It may have been removed from the sparkling, free-flowing football which earlier this season saw the Gunners set records with a regularity that Sergei Bubka would be proud of.

However, when Arsene Wenger looks down from the top of the Christmas Day tree for the first time since the Premiership began, that will be of little worry to him.

Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer may have pulled off a handful of top-class saves as Thierry Henry, Sylvain Wiltord and Robert Pires all squandered clear openings at Highbury.

But after a run of three games without a win, including just one goal – and that from the penalty-spot – Campbell’s diving header on the stroke of half-time was a much-needed tonic.

And it was not until the final minute that Pires rounded off victory against a Boro side already reduced to 10 men.

Steve McClaren will therefore have rather more worries on his mind as he contemplates a St Stephen's Day meeting with Manchester United.

His side have now not scored in five consecutive away league defeats, while George Boateng faces tests on a potentially serious knee ligament injury.

And just to make matters worse, midfielder Luke Wilkshire was harshly sent off at Highbury for two cautionable offences on his full Premiership debut.

Wilkshire had replaced out-of-form Massimo Maccarone, while Arsenal – already without Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp – were handed a late blow when Ray Parlour aggravated a calf injury during the warm-up.

He was replaced by Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who not only sent an early drive just wide but also curled a free-kick which Wiltord controlled before blasting his shot over the top from close-range.

Indeed, Wiltord, who was replacing Bergkamp – even though Pires actually filled the Dutchman’s position – was struggling to make any positive impression on the game.

Not that his team-mates’ finishing was much better, with Henry also off-target, while Boro increasingly started to come into the game.

Szilard Nemeth, whose last encounter with David Seaman was scoring against him for Slovakia, gave Jonathan Greening a brief sight of goal, only for Campbell to bundle the ball behind.

Otherwise, the Boro strikeforce of Nemeth and Alen Boksic found their openings restricted.

Then again, while Campbell was leading by example, so too were Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu at the centre of Boro’s accomplished back-four.

The visitors were forced into a reshuffle on 24 minutes when Boateng was stretchered off in some pain and was replaced by Joseph-Desire Job.

With Campbell, Martin Keown and Fredrik Ljungberg all spurning half-chances, Boro still looked to have held on until the break.

However, that was reckoning without Campbell’s intervention in first-half injury-time as he dived full-length to power home a superb header from van Bronckhorst’s incisive free-kick

Boro were at least helped by an astonishing miss by Henry just after the restart when, in attempting to switch feet at the last minute, he completely mis-kicked Wiltord’s cross right in front of goal.

But their uphill task was magnified on 73 minutes when Wilkshire forlornly trooped off after being dismissed following his second booking.

While the energetic midfielder’s two fouls – on van Bronckhorst and then Pires - just about deserved cautions, a final warning would surely have been a more common-sense decision.

It was not to be and, despite the arrival of defender Tony Vidmar, Arsenal simply increased their pressure.

Amid a deluge of corners, Wiltord’s drive was superbly tipped around the post by Schwarzer, Pires struck the side-netting and Lauren’s half-volley was pushed over.

Henry was also a picture of disbelief as his excellent volley on the turn was tipped onto the post and rebounded across the face of goal to safety.

However, Pires finally confirmed victory in the last minute as he found a way past Schwarzer with a superbly-guided shot from the edge of the penalty area.