Arsenal moved to 1 point behind Manchester United courtesy of a 1-0 win over Stoke City. Sebastien Squillaci’s 8th min header sealed the points at a nervy Emirates Stadium last night. Our first chance came in the 1st min when Theo hit the post at the end of a pass from Cesc. What a start it would have been?
In the 8th min we took the lead. Squillaci’s header from close range at the end of a poked cross from Nikko. In the 11th min Cesc signalled that he wanted to come off. Let’s all hope that is a precaution. 2 mins later Arshavin came on for Cesc.
As for the match, the tempo had decreased. We did have spells of possession but there was no real attack. In the 26th min Arshavin low drive to the left was comfortable collected by Begovic. From that time we did not have any real penetration into Stoke’s defense. But at the other end Szczesny pulled out a great save from a John Carew volley. A wake up call, I would hope so.
Cesc’s removal had definitely affected us. In the 38th min Arshavin’s trickery earned us a free-kick in a favourable position. Nasri stepped up and put it wide. The half did not end on a high, it seems that everybody was so worried about Cesc that they forgot about the match.
When the second half began, we did not do much. Infact it was Stoke who came out with their Rugby tactics. In the 63rd min we got our first shot on goal. Jacks volley was straight at Begovic. 1 min later Theo mistimed his shot, after Arshavin played a brilliant ball to him. 4 mins later the ref proved how blind he can be when he ignored a challenge on Theo. Seriously unfortunate…and Theo has an ankle sprain that will keep him out of the Cup Final.
As we entered the latter part of the second half the pressure grew. In the 85th min Arshavin almost found Nasri but Whitehead did well to cover. When we entered the 90th min every single person in the Emirates was furious to see that 5 mins of extra time was added on. Could we hold on? Yes we could.
Watch match highlights of Arsenal 1-0 Stoke City
Guns-out,
