Arsenal vs. Stoke: Five Things We Learned From Arsenal's Win
On Wednesday, Arsenal took on Stoke City in a crucial Premier League fixture thanks to an eighth minute header from Sebastian Squillaci. Arsenal lost both Fabregas and Walcott to injury and the latter is ruled out of the Carling Cup final against Birmingham on Sunday.
Arsenal was the only team to play on Wednesday. The Gunners battled to a hard fought win over the Potters. Arsenal lost both Koscielny and Van Persie to injury before the match started.
Arsenal started with Nicklas Bendtner up front and Nasri made his first start since his injury. Wilshere was superb as usual. I have not mentioned him in any of the slides since so much has already been spoken about this supremely talented and gifted youngster.
So here are five things we learned from the match:
Arsenal Will Struggle Without Fabregas and Van Persie
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In the first few minutes of the match against Stoke, Arsenal got off to a great start. They dominated possession, created chances and scored a goal in the eighth minute thanks to a goal from centre back Sebastian Squillaci.
But in the 14th minute, their captain Cesc Fabregas, limped off with what seemed to be a hamstring injury. Immediately the quality of Arsenal’s possession reduced and they failed to create any clear cut chances. They lost the sharpness in the final third and never really went very close to scoring another goal.
On the night Arsenal were also missing Robin van Persie, their best player of the year so far.
In the absence of both players Arsenal lacked the incisiveness with the ball. In the last few matches, Arsenal have been totally dominating. One of the main reasons have been van Persie’s and Fabregas’ great form.
Van Persie has scored 12 goals this year and Fabregas has been extremely influential in the midfield since returning from injury. With the two of them on the team, Arsenal has been rampant in front of goal, scoring several goals and creating plenty of chances.
But on Wednesday Arsenal lacked both of them, and following Fabregas’s injury they failed to dominate the game they would have liked. Arsenal did have plenty of possession but chances were few and they lacked a certain killer instinct in the final third.
Even at the beginning of the season Arsenal missed them to injury, but since their return Arsenal looked like the real deal as they cruised past every team in style.
For a team like Arsenal packed with such talent and depth it is painfully obvious that in the absence of van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, they lack the final product that can win them the league.
Theo Walcott Should Stop Fading Away As the Match Goes On
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Theo Walcott was off to a great start against Stoke and created several chances for himself. He was denied by the post and some good defending from the Stoke defenders. He constantly terrorized the City back four and got into pockets of space behind the back four.
His electric pace was creating havoc in the Stoke back four and they looked like they would find it difficult to handle him.
All this was in the first half and more importantly in the first 20 minutes. As the game progressed, he grew more subdued and did not play with the same tempo as before.
It was similar to his performance against Barcelona last week. In the first half, he was Arsenal’s main attacking threat but failed to impress as the game wore on.
Walcott has been a great performer this season, but he has often failed to sustain himself for the full ninety minutes and fizzles off with time remaining.
There Is No Denying That Arsenal Have Progressed
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A couple of seasons back had Arsenal met Stoke in a similar game under similar circumstances, Arsenal would have crumbled, conceded a couple of goals and even lost the match. But on Wednesday, Arsenal showed nerves, steel and determination to withstand Stoke’s aerial bombardment and physical play.
Until this season, whenever Arsenal have come under severe pressure they tend to concede a goal and never show that drive required to succeed. But this season the squad have matured and it’s plainly obvious. Last season it was an anomaly to see Arsenal hold onto a one goal lead for large parts of the match.
In previous seasons against physical teams like Stoke and Blackburn, Arsenal have struggled to cope with the physical approach. But this season, Arsenal are no longer that soft team but are mentally tougher to weather the storm and grind out the results.
But this season they have done it often and the game against Stoke was testimony to their new found steel. Their defense has progressed and is now one of the best in the league especially with Johan Djourou playing.
Arsenal have conceded just 27 goals this season which is just two more that what the Red Devils have conceded, this is despite missing Thomas Vermaelen for almost the entire season.
Arsenal have won against the likes of Chelsea and Barcelona playing the beautiful game.
Arsene Wenger’s team has progressed both mentally and on the pitch, and are displaying the determination and steel of champions.
The Premier League Title Race Is Now a Two-Horse Race
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This season we have been witness to one of the most evenly contested Premier League title races in recent memory.
Five teams were in with a chance to lift the trophy, come May. These five teams were Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal.
But now with 11 (some teams have 12) games to go, it is largely looking like a two-horse race. Many are still not willing to rule Manchester City and Chelsea completely out of the race, but it looks improbable that these two teams can come close to lifting the trophy.
Manchester United lead the table with 57 points after playing 26 games while Arsenal are one point behind them having played one extra game.
Manchester City has played 27 games and has picked up 47 points while Tottenham has picked up 47 points from the same number of games. Chelsea has 45 points from 26 games.
For Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs to win the league both United and Arsenal will have to collapse, something which looks highly unlikely.
Unlikely Goal Scorers Are Sustaining Arsenal's Title Bid
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Like mentioned in the first slide, Arsenal were missing van Persie and in his absence the likes of Nasri, Walcott, Arshavin all failed to score. Arsenal’s goal and match winner came from Sebastian Squillaci, an unlikely source on the night.
But this is not the first time that Arsenal has been rescued by an unlikely goal scorer. Arsenal’s habit to produce these unlikely sources of goals means that Arsenal can grind out results. This Wednesday it was Squillaci while a few weeks back it was Laurent Koscielny. Koscielny scored a goal to win Arsenal the match against Everton.
Arsenal has also had players like Alex Song contribute to the goals and even Bacary Sagna, Arsenal’s first choice right back has scored two goals. Song scored the winner against West Ham while Sagna scored an important goal against Everton.
Such goals have meant that Arsenal are still breathing down Manchester United’s neck and have not slipped up in the title race. It also means that Arsenal players are stepping up in the absence of their star players to win Arsenal games.
