Arsenal’s jinx against Bolton Wanderers is well documented, but they exorcised the demons at the Reebok Stadium last night despite missing two penalties in an explosive tie.

An early goal from Emmanuel Adebayor appeared to have secured victory in their FA Cup fourth-round replay, but Abdoulaye Meïté, the Bolton Wanderers centre half, equalised from close range in the second minute of stoppage time and it needed an individual piece of magic in extra time to put Arsenal back on course for the last 16.

Jérémie Aliadière went on a mazy solo run from his own half and slipped through the perfect pass for Fredrik Ljungberg, another substitute, to rifle a cross-shot past Jussi Jaaskelainen. Bolton had Tal Ben Haim sent off for a second bookable offence before Júlio Baptista repeated Gilberto Silva’s miss from the spot, but Adebayor made it 3-1 just before the end. Arsenal meet Blackburn Rovers in the fifth round at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

There was no love lost between the managers, even on Valentine’s Day. Before the match, Sam Allardyce pointed out Arsenal’s frequent protests about their opponents’ time-wasting when, in fact, it was just a tactic to put pressure on the referee, he claimed. Arsène Wenger has long held the view that Bolton under “Big Sam” are simply “lump-it-and-see merchants”, with no style or grace. That Arsenal had not beaten Bolton in their five previous meetings may have had more to do with it.

Wenger, for all his Gallic charm, is a notoriously sore loser and he almost grudgingly had to concede defeat in the initial fixture. Only a late equaliser from Kolo Touré at the Emirates Stadium last month prevented Allardyce from getting one over on the Frenchman. Again.

It was Bolton who knocked Arsenal out of the competition at the same stage last season and, buoyed by a good start last night, they must have begun to ponder a repeat. Even with Iván Campo starting in the unfamiliar position of right back, Bolton were bright and penetrative going forward.

Arsenal, too, had to use Gilberto, the holding midfield player, in central defence. Wenger had a strong line-up, though, far removed from the youthful team that has won through to the Carling Cup final.

Bolton’s early endeavours transpired to be little more than huff and puff, with only the merest of substance. Once Tomas Rosicky had taken over running the show for Arsenal, weaving patterns from the left flank, the first half took on a different slant. Twice Jaaskelainen, the Bolton goalkeeper, had to rescue his team, sprinting from his line to intercept thoughtful passes from Rosicky to Adebayor. Rosicky then decided to go it alone, but with options open to him, he drove his shot wide.

The mounting pressure had to tell and did in the thirteenth minute. A superb passing movement, with telling contributions from Alexander Hleb, Denilson and Rosicky, ended with Adebayor lifting his effort past Jaaskelainen with the aid of a deflection off Stelios Giannakopoulos. It was his ninth goal of the season. Bolton engineered a response, but it still lacked weight.

Arsenal swiftly recovered their rhythm, with Baptista glancing a header wide from a cross by Gaël Clichy and then replicating the miss, this time from Rosicky’s delivery.

Shortly before half-time, though, the Arsenal goal survived a triple scare. First, Andranik Teymourian’s shot was blocked, inadvertently, by Giannakopoulos, who turned and fired the ball against the bar. As it bounced down, Meïté had a goalbound attempt batted away by a wall of bodies.

Two minutes into the second half Bolton could have equalised when Abou Diaby, the Arsenal midfield player, lost his bearings at a free kick. The ball glanced off his head into the ground and it was only an agile save from Manuel Almunia that prevented it from nestling in the net. Moments later, Giannakopoulos should have done better when presented with a one-on-one opportunity against Almunia. With Ben Haim supporting his team-mate, Giannakopoulos was too selfish and was crowded out.

The match, at last, had a smooth ebb and flow, with Baptista and Diaby — this time at the right end — going close. Nicolas Anelka, a previously peripheral figure for Bolton, began to get his act together and tried to test Almunia with a sweetly struck 25-yard drive, but it drifted well wide of the target.

Bolton upped the tempo further when Giannakopoulos produced a touch of magic on the left wing before swinging over a deep cross to the far post. Campo appeared as from nowhere but could not keep his composure and drilled the ball into the side-netting.

The match should have been settled in the 63rd minute. Baptista tip-toed in from the left into the Bolton area, teasing Ben Haim into making a rash challenge.

Baptista tumbled over, the penalty was awarded by Chris Foy, the referee, but Gilberto was unable to complete the episode in the appropriate manner. Brazilians should score spot-kicks in their sleep, but he blazed it high over the bar. It was an appalling attempt, but in the end it did not matter.

Bolton Wanderers (4-3-3): J Jaaskelainen — I Campo, T Ben Haim, A Meïté, R Gardner (sub: H Pedersen, 84min), K Nolan, G Speed, Andranik Teymourian (sub: I Tal, 84) — S Giannapoulos (sub: R Vaz Té, 74), N Anelka, E-H Diouf. Substitutes not used: I Walker, J Fojut. Booked: Ben Haim, Campo, Anelka, Jaaskelainen, Nolan. Sent off: Ben Haim.

Arsenal (4-4-1-1): M Almunia — J Djourou (sub: J Hoyte, 94), K Touré, Gilberto Silva, G Clichy — A Hleb (sub: F Ljungberg, 78), Denilson, A Diaby, T Rosicky (sub: J Aliadiãre, 91) — J Baptista — E Adebayor. Substitutes not used: M Poom, T Walcott. Booked: Ljungberg.

Referee: C Foy.