Empire States Blog

ARSENAL vs STOKE Match Report:

GUNNERS GO TOP AFTER SPIRITED SECOND HALF DISPLAY AGAINST POTTERS

Arsenal 3 Stoke City 1: The Gunners came from a goal down to claim all three points at the Emirates

This is the time of year when title credentials are tested, and this afternoon Arsenal did something even more important than climbing to the top of the Premier League. They looked like a team who could win it.

This was a difficult match against a clever, dangerous Stoke City side, and when Arsenal went 1-0 down in the first half it felt like a day that could get away from them.  This is not a team famed for its resilience or its ability to get back up off the canvas.

But Arsenal responded in the best possible way, fighting back and playing Stoke City off the pitch with some brilliant, expansive creative football. They won 3-1, with three excellent goals from Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil and Alex Iwobi. They could have scored more and they certainly looked like a team who could reasonably claim to be the best in the country.

                                    

               Theo Walcott equalises after he's picked out at the near post by Hector Bellerin (Getty)

It was Stoke who took the lead when Charlie Adam converted from the spot, after Granit Xhaka had collided with Joe Allen in the box. It was not an obvious foul, but it was a moment of clumsiness from Xhaka whose discipline is still the major drawback in his game. 

The turning point for Arsenal was when Shkodran Mustafi pulled up with a hamstring strain that will likely keep him out for at least one month. That is obviously bad news, but it did allow Wenger to bring on Hector Bellerin, who has been out for five weeks with an injury of his own. Back on the pitch, Bellerin gave Arsenal pace and width, which they desperately needed.

If Arsenal had gone in to half time 1-0 down it might have been a different game, but they scored a crucial equaliser just before the break. Sanchez played the ball out to Bellerin, making the incisive run that a makeshift right-back would not make. He drove in a first-time cross and Walcott got in at the near post to score.

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