Lauren on the right touchline lost the ball, but Gilberto did well to come back and cover the right back's position.

On 39 Reyes went on a good solo run but his shot from the D went straight at Schwarzer.

Then on 40 and against the run of play (although they'd had their moments) Boro went ahead through Yakubu. He received the ball on the edge of our box with his back to goal and Toure marking him close on the goal side. The striker's first touch didn't look intended, and wrong-footed Kolo as the ball went to the left rather than the right. But to be fair to Yakubu he reacted very quickly and finished with a terrific shot on the turn that gave Lehmann no chance at all.

We started the second half well. Bergkamp took a quick throw for Hleb who won a corner. It came to Reyes whose powerfuk drive was blocked by Parlour. Then a wonderful passing move through a crowd of defenders ended with a Cole shot that was blocked by Southgate.

Up the other end, the ball came to Maccarone with back to goal, Cygan did well to get a foot on the ball but only succeeded in sending it to Yakubu whose first-time shot forced a wonderful save out of Lehmann, low to his right. Then the keeper had to drop onto a Johnson shot that would have crept inside his right hand post.

Flamini gave away a silly booking when he stopped a free kick beging taken. Standing over the ball is one thing but sticking your foot out to block the ball is just asking for it.

It seemed like maybe Arsenal were turning the screw on Boro a bit, but on the hour they started a tame-looking attack with a big hoof forward. But Cygan's header was weak and into space that Yakubu was best placed to attack, and then the defender stood s till and allowed Maccarone to ghost into the gap behind him. Yakubu's pass was perfect and Maccarone's finish was clinical.

Cesc came on for Flamini, and a little later (but a lot too late), van Persie came on for Pires.

Yakubu drifted offside unnecessarily when he'd had have a great scoring chance if he'd waited a split second. Again it was Cygan who'd lost him (and was lucky that Yakubu screwed up).

With a minute to go Reyes nearly pulled one back. The ball came to him from a poor clearance and the shot forced Schwarzer to get down to his left to tip it round the post, with van Persie breathing down his neck. And then in injury time Reyes did get a consolation goal, beating the offside trap nicely before rounding the keeper and finishing coolly.

Cole even had a half-chance to level things right at the death when the ball was scrambled out of the box and his low shot from the edge of the box missed at the near post.

Much has been said already about how poor the Arsenal performance was, but overall I'd say it was nothing particularly new. We dominated for long spells but just failed to put the ball in the net, then sloppy defending allowed the home side to get their second goal and make the come-back a bit too much for us. We've seen this pattern before. The difference perhaps, which might not come over so well in what I've written above, was the extent to which Arsenal went to bits after the second goal. It was only late on that we picked things up and came close to pulling it back. Lacking leadership on the field perhaps? In that regard as well as with respect to scoring goals, there's no doubt that we missed Henry. As far as defending goes, I'm afraid to say that Cygan's 2 goals in the previous game do nothing to counter the poor positioning that let Boro get the winner and nearly another. Why is Senderos not playing? We miss him when it comes to his motivational qualities too.

Two losses after four games, and that's more than the league winners have suffered in either of the last 2 seasons. Is it over? It had better not be. We haven't even had November yet.