Arsenal 2-0 Stoke: Arshavin the hero as Gunners get back to winning ways
Published 17:10 05/12/09 By MirrorFootball
Andrey Arshavin starred for Arsenal as they returned to winning ways in the Barclays Premier League with victory over Stoke.
The Russia international playmaker and Aaron Ramsey were on target to give the Gunners a morale-boosting win following last week's 3-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Arshavin slotted in from a tight angle after Cesc Fabregas had missed a penalty and Ramsey's fine second-half finish sealed the win.
Wenger's side were looking to get back to winning ways in the Frenchman's 500th league game in charge.
Wenger admitted confidence was low following their defeat at Sunderland and last week's 3-0 humbling against Chelsea, which put them 11 points behind the leaders.
The Gunners started brightly, however, and Fabregas slotted Arshavin through with the Gunners' first attack on three minutes but Thomas Sorensen came out to block the Russian's shot.
Sorensen was called upon shortly after when he blocked Samir Nasri's shot from eight yards after a clever pass from Arshavin.
Stoke's first meaningful attack came eight minutes in when Manuel Almunia had to come out and punch away one of Delap's trademark long throws.
Almunia looked nervous as he struggled to deal with Delap's third throw of the game 11 minutes in.
Arsenal were then given a golden chance to take the lead in the 20th minute when Arshavin was tripped by Delap in the box and referee Mark Clattenburg pointed to the spot.
Fabregas stepped up to take the penalty but Sorensen stretched to his left to palm the ball around the post.
Arshavin then horribly mishit a right-foot shot after being played through by Tomas Rosicky.
He soon made amends though as he slotted the ball home in the far corner from a Fabregas pass to give Arsenal the lead.
They then came agonisingly close to doubling their lead straight after the goal.
Armand Traore slipped in Fabregas, whose shot rebounded off Faye onto the post. The ball then fell back to the Spaniard, who lashed the ball towards goal only for Emmanuel Eboue to accidentally block the ball on the Stoke line.
Arshavin was proving to be a constant threat for the Gunners and he turned provider for Fabregas just before the break, but the Spain midfielder's teasing ball across the face of goal was deflected out for a corner.
Mamady Sidibe was having a bruising head-to-head battle with Thomas Vermaelen and the Stoke striker had to temporarily come off after tangling with the commanding Arsenal centre-half.
Arsenal felt they should have had a second penalty on the stroke of half-time when Samir Nasri's pass brushed Faye's hand but Clattenburg waved away the Gunners' appeals.
Wenger had chosen Arshavin ahead of striker Carlos Vela at the start but the Mexican was given a chance to impress in the second half when he replaced Rosicky.
Tuncay turned neatly on the edge of the box but shot straight at Almunia for Stoke's first attack of the half as the rain started to fall on the Emirates pitch.
Wenger had accused Stoke of deliberately attempting to injure his players during the fixture between the two at the Britannia Stadium last year and the Potters maintained their physical approach in the second half.
Andy Wilkinson was lucky to escape a booking after his late challenge on Vermaelen two minutes after the break.
Arshavin, who continued as Arsenal's lone striker despite Vela's introduction, continued to pose a threat and forced Sorensen into a fine save shortly after.
Bacary Sagna then felt he should have had a penalty when he went down under pressure from Robert Huth in the box.
Aaron Ramsey replaced Eboue, who hobbled off and went down the tunnel with an injury.
Tuncay broke the offside trip to latch onto Liam Lawrence's long ball down field but he lacked pace and composure, allowing William Gallas to track back and block the striker's shot.
Arshavin was unlucky not to add his second when his shot was deflected onto the bar by Stoke captain Faye.
The Gunners continued to threaten the Stoke defence and Vermaelen came close with a header from Nasri's cross.
Ricardo Fuller replaced Lawrence as Stoke looked to inject pace into their attack.
The home crowd urged the Gunners forward for a second and it came with 11 minutes remaining when Ramsey picked up the ball on the edge of the box and jinked inside to calmly stroke the ball past Sorensen.
Fabregas and Arshavin continued to look dangerous and it needed a fantastic challenge from Wilkinson to stop the Russian after he was played in by the captain.
Wenger's injury woes increased when Traore hobbled off to be replaced by Mikael Silvestre with three minutes left.
But the Gunners boss was in the mood to shake opposite number Pulis' hand at the final whistle.
Andrey Arshavin can solver Arsenal's striker inury crisis, claims Wenger after Stoke win
