DAVID Dunn grabbed a late equaliser for Blackburn - thanks to another blunder by goalkeeper Jens Lehmann at Ewood Park.

He allowed Rovers to secure a point when he flapped at a shot from Dunn and watched in disbelief as it nestled in the net.

The only sour note for Blackburn was the dismissal of skipper Ryan Nelsen for two yellow cards late on.

Arsenal took the lead in the 18th minute when Van Persie took advantage of some sloppy defending to score.

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel failed to deal with Eduardo Da Silva's shot after Theo Walcott had headed the ball on.

Nelsen and David Dunn both had chances to clear but failed to do so and Van Persie took advantage his second goal of the season Blackburn almost drew level in the 34th minute following a free-kick from David Bentley.

He picked out Christopher Samba at the back post and the towering defender headed the ball back across the area.

Nelsen was the first to react and powered the ball forward only to see his effort come back off the post.

Bentley tried to curl a free-kick beyond Lehmann in the 53rd minute but his effort fail to trouble the goalkeeper.

Then Roque Santa Cruz sent a header narrowly wide of the post in the 57th minute following a free-kick from Bentley.

Derbyshire then almost equalised three minutes later when he got on the end of a cross from Bentley but Toure made a vital interception.

There was controversy in the 62nd minute when Cesc Fabregas handled Samba's effort on the line but referee Alan Wiley awarded Arsenal a free-kick for an infringement.

Then came his howler which allowed Dunn to score his first goal in his second spell for the club.

Blackburn were growing in confidence and Pedersen made space down the left only to find the side-netting with his shot.

However they were reduced to 10 men in the 83rd minute when Nelsen picked up his second yellow card of the game for a challenge on Van Persie.

Blackburn, though, kept their shape to take a point and continue their good start to the season.