Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Campbell, Walcott, Giroud
Subs: Ospina, Chambers, Gabriel, Gibbs, Arteta, Elneny, Iwobi
Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League as they secured a hard earned 0-0 draw at Stoke.
Jack Butland denied Olivier Giroud in each half and Petr Cech made fine stops from Joselu and Bojan as the goalkeepers came out on top in a frantic game that lacked real quality.
The Gunners first scoreless draw since August takes them level on points with Leicester with Manchester City one point behind.
Pre-game
Despite reporting on Friday that his players had come through the draw at Anfield unscathed, Arsene Wenger was forced to make one change to his starting lineup with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replacing the injured Mesut Ozil. The German is understood to have picked up a minor foot problem but should be back for next weekend’s game with Chelsea. New boy Mohamed Elneny was included on the bench, however, Alexis Sanchez’s dicky hamstring was again not risked. The Chilean has now been sidelined for 50 days.
First half
After the trauma of conceding inside the first minute last season, Arsenal’s mission for the opening stages this time out was simple; keep it tight and don’t do anything silly.
The usual abuse rained down from the stands for Aaron Ramsey – because having your leg snapped in two is poor form – and it inspired a typically busy start from Stoke who harried and pressed us all over the field.
Arsenal’s response was to sit back and soak up the pressure. The Potters were restricted to one long-range effort from Ibrahim Afellay inside the opening quarter.
When we had the ball we chose to suck the pace out of the game playing considered, but not particularly imaginative, passes around midfield. That was until the 20-minute mark when a fine Joel Campbell through ball split the Stoke defence freeing Giroud to bear down on goal inside the right channel; the Frenchman’s first-time shot was closed down well by Jack Butland.
The missed opportunity inspired a little more adventure from the Gunners with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain firing two efforts at goal. The first, a curler from the edge of the area, forced Butland to tip over, the second, a low left foot drive following a half cleared corner, was accidentally deflected wide by Laurent Koscielny.
That aside, there wasn’t much in the way of attacking action from either side. An ugly half of football fittingly drew to a close with Bojan and Chamberlain squandering possession on the break.
Second half
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain set the tempo for a frantic start to the second half by chasing a lost cause that led to a corner. Ramsey’s delicious set piece was met by Giroud whose crashing header forced Butland to save low to his left.
Not long after referee Craig Pawson waved away two Arsenal penalty claims in the space of two minutes. First Giroud went down in the box under pressure from Philipp Wollscheid, then the German defender tugged down Theo Walcott as he raced onto a through ball.
Stoke battled back and Cech had to make an epic double save as the hour mark approached. First he dived full stretch to his right to deny Joselu’s effort and then he smothered Bojan’s effort from the rebound. The ex-Barcelona man was replaced by Mame Biram Diouf not long after.
Cech was again called into action on 65 minutes pushing away a stinging effort, slightly deflected on its way, from Joselu.
As the match dripped into the final twenty minutes Arsenal started to turn the screw. Hector Bellerin’s probing runs on the right provided much needed width and the introduction of Alex Iwobi, on for the ineffective Theo Walcott, brought more composure in possession on the left.
Clear opportunities were few and far between although Campbell should have done better with a curled effort that flew high and wide.
Having dominated the second half the Gunners came close to losing in the final moments as Aaron Ramsey cleared a header off the line and Cech saved the rebound with his feet.
Decent result. Arsenal look toothless and short of ideas without Özil. Worrying.
Cech was immense though.
It’s right after the game so my thought process is running on emotions more so, but Walcott and Chamberlain are looking all out of sorts of late. I think Iwobi came on a little too late, as soon as he was on, we started driving right at Stoke.
We certainly looked like a team missing Santi, Coq, Sanchez and Ozil today.
And Wilshere, Welbeck, Rosicky. For God’s sake when will Alexis be back?
Agreed, Wilshere, Welbeck and Rosicky will also certainly change the outcome for us also. I left them out more due to the fact that they have not had a say in the season yet, hopefully they can get back in time to have a say in our run in.
