Battered and bruised Arsenal scrape past Stoke City 1-0 – English Premier League
Tuesday night was a really testing night for Arsenal fans – full of mixed emotions. Arsenal managed to win and got three points against Stoke City. But the question on many fans’ minds would be at what cost?
Arsenal started the game knowing that a win would take them just a point behind league leaders Manchester United. Arsene Wenger made sure he gave it his best shot and put out a strong eleven against a resilient Stoke City team.
The home team (Arsenal) did all the running in the early stages of the game. Theo Walcott got the first real glimpse of the goal in the first couple of minutes. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jack-Wilshere-c17463 started the move from midfield, he played the ball over to Cesc Fabregas who laid
it off to Walcott. But the young English striker’s shot brushed off the post. Arsenal managed to keep hold of the ball for most of the first half, and got their reward soon.
The goal came from a corner, as the Stoke defence did not react in time and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nicklas-Bendtner-c27726 headed the ball across the goal. Sebastien Squillaci found room and headed it into the back of the net.
Stoke did try to get back in the game after that, but Arsenal managed to keep them at arm’s length. The other major incident other than the goal in the first half was an injury to Fabregas. The Spaniard had to be taken off the pitch midway through. There
were fears of a long-term injury but later, the Arsenal camp confirmed he had been taken off more as a precaution than as a necessity.
In the second half, Stoke were the first to threaten and it was a good chance too. Ryan Shawcross had a header deflected just wide when he met a cross from the right at the near post. Ryan was unfortunate not to have equalised for the away team there.
Again, Stoke came close to an equaliser. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robert-Huth-c31243 rose the highest to send a towering header but the ball went just over the bar.
Arsenal’s first attack in the second half came after about 10 minutes, and it was quite disappointing. Andrey Arshavin nicked the ball past http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Theo-Walcott-c34873 but once again the youngster failed to make use of
the opportunity.
Moments later came more injury news for Arsenal. It looked more serious than the Fabregas scare earlier. Theo Walcott had to be stretchered off – he was challenged by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dean-Whitehead-c10729 and as he was falling, his left ankle got caught and twisted in the turf.
It did not look good and scans later would reveal the extent of the damage.
It was all a bit nervy at the Emirates Stadium in the final third of the second half, Arsenal were pressing for a second goal, wary that they only led 1-0. Wenger was insistent on not committing too many men forward and in the end, Arsenal managed to hold
on to a 1-0 win, although the two injuries may take the headlines instead of the three points Arsenal secured.
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