One hundred not out for Robin van Persie - now Arsenal must make sure he stays fit for the rest of the campaign for once..

Dutch striker has evolved into the captain Gunners so desperately require as he reaches personal milestone that underlines his overwhelming importance to the club.

It took just 42 seconds of play resuming after the interval for Robin van Persie to turn Arsenal’s game against Bolton Wanderers on its head.
For the first half of the match Arsenal looked laboured in possession and stultified up top, meaning frustration within the Emirates was becoming more than palpable.
Yet, within moments of re-emerging after half-time, Van Persie seized the initiative, collecting Aaron Ramsey’s pass, going the long way around the Bolton rearguard and lashing a trademark left-footed drive just inside Jussi Jaaskelainen’s near post.
The strike proved pivotal and Arsenal ran riot from there on in, with the new Arsenal captain reaching the personal landmark of 100 goals for the club after his composed flick to send home Theo Walcott’s low cross, doubling the lead and signalling the end of the game long before Alex Song put the icing on the cake.
It is a milestone befitting of the manner in which Van Persie has now become the most valuable player at the club. Indeed, it’s difficult to think of a player more valuable to his side in the whole Premier League.
Quite aside from the remarkable amount of goals Van Persie is notching up at the minute, the Dutchman is evolving into the captain that Arsenal were so clearly desperate for in the aftermath of Cesc Fabregas’ departure.
Similar to the way in which Fabregas could constantly be relied upon to provide the spark for the Gunners, Van Persie emphatically turned the tide against Bolton. His first strike, the product of his own persistence, set the tone for the entire second half in which Arsenal’s recent travails almost disappeared completely.
Though a 3-0 victory against a flailing Bolton side could hardly be described as a catalyst for a changing of the club’s fortunes, the result provided the comforting suggestion that, amid the doom-mongering, things could just pan out alright at the Emirates