I thought the Ox showed a great deal of improvement today. Theo is quite a worry though he is just disappearing not really getting involved at all.
That said massive improvement on last seasons team performance.
Alexis will be back in “a week”. In Arsene and Arsenal terms, that’s May.
Sadly the ox has forgotten the art of passing to a team mate
I did say improvement
I agree Walcott didn’t not even attempt a single take on the entire time he was on the pitch and left Monreal unbelievable open thats where all their attacks where coming from. I was paying attention to how Campbell would double up with Bellerin when stoke try to attack from their side and Monreal on the other side would be left open with Walcott just strolling back leaving flamini to try and help monreal which leaves our midfield open because Ramsey has joined the attack and can’t get back in time while the OX is also strolling its unbelievable.. i… Read more »
I felt this was a much improved performance by Ox.
Most teams would miss them. The fact is we are still top with a shed load of good players to return. That has to bode well for our title chances.
As part of a university sociology project I attended today’s game and recorded the collective actions of the Stoke City fans. I thought I’d share my results with you: 03:52 Stoke fans boo Ramsey 4:72 Stoke fans boo Ramsey 08:12 Stoke fans boo the colour turquoise 08:57 Stoke fans boo Ramsey 09:46 Stoke fans boo a passing plane, some of the elders shake their fists at it and spit in the air, those caught in the subsequent shower of viscous saliva remaining completely oblivious, whooping and hollering. 09:52 Stoke fans boo Ramsey again, some of them gesturing frantically that he… Read more »
Sociology at its finest – with a dash of anthropology. Can you do one on Terry and Costa next week, please?
Excellent stuff, mate. Had me rolling. Also quite accurate.
I think it’s vital you now attend every game and turn this into a weekly series
That totally cracked me up!
More like zoology, isn’t it? Or orcology.
Nah, dude. Boology
You, sir, have won the internet!
I fucking hate those inbreds that call themselves stoke fans.
Where is the jar of malaria ridden mosquitoes when you need them?
Campbell’s PASS(<B.<B) , Giroud's MISS*tear*
The idea was to not lose the match.
And they did that well.
Considering our horrible history here
at Britannia and how all other big clubs have also fumbled here.
I will give them a pass.
Had the score held up on Wednesday I would feel better about this result
I don’t know where Ox fits in this team. He was wasteful again. On a positive, a draw at Stoke given our recent history there is a good result. Thanks Per Cech
Theo has got to do better.The trouble is he does not realise just how bad he has been the last few games by the look on his face when substituted.
Sad.
Mike Dean trying to disguise himself with a bobble hat on the touch line no doubt willing Stoke to score made for an interesting side show.
Campbell shouldve started in Ozils role. Better vision better pass accuracy speed to support Giroud as a second striker and a good work rate to go help out defensively.. he plays there for his country sometimes. The OX didnt do enough for me but grew into it after 70min haad gone..Walcott was shit today as well as Ramsey with his terrible passing but redeemed himself with a good work rate and goal line clearance. all in all good point. Other teams dropped points there so no complain
As others have said, I think we’re forgetting that in addition to Ozil we were without Cazorla, Coquelin, Sanchez, Wilshere, Rosicky, Welbeck, etc. We did look “toothless and short of ideas”, but we are not a one man team. However, we ARE a one man team when Ozil is really the the only creative man remaining.
Cech wins us yet another point.
Also, Iwobi did more in 15 minutes than Theo did in 75.
Sad to say this, but he did more in his first 60 seconds on the pitch than Theo did in 75 mins. ?
Ozil and Sanchez back for Chelsea, really need to start picking up 3 points again.
Agreed! We survived Stoke and their army of apes disguised as football players so job done there but let’s smash Chelsea next week!
A win would have been excellent, but somewhere you have to be realistic, considering the circumstances this is not a bad point. Now when is Alexis back???
How Stoke got through that game, only the ref knows!
Even against the usual standard of refereeing we get, that was dreadful.
Meant to say how they got through the game without a yellow card!
Because the referee lacked balls.
