Arsenal went top of the Premier League today with a 3-1 win over Stoke at the Emirates. The visitors went ahead through a harsh penalty award against Granit Xhaka, but hit back with goals from Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil and Alex Iwobi to take all three points.
Here’s how the players rated.
The glee I fill these ratings with everytime we win >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
We were so good, it stops being about the individual players.
Loving this team. It’s an orc slaying machine.
Granit Xhaka: Mr. Steel & Style
No Granit(e)?
Xhaka Khan – let me rock you, let me rock you cos i feel for you!!!
This squad feels different to the squads of the last few years. Amazing how, even in spite of mustafi’s injury we could call on BELLERIN instead of an ignasi miquel or whatever. I love how we have so much talent on the bench that we can bring in depending on the type of game. Also, Xhaka wont be leaving this first XI for many years to come! Everyone is killing it right now – please keep it up.
Good come back. Sign of champions may be ?
Tony gale is a mess calling Mertesacker ‘Thomas’ and thinking the fans were on Iwobi’s back
Hah, Thomas Mertesacker, yeah!
Being on Iwobi’s back is a good or a bad thing? I didnt pay much attention to the commentator, and I didnt hear this. If its bad, I have no clue why he thought the audience was against Iwobi.
Don Hutchison on Bein Sport called it a ”clear penalty and said Xhaka was stupid” … soon as we hit front he stopped bagging us. Is he Chelsea? prick
I fucking hate Tony Gale.
His disdain when he realised Ozil was onside for the 2nd goal was palpable.
“Oh oh he’s in!”
3 fucking times he did his bit about “groans from the crowd” directed at Iwobi. 3 fucking times.
And he continually talked about how Stoke had played really well and that their players had been making “great runs”, like that counts for anything. Did my nut in, the prick!
0/10 for Tony Gale making my ears bleed. Great win from the boys though! ?
Charlie Adam’s 31st birthday today.
Doesn’t look a day over 60
Guy behind me when he was substituted: “One at a time!”
That Iwobi goal…..
Love the vision and touch for that Ox loft to Ozil, the kid is growing before our very eyes!
Love the way the lads are linking up. Hope we keep up the momentum.
I bloody love Alex Iwobi!
Wasn’t sure if the bonus rating would be calling Tony Gale a cunt, calling Lee Mason a cunt, or calling Charlie Adam a fat cunt. All true…
Yeah, Charlie Adam is really a massive cunt.
Looks like some kind if an inbred hillbilly redneck.
And to think I actually thought he was a decent player years back when he was with Blackpool.
What a game of football, it’s right time we start beating the orc @murdor
Better than the “goal rush” feature that we have in South Africa and elsewhere. They switched out to another game while Iwobi scored … I’m not joking.
Talking of commentators, I actually really enjoy the Peter Drury and Jim Beglin combination.
Goal rush does my absolute head in… I resist watching at people’s houses when the game will be watched on dstv.
It’s a huge blow losing Mustafi going into the festive period. They say minimum three weeks, that means he could potentially miss Everton, Man City, West Brom, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth! I’m not convinced with Gabriel at CB, personally I would give Holding a run with the Boss.
I have to disagree. As great as it has been having Mustafi, I think we will cope in his absence. Gabriel, like Monreal before, will have benefited with the confidence of playing a new defensive position covering at RB. And of course Holding deserves some minutes as well and they will relish their chances!
It’s not ideal but this squad has proven so far to be deep, eager to cover and full of discipline and confidence! Give Gabriel the chance before condemning him please. Come on Arsenal!
Was great to see Theo put in a defensive shift again as well. Major kudos to him this season so far. Hope he keeps it up and proves all his critics wrong (including me!)
Also great – Theo giving an interview with actual meaningful content!
Love how Xhaka is turning into an important player for us. Wenger knows what he’s doing.
I’m really loving the squad depth. it has even silenced the keyboard assasins. It’s amazing how we’re not being labelled as being in a crisis yet we have experienced heads of Per, Mustafi, Welbz, Carzola all on the mend.
