Blackburn Rovers 0 Arsenal 2 - Peter White reports

THOSE who prefer to concentrate on the stars in the sky no doubt enjoyed Saturday's partial eclipse of the sun.

For the down-to-earth among us, concerned more with stars on the football pitch, the feeling is fast becoming inescapable that the eclipse we are witnessing at Ewood Park is total.

There can be no other conclusion. For, with virtually a quarter of the season gone, the club crowned champions of England less than 18 months ago boasts not a single League victory and is cut adrift from the rest of the Premiership.

Whatever the reasons, the bottom line is that relegation is now a very distinct possibility.

Because when you see a game - another game - like Saturday's, you struggle to find genuine hope that a salvage act is still possible.

Ian Wright, a man who makes a real difference to a team, speared Rovers through the heart with two brilliant finishes.

His goals sent manager Arsene Wenger back to London with a smile on his face after the Frenchman was able to celebrate victory in his first game in charge of Arsenal. He also had the knowledge that if he can improve on what he has already got, then his future is bright at Highbury.

In stark contrast, Ray Harford was left pondering not only how bright, or bleak, his own future might be. But whether it would lie much longer at Ewood Park.

And that reflects one of the key factors in the dramatic fall which has followed the remarkable rise of Blackburn Rovers - uncertainty.

A large section of the Ewood crowd chanted for Harford to go after Wright's second goal, while the rest drowned out the protests with encouragement for the team.

The manager himself looked left in a sort of limbo. Is he wanted or not?

And all that uncertainty clearly came across in the performance of a team low on confidence, short on goals and leaking too many at the other end.

It's a recipe for disaster.

Given the circumstances on Saturday, with so many players absent injured once again, and opposition in the shape of an Arsenal side on a high and eager to impress their new boss, pre-match realism suggested Rovers were going to have an almighty struggle. So it proved.

They handed 18-year-old local lad James Beattie his Premiership bow and the youngster worked tremendously hard.

It was certainly not his fault Rovers were beaten for he and partner Chris Sutton received scant service against a solid, no-nonsense Arsenal central defensive trio who also benefited from the referee's leniency.

But, with the wingers largely shackled and Arsenal masters in the air, Rovers' main threat stemmed from skipper Tim Sherwood, who had more attempts at goal than anyone on the pitch and was desperately unlucky in the first half when he was denied by the woodwork.

Sherwood, despite what some critics might say, is one player who doesn't hide when the going gets tough. He covered every inch of the pitch.

Sure, he makes mistakes but that is partly down to his continual involvement and refusal to take the easy way out.

But too many other players were far short of the standards they can reach.

Wright can make the difference and he did just that inside three minutes to leave Rovers wearing a haunted look.

John Hartson was guilty of numerous ungainly challenges in a rugged duel with Henning Berg, who stuck manfully to his task.

But the Arsenal striker got the all-clear from the referee as he headed down Nigel Winterburn's cross, Wright skipped inside Nicky Marker and planted a great finish in the far top corner.

The writing, already, was on the wall and summed up perfectly by Harford afterwards as he reflected on the problems on and off the field. "We are playing catch-up at the moment. Catch-up in business by selling Alan Shearer and catch-up football on the pitch by going behind," he said.

"And we are not particularly good at it."

Rovers did show enough spirit to mount a fightback.

There was almost an early chance for Beattie to equalise and Sherwood flicked one header onto the roof of the net before seeing another hit a post, with David Seaman blocking Beattie's follow-up.

Arsenal also had their moments and, after Sherwood opened the second half with a spectacular overhead attempt, they showed how to make the most of them on 52 minutes.

Patrick Vieira hit a superb swerving through ball for Wright. The striker's control matched the quality of the pass and he held off Gary Croft before clipping another clinical finish past Tim Flowers.

Flowers saved excellently from Lee Dixon, while Seaman stopped confidently from a well-struck volley by substitute Stuart Ripley.

But there was no way back into the match for Rovers against such a well-organised and sturdy defence who were Arsenal's platform for victory.

The question that this latest Ewood surrender prompts is whether there is a way back from a League position which threatens the end of a dream.

As well as an eclipse, are we destined to see only falling stars this winter?

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.