Chocolate salty balls?
In fairness the ref has probably witnessed the after game ritual introduced to them by Pulis in his day. The one where people that have displeased them get torn limb from limb (it’s true they have teeth that can crush bone) and their femurs used to fight each other in rites of passage ceremonies. He didn’t want to risk that so to placate them he handed out no cards to them which is understandable.
perhaps now we can direct the blame at the ref, and missing ozil and alexis, not walcott. not a single yellow? the fuck? pieters and shawcross should have had atleast a yellow each
Still, Walcott was pretty dreadful. I think he should feel embarrassed with his performance if he compares it with Alex Iwobi’s today.
no way – walcott was horrible. absolutely terrible. i can’t remember the last time I’ve been so disappointed in an arsenal player. iwobi came on and we were immediately better. theo and the ox have some serious problems right now. not sure how to fix them, but they are glaring and costing us points.
pieters and shawcross definitely deserved yellows. also, every single stoke fan.
walcott is an investment, and not sure how to fix them? that much is obvious. Theo and the ox are direct attacking players, they need the passing from ozil and cazorla, them being injured means the balls they need to run onto are just not there, and that means if you choose to play them as the manager you are investing in the hope they can get on the end of something. today that didn’t pay off but them not being effective is not necessarily their fault… nor is it definitely Arsene’s for picking them, theres this whole other team… Read more »
Their fans deserve a kick in the balls
He was pretty poor last game as well, I think he was even worse against Liverpool.
That’s a bit unfair. The new stoke midfielder, Pawson I think his name is, he had a really good game for them…..
For God’s sake, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Just keep it simple! Can you just pass with good timing and not attract trouble whenever you hold the ball and dribbling around across the Channel and through Calais? Damn it man.
And to those Stoke fans whistling and booing whenever we hold ball, which like more than half of the game duration, they need to forced to sit handcuffed and and have to hear that bad music nae nae stuff shit. A whole day.
Shame we couldn’t score and thankfully Cech saved us again.
What I liked today was that we decided from the get go that we are not going to loose this game. If we win fine but never let the Orcs win, we live to fight another day. #Mature Performance #Still Top
my goodwill towards Chamberlain has been waning for a while. But that performance was just… astonishing. No Arsenal player should ever put in a performance like that, and it’s only the fact that he’s English that is saving him from the fans at the moment.
Agree completely
Imagine the bile Ramsey or flamini would get for that! It seems as though the ox is in the arteta mould of being immune to criticism
Horror show from The Ox…
I will take the point. We have half the team injured and no real attacking options on the bench.
On a final note, Nacho is fucking class. Give him a 20 year contract already.
To play with Walcott is like playing 10 against 12. He’s the main creator for the opposition (a long with Kosh).
get behind the team! Walcott offers pace and finishing, yes he will go long periods without doing much but it takes a minute to score and he keeps opposition full backs in place, is he god’s gift to football? no, is he why we didnt win? also no. so chill the fuck out. we got a point with an injury ridden team, its not ideal but lets take it and not hate on our own?
Really? And he is so often caught on his heels when players do slip(in this game as well). He has to start pressing better I feel. And use his pace to win bouncing balls and not just try to channel players once they pick up the bouncing balls.
What are you rambling about. It’s the lack of central midfielder creativity that took walcott out of the game, not walcott’s lack of effort. He should have been awarded a penalty when he did get a good ball in the box. What do you expect from a player of his style, when for whatever reason, we played half the game on the air. What ever happened to bring the ball down and playing at your feet? Do we really believe we can beat these guys in the air?
Never mind lack of midfield creativity, Walcott’s touch was poor.You can’t blame that on the midfield.
That team is crying out for some injection. Whether it be from returning players or a signing, just needs something. Most players looking like they’re on their last legs. At least there’s a week until Chelsea, I guess.
A meat injection…
Where’s our Coq.
Gets coat…
The rest of the team let Petr Cech down. Walcott and Chamberlain did not deserve to start.
And under the circumstances who would you start in their places against Stoke?
