Stoke 1-0 ArsenalHome team scorersRodriguez Jese 47
An impressive debut goal from Jesé Rodríguez, a superb Jack Butland display and an Alexandre Lacazette goal incorrectly ruled out for offside gave Stoke City a deserved win on an evening when Arsenal suggested they are destined for another frustrating Premier League campaign.
Arsène Wenger’s side ended up bombarding Butland’s goal yet lacked a ruthless edge. The sight of record £52m signing Lacazette, anonymous apart from the turn and finish with 18 minutes to go that was erroneously disallowed by a linesman’s flag, being taken off near the close summed their bluntness up.
Both these side had shaky opening displays. Stoke went down 1-0 at Everton and Arsenal had to come from behind to grab a late 4-3 victory over Leicester City at the Emirates.
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This was Stoke’s first home outing of the campaign and so an inaugural performance at an enhanced Bet365 Stadium that boasts a new south-east quadrant, raising capacity to just over 30,000.
Amid a raucous, vibrant atmosphere, the contest began in invigorating, end-to-end style that went on until the break. Darren Fletcher sparked proceedings with a run and pass to Rodríguez, whose shot was smothered by Petr Cech. Next, Arsenal roved forward via Héctor Bellerín. The wing-back surged into Stoke’s penalty area and a precisely-timed Kurt Zouma tackle was required to snuff out the danger.
After a Granit Xhaka corner broke and fell to Danny Welbeck, who mis-kicked, Aaron Ramsey got in down the left-hand channel. His attempted shot rolled weakly to Butland in the Stoke goal but this area was proving a profitable one for Arsenal. Next a sweet Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pass found Welbeck there and Butland needed to be sharp to repel the effort.
Mark Hughes had made two changes from the defeat at Goodison Park, bringing in new signings Rodríguez and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting for Saido Berahino and Bojan Krkić. The manager’s strategy lasted only 25 minutes, though. Xherdan Shaqiri took a knock and so Berahino came on to replace him in a rejig that featured Choupo-Moting moving to the right. For the visitors, Wenger decided on two changes too as Ramsey replaced Mohamed Elneny and Shkodran Mustafi came in for Rob Holding.
In addition to the well-documented broken leg Ramsey suffered from a Ryan Shawcross challenge here in February 2010, Rodríguez also faced someone he had history with in Sead Kolasinac, Arsenal’s free summer transfer from Schalke. The Spaniard, who arrived at Stoke on loan from Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the week, had his career at previous club Real Madrid halted by a Kolasinac tackle that caused an anterior cruciate tear in a Champions League last-16 encounter in March 2014.
Rodríguez had been among Stoke’s brightest players as the match approached half-time. He will have been disappointed with one weak effort at Cech but a willingness to take on and beat Arsenal players posed the visitors an awkward question. Before kickoff Geoff Cameron had stated Stoke wanted to get in Arsenal’s faces and they attempted to do so throughout the opening half. Joe Allen engineered an opening along the right, Rodríguez won a free-kick from Xhaka and Mame Biram Diouf set off on a barrelling run that took him into Arsenal’s half before finally being halted.
Arsenal’s clearest opportunity had arrived just before the half-hour. Oxlade-Chamberlain swung over a free-kick and Ramsey broke clear to bundle the ball at Butland, who blocked.
Two minutes into the second half and Stoke fans regaled Arsenal with taunts of “Who are you?” after Rodríguez’s goal which derived from a slick but simple move. Collecting the ball in an advanced area, he swapped passes with Berahino, slipped behind the Arsenal defence, then pulled the trigger to beat Cech.
Cue a jubilant Hughes, while Wenger will have again been ruing the slipshod defending that had allowed Leicester three goals. Then, Olivier Giroud was the match-winner, the French striker scoring with five minutes to go after coming on as a substitute. He again appeared to be Wenger’s go-to option here yet as the hour mark passed Arsenal had still not made any changes.
In Butland they faced a determined keeper, who first punched away an Oxlade-Chamberlain cross, then kept out a Bellerín shot.
Stoke’s menace was illustrated when an attack had Cech beating away a Berahino header. Now, Wenger acted, bringing on Giroud for Kolasinic on 66 minutes. It reaped a near-instant dividend as his one-two with Welbeck again called on Butland to be brave.
From this a corner was claimed but Arsenal failed to profit. Next Ramsey, who like Lacazette had virtually vanished since half time, broke into the Stoke area though his run yielded nothing.
So, with Lacazette’s strike chalked off, Arsenal drew a blank. And, despite there being 36 matches left, Wenger’s challenge of ensuring they are genuine contenders looks difficult already.
Guardian
