Charlton - 1 Arsenal - 2: Arsene Wenger's enjoyment of this performance from Robin van Persie may have been tempered by one thought: why does the Dutchman not produce on such a scale more regularly? Superlative volleys to match Saturday's decisive strike are too much to expect weekly but Van Persie's quality served as a reminder that he ought to leave his imprint on games more often. Two goals equalled his tally from his previous 21 Arsenal matches.

Nine appearances were, admittedly, from the bench, and goals are not the only currency for a striker, but Van Persie, at 23 and in his third Premiership season, recognises he needs to improve his input.

"I'm not in great form if you look at the whole picture," he said, though he added he was "getting there".

His challenge is to maintain a level that demands his inclusion.

In the post-Dennis Bergkamp era at Arsenal there is a need for someone to combine with, and take a load off, Thierry Henry. Jose Antonio Reyes was not up to the task and neither Van Persie nor Emmanuel Adebayor has done it consistently enough.

Van Persie awoke from a poor start here to give his most influential performance of the season, not at centre-forward but coming in from the left in a 4-3-2-1 set-up headed by Henry.

For a month last season Van Persie seemed to be fulfilling his potential. He got eight goals in eight games but was soon hampered by a foot injury and has shone only patchily since. A weight ought to have been lifted by this contribution, and Arsenal's recent run shows how rapidly form and fortune can turn.

After a draw with Middlesbrough four weeks ago it was widely assumed Arsenal would lose at Old Trafford and be 13 points behind Manchester United, the then leaders, with a game in hand but no realistic title hope. Five consecutive victories later, in Europe and the Premiership, Wenger's team sit five points adrift of the top having played a game fewer and a championship challenge looks very much alive.

"I was not too much worried when we started the season without winning the games," Wenger said, "because I felt the quality was there. But I know there comes a point where you have to win. If you don't do that the confidence drops so much that you lose the quality of your game because the players start to play scared.

"That's why the Hamburg game and, after, the Manchester United game were certainly turning points for us."

Quality was evident against Charlton and the turning point for Van Persie came with his equaliser, lashed in after good work by Henry and Alexander Hleb, who excelled as the other forward.

Van Persie had shown why doubts remain, sending a free-kick high, being booked for kicking Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and incurring Henry's displeasure by shooting wildly when he ought to have passed.

A decade of Wenger was marked by the flowing game he has brought but, just as familiarly, a lack of killer instinct and discomfort in the face of direct play.

Helped by a formation that outnumbered Charlton in midfield and gave licence for players to break forward, Arsenal got into dangerous positions but missed chances for a third goal that would have avoided nervy moments against a gutsy Charlton.

In keeping with Wenger's regime, Van Persie failed with a volley from six yards but scored a perfect goal. A slick move involving Gilberto Silva, Hleb and Emmanuel Eboue got a wonderful finish when Van Persie met Eboue's right-wing cross perfectly from the edge of the box at an awkward height. Wenger called it "a goal of a lifetime".

His team's superiority might easily have counted for nothing. Jens Lehmann saved sharply from the disappointing Andy Reid, William Gallas survived a strong penalty claim for handball and the otherwise impressive Hasselbaink put wide a free header. His cross had set up Darren Bent to steer Charlton ahead.

"We've given a good fist of ourselves and if we do that for the rest of the season we'll be okay," said the manager, Iain Dowie.

The same applies to Robin van Persie.

Guardian Service