Iwobi for Theo, over the course of 90 minutes would have a hell of a job given the way Stoke play.
Elneny for Chamberlain, would be a massive risk given that the ink on the contract is only just dry.
We miss our key creators in Mesut and Santi today. Alexis’ drive has been absent for the last few weeks.
The fact we are still top puts in a strong position, Chelsea next and we will see where we are then.
Precisely. They only started because there was no other choice. The least they can do is step up when the team needs them the most and stop taking their starting role for granted.
Almost forgot Szczesny exits
Not ‘held at Stoke’. Outplayed at Stoke. Again.
Respectfully disagree with that statement. Stoke are actually good at home these days and it was a pretty even contest (made easier for them by the ref).
If you want to see examples of them outplaying teams, watch the matches against Man City and Man United.
We were on top more in the first half and they had a spell of domination at the start of the second half before we started pushing harder. So I disagree. As Crash above said, they played both teams in Manchester off the park this season.
what do Arsenal have to do for refs to give us one of these clear penalty calls, match after match we just don’t get them, I think our last penalty was v Aston Villa, when ref with a clear view of a stonewall penalty did not give it, and it was only given when the linesman 50 yards away called it. This shit from refs towards Arsenal has been going on for years.
They are good at home. But that doesn’t change the fact that we we’re outplayed. Stats will confirm it.
Bayern have been the only team that has outplayed us this season. Southampton didn’t outplay us, they took their chances well, despite each goal being suspect, (Offside, Foul, Goal from a set piece that should never have been given twice).
Chelsea beat us 2-0 because we went down to 10 men instead of them who should have gone down to 10 men.
Today, we had better stats, but the chances were even. I think we had 3 big chances to their 2.
Please provide stats.
Which game were you watching @ Gargoyle?
Missing most of our best players, playing against 12 men, not a disaster
A bit dissapointing, it was clear that boys have a tough game ahead, pitch looked completely frozen and made it hard to change direction when running – this crippled our driblers, especially Ox. Still we got a point, march on!
There’s no need to sugarcoat the fact that Ox and Walcott have been terrible for the past few games. Arsenal is in the driver’s seat of the title seat and they have to lose their forms now? They just need to step up while Alexis and Ozil are not available and that’s too much to handle for them? They are taking their starting role for granted.
Yep.
Mr Monreal a model of consistency.
Missed that moment of magic from a Sanchez or Ozil
Perhaps, but we’re Not just missing ozil, we’re missing (from a purely attacking view), him, cazorla and alexis. Its on wonder we’re not our best
I was happy to see Ox get a chance, but that enthusiasm was gone after the first half. Between ramsey and ox we must have given away at least 10 balls in the middle of the park. Sad part is you could see that Stoke even realized that and pushed most of there midfielders and defenders to the wings, essentially slowing our attack to a crawl. This game was never going to be easy, but I at least expect our central midfielders to be able to pass to a teammate less than 5 yards away. I’m just glad we aren’t… Read more »
Campbell best player behind Cech. He’s really becoming an important player for the team. Has everything – vision, creative passing, smart movement, technique, work rate and it seems like he can be a decent finisher as well. On to Chelsea hopefully with Sanchez and Ozil available.
I thought Monreal and Cech were our best players, but Campbell put in a good shift.
The midfield three were pretty poor – I’m sure our pass completion stats for the game were pretty low.
Walcott was next to useless. Iwobi was far more intelligent with the ball when he came on (plus he didn’t control the ball like his foot was made out of concrete).
I didn’t consider Monreal as MOTM because he does it every fucking game it’s ridiculous. He is just so good defensively. Walcott is not starting material for a big club like Arsenal, never has been and probably never will be. He’s a great runner and a decent finisher but that’s it. Bad dribbler, not a great linkup player, not a great passer. He’s not complete enough to be one of our starting attackers. Although he’s a great option from the bench to have for any club in the world.
Let’s be honest, Walcott is an impact sub on this team when we are healthy. Still an option but not first choice.
Not a bad point. All things considered.
