Blackburn ROvers 1, Arsenal 1.

Arsene Wenger accused Blackburn of waging ''violence'' against his Arsenal side at Ewood Park.

It was a charge dismissed by his managerial counterpart Mark Hughes after a feisty 1-1 draw.

Wenger said: ''I felt there was a desire for violence more than commitment in some of the challenges.

''We were very resilient against a team that was over-physical. We dealt well with the problem we had.

''My team showed the correct attitude and we are frustrated because we should be going home with the three points.

''We did well and had some good chances to score a second goal here.''

Skipper Ryan Nelsen was sent off after picking up two yellow cards but Hughes retorted: ''That attitude (by Wenger) surprises me. The worst challenge was by Van Persie on Stephen Warnock.''

Van Persie opened the scoring with his second goal in two league games when he took advantage of some sloppy defending after Brad Friedel failed to take the ball cleanly.

But Blackburn earned a point when goalkeeper Jens Lehmann spilled a shot from David Dunn and enabled the midfielder to score his first goal in his second spell for the club.

It is the second time this season the German has been punished for a lapse in concentration.

On the opening day he gifted a goal to Fulham's David Healy but Arsenal recovered and went on to secure a victory.

They were not so fortunate in Lancashire but Wenger, who saw defender William Gallas suffer a groin injury, refused to condemn his goalkeeper.

He said: ''Jens is really unhappy and really down in the dressing room.

''I do not need to tell him, though, he has made a mistake. We do not want to blame him. We want to keep the positives.

''While we conceded a bad goal overall we dealt well with set pieces and long balls.

''Blackburn is a difficult place to come and it is not a bad result for us.''

Hughes was delighted at the way Blackburn went about their business and refused to grumble about failing to get what appeared to be a clear penalty.

Cesc Fabregas handled a shot from Christopher Samba on the line but referee Alan Wiley awarded a free-kick to Arsenal for a mysterious infringement.

Wiley seemed to struggle with the physical nature of the game and dished out eight yellow cards as well as the red to Nelsen.

Hughes said: ''It was very competitive and I thought we dominated the game. We were the better side.

''Arsenal's key personnel did not cause us problems and we could have snatched a victory.

''We showed great character and equipped ourselves well against a top side."