Arsenal returned home from the international break hoping to
reverse a recent trend that has seen them fail to score in five of their last
six games at the Emirates. That streak should have been addressed before four
minutes had passed, when a lovely lofted ball from Ramsey found a charging
Sanchez, whose header hit the post. The rebound fell nicely to Walcott, but he
missed a relatively easy chance caught leaning the wrong way – a troubling
habit so far this season. Sanchez had another opportunity in the sixth minutes
when his dipping free kick was well saved by Stoke goalkeeper Butland, before
the Chilean hit the post again in the eighth minute. Arsenal were rampant but
failing to take their chances with Walcott missing a second great opportunity
on nine minutes – a free header from a perfect Bellerin cross. His third shot soon
after was a meek effort and the woebegone calls for another striker past their
expiration date, at least until January.
Stoke garnered their first sniff at the Arsenal goal in the
16th minute on a free kick sent in by new signing Shaqiri. It was a
dangerous, lofted ball, but Cech came out strongly and punched the ball away. As
the game passed the 20-minute mark, Arsenal must have been wondering how they
weren’t ahead, and whether Giroud might have had a brace if he had started. On
24 minutes, Koscielny sent a powerful shot from 35 yards out that was heading
for the roof of the net, before Butland parried it away. He had another great
save a minute later, keeping out Cazorla from in close, for his fourth official
save of the match. Arsenal were squandering chance after chance nonetheless,
building on a record of the most shots and second worst conversion rate in the
league heading into the game. Finally, on 30 minutes, Coquelin had a brilliant
tackle that left the ball at Ozil’s feet, about 60 yards from goal. Ozil sent
the ball 50 yards in the air to perfectly pick out a charging Walcott. His
first touch was excellent and led him beyond the Stoke defenders and into a
position to push the ball past the charging Butland. The Gunners finally had a
well-deserved lead and could exhale a sigh of relief, having scored,
ironically, on one of Stoke’s three forays past midfield in the first half.
Surprisingly, Theo Walcott now had 11 goals in his last 11
matches, even with all the missed opportunities this season, though three came
on the last day of last year in a game of no significance. On 33 minutes, Stoke
finally got forward with menace, with Osalu sending a powerful shot right at
Cech. In a bizarre call by referee John Moss give minutes later, Ozil was given
a yellow for trying to get the ball back after losing it on the right flank,
with what was neither a cynical challenge nor one with any intent to injure.
Koscielny got the better of winger Diof twice in quick succession as the game
started to get chippy as halftime approached. A final corner for Arsenal failed
to lead to anything and one could argue Stoke might be the happier side at
halftime, having kept a game within reach that should have been beyond them.
The second half started back and forth and a little scrappy
with half chance at both sides but nothing definitive. On 51 minutes, Coquelin
sent Monreal in and his cross was inches from meeting Walcott, before a fine
last second intervention. The resulting corner was easily dealt with my Stoke,
reinforcing the notion that the Gunners are rather toothless on free kicks when
Giroud and Mertesacker are off the pitch. Arsenal were pressing quite well,
though, and Stoke having a hard time getting the ball out of their own half, as
had been the case for most of the game. On 54th minute, Sanchez cut
in from the left, but his shot was blocked for maybe the 100th time
in this young season, as his moves appear to be too predictable so far in the
early goings of his second season in the league (though he was unlucky not to
have a brace in the first half, twice denied by the post). Ramsey had a free
shot on goal a minute later, but slipped just as he hit it and sent it soaring
into the stands high and wide. So wide, in fact, it would even have earned
three points in the NFL this weekend. Stoke suddenly found their legs as the
clock passed 55 minutes, with Shaqiri launching a dangerous shot that was well
saved by Cech. Steve Ireland came on in the 57th minute to stir a
little fear in the Emirates crowd, having inspired his team to a 2-2 draw from
two nil down against Tottenham a few weeks earlier.
Arsenal were getting careless with the ball and allowing
Stoke to get into the game, with two Shaqiri shots blocked by Bellerin in quick
succession as the teams entered the final third of the game. Diouf was
marginally offsides before a foul in the back by Gabriel that could have very
well earned a penalty and the Gunners were suddenly reeling, though a Bardsley
shot from distance on 62 minutes was rather tame, ending the threat momentarily.
