With every game at Highbury, Arsenal look less and less like champions. If draws here against Bolton and Blackburn were bad, this was remarkable.

In 90 minutes yesterday, the story of Arsene Wenger's season was encapsulated; defensive errors at one end, wastefulness at the other. Here was a lesson in incisiveness from Charlton.

Had Arsenal taken all their chances they would have run up double figures. According to the statistics, they had 25 goal attempts to Charlton's five.

Crucially, six opportunities to finish matters were wasted after Thierry Henry had given them an early lead. "The way they were playing and the way we were, I was fearing the worst," said Charlton's manager Alan Curbishley.

He need not have worried.

By the 34th minute, Charlton had not created a chance; between the 35th and 53rd minutes they scored four times, aided by a dreadful Richard Wright own-goal and a Patrick Vieira lapse. Arsenal might have recovered, but over-elaboration, good defending and more bad finishing cost them.

No wonder Wenger looked shattered. Arsenal were booed off after conceding four goals at home in the Premiership for the first time.

Not long ago, Arsenal conceded four goals at Highbury over the course of three months. This follows a 3-3 draw with Blackburn and means that more points have been dropped at Highbury this season (10) than in the whole of last term (nine). As Manchester United stutter, Arsenal are failing to take advantage.

"It's one of the most difficult defeats I have had to accept," Wenger said. "We were cruising [at 1-0] and we became a bit complacent. We lost that edge that makes you win games. You could see that defensively and offensively. That is maybe where we are not mature enough as a team. We lost our sharpness after creating chance after chance, and the way we conceded the first and second goals was not good enough for us. It's down to a whole concentration problem in the team."

That seemed kind to Wright, whose culpability for the second Charlton goal was undeniable. When Paul Konchesky curled in a free-kick, the goalkeeper rushed off his line and punched the ball into his own net from above Jason Euell's head. To complete his misery, Tord Grip was in the stands.

"I'm young, human and I'll make more mistakes," Wright said. He is expected to play at home to Manchester United in the Worthington Cup tonight and almost certain to face Spurs on November 17th. Wenger said David Seaman was "10 days to two weeks" away from recovering from a shoulder problem.

To blame Wright for the defeat would be ridiculous, though. It was Gilles Grimandi who allowed Steve Brown to head Charlton's equaliser and Vieira who dallied in possession to present Claus Jensen with a third.

Charlton deserve credit for their determination, producing several important blocks to complement a couple of good saves by Dean Kiely. Yet Kiely had far less to do than he should have.

Henry was back to his worst, failing with four chances, including two one-on-ones. He took the most difficult opportunity and blew the others. Robert Pires, Martin Keown, Ashley Cole and Giovanni van Bronckhorst were also guilty.

The need for Arsenal to take chances is all the more pressing while the defence is being rebuilt and looks shaky.

Yesterday, Grimandi and Keown were paired at centre back. Without Tony Adams, Lee Dixon and Seaman there seems a lack of leadership.

Early on, Arsenal seemed destined for victory. Much of their attacking play was impressive and Henry scored first time from a Pires pass after six minutes. Chance after chance went begging before Brown headed in Konchesky's free-kick to begin the astonishing turnaround.

Wright's error quickly followed and, after half-time, bad turned to worse for Arsenal when Vieira was dispossessed by Jonatan Johansson and Jensen chipped delightfully beyond Wright.

When Jensen fed Euell six minutes later and the striker calmly beat Wright, Highbury could not believe its eyes.

Henry did pull a goal back from a penalty, won for a dubious foul on him by Mark Fish, but a third would not come, Sylvain Wiltord coming closest when he hit a post. "They didn't finish us off," Curbishley said, "and they have gone on and paid for it."

ARSENAL: Wright, Cole (Wiltord 68), Keown, Grimandi, Lauren, Pires, van Bronckhorst, Vieira, Ljungberg, Bergkamp, Henry. Subs Not Used: Taylor, Parlour, Luzhny, Kanu. Booked: Cole, Vieira, Lauren. Goals: Henry 7, 60 pen.

CHARLTON: Kiely, Powell, Konchesky, Brown, Fish, Young, Kinsella, Jensen (Bartlett 81), Parker (Peacock 67), Euell, Johansson (Robinson 79). Subs Not Used: Roberts, Fortune. Booked: Parker, Konchesky. Goals: Brown 35, Wright 43 og, Jensen 49, Euell 53.

Referee: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City).