Really like what Xhaka gives from the deep lying position with his passing range (so much like Carzola) and his decision making. Makes that nightmare of a time when we had to watch Denilson pass the ball sideways the whole game seem like just a bad dream. Definitely our strongest DM pairing right now is Coquelin and Xhaka. Great to see Bellerin back, though hate to see Mustafi out for any length of time. Luckily we have great cover in Gabriel and Holding who can both slot in. Nice to have the options to bring in Bellerin, Iwobi and Giroud… Read more »
Charlie Adam is a fat cunt
At times we ran them so ragged they didnt know what was going on; at the end of the 83rd minute Iwobi bamboozles an Orc so much that he seems to just give in and fall over as his brain (?) couldnt keep up with the trickery that Iwobi was displaying.
That Özil goal!
Some poeple would say it was instinctive or spontaneous header, but the slo mo shows ozil was aiming and measuring it.
yes, not easy. pure class
This is the same results I will like to see on Tuesday against Everton b4 we crush with Man city on Sunday
2 in 2 for Iwobi. Finding that killer instinct in front of goal. For a while we looked a little short on the left with Alexis central but Iwobi and the Ox are pushing each other hard for a starting spot. Top of the pile!
Yeah I was watching the feed with Tony Gale and he seemed to be wanking himself off over the idea that the crowd were on Obi Wan’s back. And they wasn’t was they, what a twat
I was there and didn’t hear it. Did anyone?
Definitely heard a groan (or moan or something) on the feed, but not sure it meant what Gale thought (that the crowd was on Iwobi). Could have simply been an “oh, almost” reaction.
I think the groan was more for Ox coming off when he was playing well. Also Ox does a better defensive job than Iwobi at a time when we were only 1 goal up. It did seem a strange substitution but proved successful.
It was nice to feed back the early Stoke chants of “You’re f*****g sh*t!” down their throats!
How did that dirt ass pub thug Charlie Adam get away with a deliberate stamp on Alexis in the buildup to the Iwobi goal? Should have seen red. Should see a dentist too.
Anyone catch Tony Gale call BFG “Thomas Mertesacker”?
Top class commentating from that question mark of a man
Mark Hughes and Pep Guardiola have both lost their minds. Must be crazy to think that they could ‘have a go’s against THIS Arsenal, and that they could play possession against Leicester.
I thought that a drop ball should be contested by both teams and whoever wins it can play on with it sInce when has it become a form of ‘after you Claude’? Chamberlain was racing towards their goal having gained the ball from the drop, only to be called back by the fat twat in black because we didn’t kick it tamely back to the Orcs. Just a minor irritation but indicative of his crap decision making. Great win though.COYG!
Not having the benefit of an action replay in the ground or BBC actually showing the incident on MOTD, we were left wondering whether it was because the ball didn’t actually hit the ground before being played as required by the drop-ball rules. Any views out there?
Gale is, and always has been, an arsehole.
But the negative vibes from the crowd until we were 3-1 up were palpable. What the hell is going on? It just hikes up the tension and could seriously derail us later in the season. Come on guys, get behind the players at all times!
No, they really weren’t. We had issues against Mason, nothing against the team. What game were you at?
Spot on. This is just the media conniving to take the spotlight off the referees conscious and obvious efforts to level the game up. The crowd were booing that cheating biased prick, not Iwobi.
Funny how some commentators were saying the scoreline flattered Arsenal. They pressed hard, created plenty of chances and scored 3 cracking goals. Not like they parked the bus and then scored 3 goals against the run of play. Great win considering they were 1-0 down.
We were much better than them for sure
What idiot commentators said that??
Unfortunately, Michael Cox (I actually like him). He is wrong.
http://www.espnfc.us/blog/the-match/60/post/3009985/hector-bellerin-key-as-under-par-arsenal-win-against-stoke
Apparently we were flattered by the 5-1 scoreline against West Ham too. And we were rubbish all November from what they say. I’ll grant them the United game at OT was very poor but we’re not getting any respect for our performances or results. And tbh I’m ok with that. Let the media big up Chelsea, Liverpool and City, we’ll just keep playing our football out of the limelight
You almost started to sound like Jose there… good thing you changed your tune towards the end.
Considering how awful Stoke were at passing in their back line, I’d say that the scoreline flattered Stoke…
The bonus rating made this
I thought the penalty was harsh to but im biased and when disregarding the heart and consulting only the brain I realize it was a fair penalty. If it had been the other way around and Alexis lay bleeding from his head after colliding with a malplaced Orc elbow then i would be fuming if it was not awarded a penalty.
But great game, wonderfull Özil goal, icecold. On to the next one. Coyg
A very tidy performance indeed. A pleasure to watch.
Keep it up lads.
Chelsea look like the ones we need to topple.
