IT was a champagne performance but Radhi Jaidi passed on the bubbly as he celebrated his first Premiership goal.

The giant Tunisian proudly held the magnum after taking the Man of the Match award for his Highbury highlight but explained: "I won't be drinking it. It's a religious thing."

There were no shortage of takers in the visitors' dressing room after Wanderers upset Arsenal with the same confident, spirited display that accounted for Liverpool and almost did for Manchester United in previous weeks.

The midfield trio of Jay-Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo and Gary Speed had refused to let the Premiership's thoroughbreds get into their fluent stride, Henrik Pedersen and Les Ferdinand had made major impacts as second half substitutes, and Kevin Nolan was so unlucky not to have his efforts rewarded when a second blockbuster of a shot took a deflection and skimmed Jens Lehmann's crossbar.

But Jaidi was the toast of London town after crowning a dominant defensive display with a mighty header from Okocha's corner to stun the Highbury crowd into silence - save for the clutch of Bolton fans, who went wild, sharing in the big man's delight - and lead a recovery that earned the Whites a 2-2 draw.

Allardyce hailed the 6ft 4ins defender, whose performances in Tunisia's African Nations Cup triumph earlier this year were logged by chief scout Jack Chapman, and led to a summer free transfer from Esperance de Tunis.

"Playing in the Premiership, you've got to have a central defender as dominant and powerful as he is," said the manager, who knows a thing or two about the role, having played it so effectively himself.

"He actually puts us on many attacks from his defensive headers, and relieves an awful lot of pressure. If he can keep learning and improving, he'll get better and better."

Allardyce acknowledges that dealing with the subtlety, not to mention the pace, of top Premiership strikers like Thierry Henry, who scored the first of Arsenal's goals, calls for more than power and heading ability. But the manager believes the fundamentals are there, and there is much to look forward to as Jaidi acclimatises to his new surroundings after a career in the domestic backwaters of North Africa.

Although 29, Jaidi is more than willing to learn.

"I have worked hard to score my first goal and to improve my game since I came to Bolton," he said, speaking through an interpreter. "It happened against Arsenal, and I am really pleased for myself and for the team. At the beginning, I had a lot of problems because I was new, but I have improved more and more, and I think my qualities for playing in the Premiership are good.

"I am strong and quite fast, and this is what you need to be a good defender here. But I am always learning and I feel quite good."

And so he should after helping Wanderers take five points from successive games against three of the top teams in England.

"Thierry Henry and (Jose Antonio) Reyes are some of the best strikers in the world so it was good to do well against them," he said. "I had ten years with Esperance of Tunisia, which is a really famous club in Africa, but my dream was always to play here in England.

"I tried very hard for the last five years to come here and now that dream has come true. I am getting better and better and will work hard to reach a high level. Scoring the goal has sealed the dream.

"I am lucky and happy to have played against strikers like Henry, Djibril Cisse and Ruud van Nistelrooy in my last three games. You have to be ready to face the best players in the world every week in the Premiership."

Although he is only in his third month at the Reebok, Jaidi says he has already learned much about the English ways and is grateful to Allardyce for giving him the benefit of his personal experience.

"I am really lucky to have a coach like Sam Allardyce who played in the same position as me," he added. "He helped me a lot when I came, and advised me a lot about positioning, and the difficulties a player has when he comes from abroad to play here in England."