Arsenal did start to move the ball around with more intent before the stretch
ended with Ozil earning a free kick on the left hand side eight yards outside
the box. Cazorla’s free kick almost found Koscielny but for a Cameron defensive
header right in front of him. Arsenal appeared to have awoken from their short
slumber, earning another corner on a deflected Ozil shot. On 66 minutes, a nice
move down the right led to a cross met by Walcott from six yards out, but
without enough conviction to get it past Butland. Ozil was the liveliest player
on the pitch and earned another corner as the clock neared 68 minutes, though
Sanchez sent a bizarre snap toe poke about 12 yards wide of the near post. Ozil
should have scored after a great one-two with Cazorla soon after, but tried to beat
Butland on the near post without success. And then Walcott blew yet another
chance on 70 minutes, one-on-one with Butland, showing a passivity in those
situations that seems to indicate the limitations of him as a centre forward
(contrasted in the late game by the impressive move of a Henryesque Martial for
United).
A tame shot from Walcott in the 74th minute
became his final intervention of a mixed bag game, as Giroud came on at the
same time Bojan replaced Diouf for Stoke. Giroud had a great chance to score
within his first minute on the pitch after another block of a cut in shot from
Sanchez fell to the Frenchman a few yards out with a gaping goal. He sent it
wide and yet another chance was gone – the 24th in 25 chances they
had failed to convert just today. When Stoke sent in a decent cross with 77
minutes on the clock, the entire crowd and every Gooner in the world’s heart
shrunk in terror for a moment, before Cech collected the ball. Cazorla cut
across goal on the other end and sent a strong shot toward the near corner,
though it was wide of the mark. With about seven minutes left on the clock, Ox and
Arteta came on for Ozil and Sanchez, as the Gunners tried to preserve the three
points.
Ox quickly earned a free kick on the left from a Bardsley foul,
and Cazorla’s pitch perfect cross found Giroud free in the middle, with his
powerful header easily beating Butland to finally wrap up the points. It was
two goals from the two main Arsenal strikers but still a game they should have
put away much earlier. Walcott score first, obviously, but failed to impress
overall, missing five or six other opportunities. Giroud scored his second of
the season four days after being booed off the pitch by the French fans in a
win over Serbia, but missed a couple of other good chances himself in a shorter
stint on the pitch. Butland added yet another impressive save in the final 90
seconds of regulation, as a Koscielny header appeared certain to bury itself in
the far corner of the Stoke net. A strong penalty appeal was ignored in the
final minute of extra time as a Stoke defender grabbed Giroud’s right arm when
he was about to score a second goal. Moss, in fact, had a rather terrible game,
though luckily it had no effect on the final result.
Looking back on the game, the inability to finish chances
seems to be the biggest issue for Arsenal at the moment, as they have started
the season strong on the defensive end, with three straight clean sheets after
the early fumbles by Cech arguably contributed greatly to at least two of the
three goals they conceded in the first two games. They are creating chances at
a high rate and have largely been in control of all the games they have played,
showing a stronger spine led by the continued excellent play of Coquelin
arguably affecting all those around him. Mistakes are still being made, but
better finishing could see them mount a more sustained title challenge,
particularly as City start to drop points – which has to happen at some point,
doesn’t it? The Citizens were luck to steal all three points in the 90th
minute at Crystal today, after looking certain to walk away with a goalless
draw. But even after the uneven form of the first four games, the Gunners are
tied with United in second place, five points behind City and an astonishing
six above a reeling Chelsea, who were beaten rather summarily by Everton 3-1.
Stoke lost for the 13th straight time away at
Arsenal and for the third time in five games this season, to go with two draws.
That puts them at the bottom of the table, a disappointing position after an
impressive ninth place finish last season. The problem has been goals, with
only three scored in the five games and two of those in a nice late surge
against Tottenham. Mark Hughes has improved the style of the team, but now they
have to continue the good work of last season and find ways to start earning
points. The good news for them is they can already check Liverpool, Arsenal and
Tottenham off the list for the first half of the season and now have a run of
fixtures where they should be able to pick up some points.
Arsenal, on the other hand, head into an important part of
their young season, as they travel to Dinamo Zagreb for the first group game of
their Champions League season then to Chelsea, Tottenham and a hot Leicester
City three weekends in a row before returning home for a UCL Group game against
Olympiakos and then a matchup with United on October 4. The only good news is
Chelsea is playing their worst football in years and Tottenham cannot seem to
put the ball in the opposition’s net at the moment. It will be a defining
stretch where Arsenal can get a good start in the group and solidify their
position near the top of the table, or see their title hopes unravel early, as
they did last season. COYG!
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