I watched it live here in NZ and it was really cool cos the rain started to come down outside and it felt, watching here in the dark, that my son and I were really there in London with all the gooners
Would love to get back to the Emirates sometime. My son and I went to a game there four years ago
Perfect article from Jonathan Liew
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/12/10/arsenal-vs-stoke-city-premier-league-live1/
Good professional performance all-round.
Feel rather chuffed. Said Theo was one of our best players in the past 10 years, and got crucified for it by the anti Theo barrage.
Glad he’s proving everyone wrong. He’ll get a statue. What an Incredible human being
You really should have quit while you were ahead there.
10/10 for Charlie Adams’s effort to lob Petr Cech from the halfway line. And for lee masons refereeing. You absolute pair of flappy picks
No Ramsey. Arsenal win. Simples
Hope Wenger takes note. We played very well today and our speed and mojo is back. Ramsey will only slow us down. Please leave him away from our team Wenger
My friend you do realise Ramsey played against Basel, and do you know what happened? The Arsenal won
Am I the only one who thought the elbow from Xhaka was careless and possibly nasty?
Yes.
Well I’ll take your yes and raise it 15 no’s.
Kevin Kilbane on BBC as any media pundit completely missing the point. Said Granit does a stupid thing every game. These are the same pundits who declared it was a 3 horse race between Liverpool Chelsea and City and that it was Pep’s to lose (which of course he is obliging on account that he doesn’t know how to buy a team unless its 50m for an average player like Stones.) The BBC and other media should hire you and me for half the price to do the reporting. instead of these ex players with average careers and no perception.… Read more »
Encouraging that Stoke is now a routine win.
yes, they are a solid mid table team and we dispatched them with relative ease.
Another Kev Kilbane gem (remeniscent of a certain Michael Owen) : Wenger better sign new contracts with Ozil and Sanchez because such players are hard to find Ignoring of course the fact that it was Wenger who found these bargains for 42.3m (panic buy) and Alexis 32.3m +1 quid. Sure we have to extend the contracts or risk having to reinvent the wheel but who did he think brought these players in and transformed them? Ozil was said to be ‘nicking a living”. Wenger has transformed him Alexis was unwanted by Barca. Wenger has turned him (despite naysayers) into a… Read more »
I don’t think Kilbane is that bad. Pundit wise the main thing is for Leicester to stay up, do well even, so that Thicko Owen’s prediction of them crashing out doesn’t come true. Just imagine that moron being proven right. We’d never hear the end of it.
I really enjoyed Gale’s commentary saying that if Peiters hadn’t been slightly nobbled, Ozil wouldn’t have scored. I wish he’d said that more than three or four times because it was really insightful.
For the first time in years I’m 100% confident we will bounce back from 0-1 even 0-2 deficit.
Also Chambo looks set to prove everyone wrong.. Lets hope he continues like this.
And how is it Xhaka’s fault that Joe Allen is a leprechaun? Also biggest sissy there is apparently what a diver cunt.
I’d say that Coquelin is just getting better and better. Look at how he broke up Stoke play, how he found the easy pass out of midfield and his over all work rate. A solid 9 from me.
Superb performance by the Gunners! It was great to see Iwobi coming from the bench and providing such a sublime finish. Would love to see Perez getting some game time from the bench for the next couple of games.
Just watched on Match of the Day. The commentators could only criticise, Arsene for not keeping the Ox on and Xhaka for being dirty. I thought the Swiss had a brilliant game and bringing Iwobi on brought an injection of pace at the right time. Brilliant comment from the bloke who collects for the food charity on the way to the tube after the game. “Put Tottenham in charge of Brexit, they can show how to leave Europe in just two and a half months.”
A good win for arsenal fc and it nice to see bellerin back a sudden sub for mustafi who is a good defender, the team have done well to catch chavs in the prem and for now arsenal fc top of prem group gd goals and assists
Tony Gale is a cockwomble but he was right about the groans.
The groans just seem to be a fan reaction when a move breaks down (rather than being targeted at iwobi) but when I’ve been at the Emirates this season it has annoyed the f**k out of me. And it was clearly audible on the stream yesterday which says something. I never really notice it at other stadiums.
Thumb me down if you want but if anyone reading this is a groaner please just keep it quiet in future! There is never a need to groan out loud!
This team now is playing with fury abd desire. AS7 had success transmitting those qualities to his partners.