Arsenal put the bad memories of Sunderland, Chelsea and Man City with a stoic win over Stoke thanks to goals from Andrey Arshavin and Aaron Ramsey.

The Gunners got off to a flying start as they tried to shoot out of the starting blocks, pinging the ball around and looking menacing. They spent the opening passages of play camped in Stoke’s half. Between 5 and 10 minutes, Stoke hit back with some blood-and-thunder moments, but the defence held strong.

Arsenal had chances to put the game to bed when Andrey Arshavin tip-toed into the box and was fouled in the penalty area. Cesc Fabregas – usually so competent when taking penalties for Spain – hit a tepid effort to Sorenson’s left, which the Scandinavian saved easily.

Minutes later, Fabregas had the chance to make amends but arrowed a shot straight at Eboue, who was stranded on the goal line. It was Bendtner-esque in its frustration, but Arsenal’s most telling chance would come soon.

Fabregas scuttled to the left of centre before feeding through Arshavin into the box. The diminutive Russian advanced, dragged the ball back, then shot beyond the keeper’s reach for a good goal and great finish.

Though helpless to blocking Cesc’s earlier shot, Eboue was putting in a fantastic shift on the right wing, imposing himself on Stoke’s midfield, robbing them of possession and running straight at defenders on the angle. He genuinely brings something to our attack that, while not the finished product, has defenders worried most of the time.

By half time, Arsenal probably felt they should have been 3-0 up, and well into the second it remained a hypothetical fear.

But the centrebacks, William Gallas and Thomas Vermaelen, were immense tonight. While it’s fair to say Stoke have been more dangerous than tonight, the defence dealt with all of Arsenal’s ‘traditional weaknesses’ by dealing competently with long throws and high hoofed-balls, again and again, throughout the night.

It was patently obvious the front-men were not firing tonight, but it was to the defence’s credit they realised this and took it upon themselves to shut up shop.

Arsenal got their reward for that on 78 minutes when Aaron Ramsey tried to pass to the middle. The ball was intercepted but pinged back at Ramsey, who came forward with a touch and booted the ball into the net from the edge of the box. A great finish for Ramsey’s second goal of the season.

Almunia – 7: Had more to do today than against a more clinical Chelsea. Most of his work was spent marshaling the defence and dealing with Rory Delap’s bombing throw-ins. His punching could be much more confident than the flaps he sometimes tries, but today at least, he got the job done.
Sagna – 7: Snappy tackles on his flank, but still not convincing with the cross. Doesn’t help when you have the shortest player on the planet in the penalty area, granted.
Gallas – 8: Stoke tried all the long balls, high balls and long throws in the book against Gallas and he came out on top every time. For much of the match, Stoke were kept chanceless.
Vermaelen – 8: Leap was there for all to see and got forward on occassion too. Both he and Gallas seemed to realise that it wasn’t the attacking players’ day today and took it on themselves to shut Stoke out, as if 1-0 was as good as it was going to get.
Traore – 7: His best display this season. Not faultless by any stretch, but had a few Clichy-esque intercept-and-sprints, and crossing is an improvement over Sagna’s.
Denilson – 7: The only time you noticed him today was when he came alongside Fabregas to give a pass to another player. His screening, defensive role in place of Song was Gilberto-esque – a true invisible wall that shut off the angles for Stoke, and was vital in those opening 10 minutes of the first half when the visitors had momentum.
Fabregas – 7: A quieter day filled with a bit of frustration. Very poor penalty saved by Sorenson, but he did his other jobs modestly well – getting into space, keeping things ticking over and hassling Stoke players off the ball.
Nasri – 7.5: Was everywhere across the middle, looking for a pass and tried the odd shot from distance. His spiky attitude got up some Stoke players’ noses, which is what you need, sometimes, and put in an energetic shift.
Rosicky – 6.5: Immediately started trying out those inside-out passes which haven’t been coming off for him. When he keeps things simple at first, he gets into the game much quicker, but closed out the first half well. Taken off after yet another niggle.
Eboue – 8: Has converted his fear of shooting when put through into wild cross-shots, at least. With any luck, will start to get an eye for goal. An aggressive, committed performance where he hassled players off the ball, intercepted well, ran at angles and dominated the right flank. Could actually be a genuine first choice for the wing.
Arshavin – 8.5: Sketchy at times, but it’s forgivable as he is brand new at the RVP role. Nevertheless, showed tremendous promise to at least be a make-shift in the role. Will forever be limited by his height, but his first touch was brilliant and played in his team-mates well. Fantastic control and finish to open the scoring.
SUBS: Vela – 7.5: An improvement over previous performances as he came on for Rosicky. Showed off his pace, but I was most impressed by his propensity for a good tackle at the back. A solid, all-round performance that leaves you hoping he can provide the same again.
Ramsey – 7.5: Despite being played out on the right, used his vision and control to manouvre across the middle and play team-mates into positions. Took his goal well and settled a lot of nerves.
Silvestre – 6: Not much time to impress as Traore went off with a niggle. Closed out the game with an easy tackle.

For me, there were two main talking points from the match – the clean sheet and Arshavin’s performance at centre-forward.

The most encouraging aspect of the defensive performance was that despite quite a bit of continuous pressure from long balls and Delap specials, Arsenal were for the most part untroubled. That’s a good quality to build upon and makes a refreshing change from riding our luck with an open affair at the back.

Credit must also go to Denilson who did a competent job in place of Alex Song, whose absence was barely felt. He was true to the invisible-wall role tonight and the hard yards he put in would go unnoticed by many.

To Arshavin now, and there’s a lot he can work on (there was a lot Robin van Persie had to work on), but until January, he can certainly do a job.

The first thing you need to cover van Persie is a great first touch, and Arshavin has that in abundance. He also has forward drive, a fantastic shot and good positioning.

The one thing he doesn’t have is height, that much is obvious, and while he seems up for a physical encounter, a lack of the tall stuff is never helpful (though try telling that to the kung fu masters of long ago).

Either way, there are positives to be drawn from a result that is as much relief from our turgid form as it is necessary. While the Man United juggernaut rolled on, Liverpool drew again and Man City beat Chelsea, meaning we are only 8 points behind the Blues with a game in hand.

Adebayor was doubly hilarious with an own goal and then the equaliser to dent Chelsea’s march. Title already decided in November/December? Think again, pundits.

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Filed under: Arsenal, English Premier League, Match Reports