Walcott Opens Home Account With Moment Of Individual Brilliance

Match Review: Arsenal 2 Stoke 0 - Premier League 12.09.15

As is becoming tradition, Stoke City were once again given a footballing lesson at the Emirates. As bad as our record is at their place, it’s nothing compared to the carnage they’ve endured at ours. We’ve not been in the greatest of form so far this season, with an early set back, a frustrating home draw and two very gritty away wins. This was not the case on Saturday, there was only one team in it and we finally looked somewhere approaching our fluent best.

There was only one change from the team that won away at Newcastle, with Chamberlain dropping out and Özil coming back in after recovering from injury. Ramsey once again was pushed out to the right, while Theo Walcott continued in the central striking role, despite a profligate showing at St James’ Park. Mertesacker is still out following illness, meaning Gabriel is getting a good run in the side.

For once we came roaring out of the blocks and really we should have had three or more goals in the opening twenty minutes. Firstly, Cazorla found Alexis’ perfect run, but Butland produced a stunning save to tip it on to the post and Walcott could only shank the rebound wide when he should have scored. Then a litany of excellent chances followed, none of which found the back of the net. Alexis’ free kick forced Butland into another great save, before the Chilean hit the post with a snapshot from the edge of the box. Walcott missed a free header, Shaqiri almost sent a back pass to the Arsenal striker, Cazorla had a volley saved and even Koscielny had a go with a scorcher from 35 yards, again saved by Butland.

Our luck had to change at some point. Even by Arsenal standards it was unbelievable to see such a collection of poor finishing, goalkeeping brilliance and bad luck. Stoke could not hold out all game the way things were going and with clock ticking over to 30 minutes, we finally found the right combination to take the lead.

Coquelin made a huge tackle in midfield, which left the ball at the Mesut Özil. The German wizard produced a quite outrageous over the top ball to quickly take advantage of Walcott’s run in behind. The England man finally converted a chance, taking the ball down brilliantly and squeezing it under Butland. Three bits of individual brilliance and we finally opened our home account.

The second half saw no let up in our dominance, however there were less clear cut chances. Shaqiri was the only Stoke player that looked likely to cause us any issues and even then he only had a few half chances. We had a few more good opportunities, the best of which fell to Ramsey, who slipped as he shot and scooped over from a promising position. The game was sealed later than it should’ve been when Cazorla’s free kick was headed in by unmarked substitute Giroud. Like Walcott, Giroud had already missed a huge chance that should have been taken, so that goal will give him a much needed confidence boost.

Even with just a few minutes left, we created a few more good chances, one of which should have seen a penalty given for a blatant foul on Giroud. I don’t think anyone can argue with me when I say 2-0 really, really flattered Stoke. We could have comfortably had 5 or 6 and but for Jack Butland’s sensational performance in goal and our poor finishing it would have been. The positives are obvious: three points, a great performance and we’ve left Stoke rock bottom of the table. Still there are concerns about our finishing, especially ahead of a trip to Stamford Bridge. No matter how much of a state Maureen’s team is in, they will not give up as many chances as Stoke. We need to start converting more often and I believe we will, I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Cech, Bellerin, Koscielny, Gabriel, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Alexis (Arteta 84’), Özil (Y) (Chamberlain 84’), Ramsey, Walcott (Giroud 75’)
Subs
Ospina, Debuchy, Gibbs, Arteta, Chamberlain, Campbell, Giroud

Stoke City (4-4-2)
Butland, Bardsley (Y), Cameron, Muniesa, Pieters, Van Ginkel, Whelan, Shaqiri, Arnautovic, Diouf (Bojan 75’), Joselu (Ireland 57’)
Subs
Given, Wollscheid, Wilson, Sidwell, Ireland, Bojan, Crouch

Player Ratings

Cech - 7/10 - Barely troubled, a clean sheet with minimal fuss
Bellerin - 8/10 - Excellent as usual, really maturing into an intelligent right back
Koscielny - 8/10 - Just turned thirty and still looks like one of the quickest CBs around
Gabriel - 7/10 - Had less to do, but extra kudos for mugging off Arnautovic
Monreal - 7/10 - Quieter than usual but still solid
Coquelin - 8/10 - A masterclass of the holding midfield position, brilliant again
Cazorla - 7/10 - Quietly efficient from the Spaniard
Alexis - 7/10 - Looking dangerous, just needs a goal to kick start his season
Özil - 9/10 - Glorious assist and an all round majestic performance, man of the match
Ramsey - 8/10 - A really good game, kept it simple and was a real threat
Walcott - 7/10 - Great goal, but some of his overall play and finishing was lacking
Subs
Giroud - 7/10 - Nice movement for his goal, but missed a sitter too
Arteta - N/A
Chamberlain - N/A

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