A great Rover-all show

Last week, the super-cool Swede watched in awe from his seat in the directors box at Ewood as a rampant Rovers stuffed seven past sorry West Ham.

But even the excitement of that game was nothing compared to the drama which unfolded here as Rovers pushed Arsene Wenger's classy Gunners all the way in this gripping six-goal thriller played out in front of a breathless Highbury.

Twice the visitors looked dead and buried as first Dennis Bergkamp and then Thierry Henry appeared to have wrapped things up for the home side with cooly-taken strikes in a sizzling second half.

But as long as David Dunn is around, then anything's possible.

And, sure enough, Blackburn's answer to Harry Potter conjured up two moments of sublime magic to earn his side the point their bold approach-play deserved at the end of an astonishing afternoon.

"Our philosophy is simple -- we try and win every game we play in and we must be the Premiership's entertainers right now," beamed a delighted Graeme Souness.

"We've now played 10 games in this league and no team in the Premiership scares the pants off us.

"We haven't got a team here that can go anywhere and simply defend.

"So when you come to a place like Highbury and score three goals, you deserve to get something out of it."

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger trotted out the usual excuses, claiming his side were suffering the effects of fatigue in the wake of their Champions League exertions against Panathanaikos last Tuesday.

But nothing can dilute the fact that Rovers were full value for a point after an awesome team performance in which everyone played their part.

Big American Brad Friedel was a man-mountain between the posts, pulling off a string of saves, particularly in a frantic finale as the Gunners laid siege on his goal.

And Turkish midfield ace Tugay matched the majestic Patrick Vieira stride for stride in midfield with another typically accomplished performance.

But once again, that man Dunn ultimately proved the star of the show with his second dazzling display infront of Eriksson in the space of a week.

Last weekend, the England Under 21 illuminated Ewood with a goal of exceptional quality in the 7-1 demolition of West Ham.

However, he eclipsed even that here with two precision strikes which left fellow England wannabe Richard Wright red-faced and stunned Highbury into silence.

Souness was fulsome in his praise of the 21-year-old afterwards -- but he still didn't escape a rocket from his boss who blamed him for Arsenal's third goal!

"David will get all the headlines tomorrow but he lost the ball in a vital area and they took advantage to score so he's still got a lot to learn.

"But, that said, the kid is a pleasure to work with and he has tremendous ability, too.

"He's got a great personality and you couldn't knock him over with a lump hammer.

"I think he's a young man with enormous potential and he reminds me of Paul Gascoigne.

"Like him, he's got tremendous upper body strength and a fast forward gear.

"But his biggest asset is his attitude.

"He feels he is capable of scoring every time he is on the ball in the final third and he scored two great goals for us here.

"But if David ever thinks he has cracked it and arrived in the big time, then he'll fall flat on his face."

Mindful of the fact Arsenal had lost just four of their previous 70 Premiership fixtures at Highbury, Souness sensibly decided to switch systems, using Matt Jansen as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation.

And it turned out to be a shrewd move because having an extra man in midfield helped to curtail the influence of the dangerous Vieira.

But such is the depth of Wenger's squad, the Gunners still looked lethal all over the park with the twinkle-toed Robert Pires in particular pulling the strings on the left.

Rovers made a confident enough start, knocking the ball about nonchalantly on a pristine surface in the opening quarter of an hour.

But, as the dangerous Pires became more and more prominent, the Gunners gradually turned up the heat.

Bergkamp, Henry and Lauren all failed to apply the killer finish to some intricate approach play.

And Friedel then appeared to clip Pires as he dived at the feet of the Frenchman only for Uriah Rennie to turn down Arsenal's penalty appeals.

But, as so often happens, the Gunners were then caught by a classic sucker punch as Rovers broke the deadlock four minutes before the break.

Jansen was the architect, brilliantly jinking his way past three defenders before curling a peach of a pass out to Keith Gillespie on the right-hand side of the box.

The Northern Ireland winger advanced into the area before unleashing a low drive which brushed off Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and crept inside Richard Wright's near post.

However,that merely served to fire the Gunners up and within eight minutes of the restart, they were 2-1 up.

First, Pires tricked his way past a couple of challenges before expertly sliding home the equaliser with his right foot on 48 minutes.

But if that was a stroke of genius, then Souness was positively seething about Rennie's role in Arsenal's second five minutes later.

Henry clearly fouled Lucas Neill as he attempted to clear but the Sheffield official waved play on and when Pires eventually centred for Bergkamp, the Dutchman's left-foot volley crept over the line despite Friedel's valiant attempts.

With Arsenal now in full flow, there appeared to be no way back but, thankfully, Dunn had other ideas.

Damien Johnson intercepted a stray pass from Lauren before feeding Dunn 30 yards out who then stepped inside and hammered a ferocious right-foot drive which whistled past Wright into the bottom corner.

In a grandstand finish, Friedel then saved brilliantly from both Pires and Bergkamp.

But Arsenal's pressure paid off again in the 79th minute when Dunn lost out to Vieira on the right and from Sylvain Wiltord's low cross, Henry clinically dispatched his 12th goal of the season with his left foot from 10 yards.

However, still Rovers and Dunn weren't finished and they bounced back again to equalise in the 89th minute.

Tugay dissected the Arsenal defence with a radar-like pass, and as Flitcroft challenged the keeper, the ball fell to Dunn 25 yards out who expertly found the net with a first-time volley.

Even then, the drama wasn't over as Friedel denied Van Bronckhorst with a brilliant one-handed save deep into injury time.

But even Arsene Wenger couldn't disguise the fact Rovers deserved exactly what they got.

RESULT: ARSENAL...3

ROVERS...3 Pires 48, Bergkamp 53, Henry 79 Gillespie 41, Dunn 58, 89