ARSENAL 3 STOKE CITY 1
by Ricky Butler at the Emirates Stadium
CRISIS-club Arsenal went back to the top of the Barclays Premier League with a comfortable victory over Mark Hughes' new-look Stoke side at the Emirates on Sunday.
And it was deadline day record signing - pass-master Mesut Ozil - who was the architect with another three assists as Arsene Wenger's side continue to confound the critics.
After a tough summer when many were questioning his future, Wenger has quietly assembled a very good group of players who finally look ready to end the much talked about trophy drought. The addition of Ozil could prove to be the final piece of the jigsaw.
The little German has played just two Premier League matches for the club but the king of the assist is top of the assist table with four to his credit already.
The squad is still a little short on numbers perhaps, although when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lukas Podolski, Tomas Rosicky and Santi Cazorla all return from injury, Arsenal will have an abundance of riches in attacking areas.
There was some good news for Wenger on the injury front however, with Mikel Arteta coming on for the final 12 minutes following a thigh injury that has kept him out since pre-season.
"He is a technical leader on the pitch so it is great to have him available again," said the Arsenal boss.
While the £42.5m signing of Ozil has captured the imagination, it may well be a returning Frenchman on a free who could prove to be Wenger's best piece of summer business.
Mathieu Flamini has slipped effortlessly back into the Gunners midfield, offering a solid base for the likes of Ozil, Jack Wilshere and in-form Aaron Ramsey to pull the strings further forward.
In fact it was Ramsey who profited from a 4th minute Ozil set piece to fire Arsenal ahead - his 7th goal of an incredible season.
Wilshere was fouled 25 yards from goal by Charlie Adam and when Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic could only push out the German's free kick, Ramsey arrived to fire home from six yards.
All credit to Hughes' side who are clearly trying to change their style this season. While still being combative in midfield, they are now playing a more measured, passing game and this was emphasised by their equaliser midway through the first half.
Steven Nzonzi exposed the apparent weakness at the heart of the Arsenal defence with a neat ball over the top which Marko Arnautovic turned onto the post. But full back Geoff Cameron, who had started the move by winning the ball on halfway and charging forward, finished it with a first time effort from 16 yards.
Wenger's side, looking leggy after their midweek Champions League exploits, could have buckled but they managed to rouse themselves again to regain the lead 10 minutes later. This time it was a corner delivery from Ozil that created the opportunity for compatriot Per Mertersacker to glance home a backwards header from 10 yards.
And it was that man Ozil again who made it a hat-trick of assists 20 minutes from time. Wilshere bought a foul from Jon Walters on the left side of the penalty area and Ozil's floated free kick was headed home by Bacary Sagna at the far post - his first goal in over 18 months. Three Arsenal goals from set-pieces against Stoke. Who would have thought it?
Wenger said: "It is unusual for us to score from set pieces, especially against a team like Stoke. But the delivery was the most important part of that.
"We have established a good run (since Aston Villa) and after a Champions League game it is very important to win, and we did it today.
"I think we had two halves; the first was fluent and the second half we looked jaded physically. In the end we lost our technical quality.
"But we have shown another aspect as well; that we can dig in and fight when we were under pressure.
"It's been a good week for us. We won in Marseille, we won in Sunderland and we won today so it has been a very positive week."
Stoke boss Hughes was not happy about the goals his side conceded. He said: "We are disappointed with the manner of the goals, we lost three goals to set
plays and that's not something we usually do.
"And I don't think there are many
occasions where Arsenal score from free-kicks or from balls into the box.
"We showed good courage to get on level terms, but their second goal was
disappointing. In the second half we looked like we were the more likely to
score but when they got a third it took the wind out of our sails."
Arsenal was thrown a last-minute curve ball with the withdrawal of abdominal-injury victim Theo Walcott just before kick off, giving 18-year old Serge Gnabry, the least known of Arsenal's four Germans, a first Premier League start.
Although the teenager looks another exciting prospect and showed some nice touches, he lacked the attacking thrust of the Englishman and as a result the Gunners attacking play often appeared pedestrian.
But thanks to the prompting of Ozil, they still had more than enough to seal a seventh win on the spin. Not bad for a club in crisis.
ARSENAL - Szczesny 6, Sagna 7, Mertersacker 7, Koscielny 7, Gibbs 7, Wilshere 6 (Monreal 6, 72), Flamini 7, RAMSEY 8, Gnabry 6( Miyachi 6, 72), Giroud 6, Ozil 7(Atreta 7, 79).
STOKE CITY - Begovic 7, Pieters 6 (Palacios 5, 66), Huth 6, Shawcross 6, Cameron 7, Arnautovic, 7 Wilson 7, Adam 5 (Ireland 5, 58), Nzonzi 7, Jones 5 (Pennant 5, 75), Walters 6.
REFEREE - M. Dean 7 - The sign of a good referee is that you rarely notice him and Dean went about his work with the minimum of fuss.
No comments:
Post a Comment