Campbell pounces on Boro's weakness

The red-and-white of Arsenal will sit atop the tree this Christmas for the first time in the Premiership's history. Sol Campbell's first goal of the season, just before half-time, sent them on their way against wretchedly unadventurous opposition, whose habitual away defeat was confirmed in stoppage time by Robert Pires after Luke Wilkshire had been sent off. The under-strength home side, who lost Patrick Vieira's replacement Ray Parlour in the warm-up, were not at their best, but improved after a first half that bore echoes of their recent unconvincing spell of one win in four League games.

Unconvincing or not, they have more points than anyone else. Even in Arsène Wenger's two previous championship-winning seasons, his team have never led the table at the halfway stage, tending instead to rely on a devastating burst in the new year. Indeed, on each occasion that burst was propelled by a rare home defeat just before the holiday period. The triumph of 1997-98 looked highly unlikely at the time a 3-1 loss to Blackburn left them in fifth place, after which they went unbeaten until the title was won. Last season Newcastle left Highbury with an even more acrimonious 3-1 victory at the same stage, their manager Sir Bobby Robson suggesting that there were people at Arsenal who needed to "learn how to lose"; the Londoners had little practice thereafter, remaining unbeaten for the next 10 months.

Yesterday's northern raiders never looked like achieving a similar upset and departed with a fifth successive away loss, all without scoring a goal. They have troubled the scorers away from the Riverside in only two matches since last spring, the last of them in September, when a 3-0 success at Tottenham and elevation to third place in the table proved thoroughly misleading portents. All the more bewilder-ing, then, to hear the (presumably) considered opinion of their highly regarded manager, Steve McClaren, who felt: "We took the game to Arsenal and were bold. I can't fault the players or their attitude. Goals in stoppage-time at the end of each half have cost us the game."

The visitors' only excuses were the injury to George Boateng after less than a quarter of the game and Wilkshire's rather harsh dismissal with 20 minutes left. But the home side, deprived of Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Edu and Parlour, had to readjust their team just before the start, and still managed 13 corners against three, and nine shots on target against one. All that without playing well.

They were also using an unfamiliar pattern with Pires playing the Bergkamp role just off Thierry Henry. As Wenger admitted, Arsenal had difficulty finding the Footballer of the Year at first, and with Henry tending to become isolated, they did not flow. When chances did materialise, the shooting was wild. Giovanni van Bronckhorst, summoned to replace Parlour, Sylvain Wiltord, twice, and Gilberto Silva all missed the target by a distance; it was significant that the best effort for half an hour was fashioned by Henry for himself. He flicked the ball up and swivelled to volley it straight at the Boro goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

Sol Campbell did better with a header into the side-netting from Pires's corner, and so did his defensive partner Martin Keown, meeting Van Bronckhorst's free-kick. But Fredrik Ljungberg's weak shot at Schwarzer was more typical of the prevailing muddle. Boro used the same formation, with Szilard Nemeth just behind Alen Boksic, but there was nothing like the same service for either of them and by half-time David Seaman had been inconvenienced – though not quite embarrassed this time – only by a floating free-kick (sound familiar?) by Geremi from 40 yards out on the wing. Joseph-Desiré Job, who fractured his skull only three weeks ago, was on as a substitute by then, Boateng having gone down under an innocuous challenge with what may turn out to be serious ligament damage.

Job took up position wide on the left and the young Australian Wilkshire, having made a nervous start to his first Premiership appearance of the season, moved inside. He would become a pivotal figure. With a warm drink beckoning players and spectators alike on a dank, north London day, the man from Wollongong was booked for a foul on Van Bronckhorst, who curled his free-kick deep for Campbell, negligently attended by his England colleague Gareth Southgate, to head fiercely in. "The goal came just at the right time, and after that it was all us," said Wenger.

McClaren revamped for the second half, with Job behind the front two and Jonathan Greening moving across. There was an improvement of sorts, which was not difficult, though Henry should immediately have doubled the lead, inexplicably trying to meet Wiltord's low cross with his left foot instead of his favoured right and barely making contact.

No sooner had the burly Dean Windass been sent into the fray in search of an elusive goal than Wilkshire was walking down the tunnel after receiving a second yellow card. He caught Pires on the shin and referee Steve Dunn made no all-owances for his earlier misdemeanour.

Against 10 men Arsenal, at last, began to look the part. At the end Schwarzer made excellent saves from Wiltord, Lauren and then Henry, whose low volley he tipped onto a post. He did not deserve to suffer a late second goal, by Pires, from Henry's pass, but his team did. No wonder the visiting supporters looked so fed up as they began the long trek home. No wonder Arsenal's looked so festively jolly.