Robin van Persie
Robin van Persie scored his 100th goal for Arsenal against Bolton. REUTERS Reuters

Robin van Persie scored twice as Arsenal swept aside 10-man Bolton at the Emirates Saturday.

The Arsenal captain netted his 99th and 100th goals for the Gunners as they moved up to 12th following a poor start to the new campaign.

Bolton were the better side for much of the first half, with Arsenal bereft of ideas up front and only a one-handed save by Wojciech Szczesny prevented Darren Pratley giving Bolton the lead early on.

However, Van Persie gave Arsenal the lead 40 seconds after the restart before Bolton's task was made considerably harder when David Wheater saw red after he brought down Theo Walcott.

Van Persie turned in Walcott's cross in the 71st minute before Alex Song latched on to Bacary Sagna's cut-back to seal the points for Arsenal.