Should have won at Pool though. Let’s just beat Chelsea and everything will be fine.
Sorry but how did the Ox stay on the pitch for 90 minutes, he was shocking. I know stoke is a hard game but we need to be better across the whole midfield, only flamini was half decent. Also why not make changes with ten mins to go. I’m livid about the terrible decision making today, from the midfield to the manager. Anyway, COYG…
Ox had a stinker. Broke up our play almost as much as the orcs.
I know two points from ‘pool and the Orcs ain’t great but then would anyone have accepted three from Anfield and none from here? Not me.
We’re definitely showing improvement overall.
I am starting to think this Cech bloke could save us some points going forward…? 🙂
terrible. at the beginning of this four game run everyone was talking about taking 9-10 of 12 points. we’ve taken 2 from 6. simply not good enough. and can we stop complaining about the ref. this was a physical game of football. if any of those penalty claims went against us we’d be throwing our arms up in disbelief. if we can’t win tough games away we’re not going to win the title. really disappointed with some of the players. kos, per, ox, theo were all poor. given ox’s form lately i would’ve preferred iwobi in for ozil given his… Read more »
We’re not going to win the league. Simple as that. We lack the bottle and determination to do that. 4 points lost in games we should’ve won. Tight games like this is where you expect Giroud to step up, but he didn’t. Theo was shit despite having some nice touches. Ox was poor, Ramsey worked hard but lacked the guile to open up the stock defence. Cech and campbell were our best players. We should be at least 6 points ahead of leicester and city, but we keep giving city a chance to catch up. Anything less than win next… Read more »
I have to disagree on your assessment of Giroud. He was constantly being hammered by that gorilla Shawcr*oss. Wollscheid was all over him as well. He had a nice header and maybe should have scored.
Maybe, but i found it irritating that he kept on drifting to the wings when we needed him in the box.
I was very disappointed with the chance he missed because those are the ones he’d normally put away. He also misplaced alot of passes for my liking
Yeah, I bet you said the same about Man City when they played there.
Bottle and determination bullshit. F***** wanker.
You’re such a Genius, ain’t you?
How a referee could come to a match and leave his cards behind is beyond my comprehension.
Tie these games to stay in the race. Win them to get the title. Could have done with a goal somewhere, but I guess it’s satisfying to to lose
It’s day’s like this where I scratch my head and wonder just how theo has managed to find himself in the same pay bracket as Alexis and Ozil…Campbell again our only real creative spark but he seemed to have his zip kicked out him by some nameless Stoke degenerate. Iwobi again looked like a real live wire when he came on, exciting prospect but it should never be on such young shoulders to make a game winning contribution. I’m going to pray Ozil is nothing serious and that by next week our ranks will be bolstered by him, Alexis and… Read more »
I’d have taken that before the game.
A point away at Stoke is a decent result, guys. Let’s push on, get Alexis and Özil back, and see Gabriel put Costa on his back.
Hopefully Costa’s “shin injury” is real and he doesn’t play – would remove that narrative from the game and the rest of the players on the pitch can get on with playing a game of football instead of a wrestling match.
To not have to see that fat cunt Costa writhing on the ground over nothing with his trade mark “look here ref, look what he just did to me, LOOK REF” arms outstretched in feigned disbelief would be a blessing.
Considering that city, manu and chelski all lost there, I must say that was a good point earned. We will do fine against the Chavs at the Emirates as long as Flamini intends to keep his record. Cech Motm
We had no creator today
I’ll take the point and clean sheet.
Chelsea will beat us… Jinx!. Thank me later
Always respect a penis that leaves a clean sheet.
It’s not a disaster, but it wasn’t pretty. We lacked any real threat, any cutting or incisive play and just seemed at times content with the point. Now I’m no Premier League manager (some might say I wasn’t even a Premier League player – the bastards) but it pains me when we get in similar situations and nothing happens for the last 10 minutes of the game. We need players to really grab the game by the collar during these periods and just go for it. I know we don’t want to concede, but you watch some of them hang… Read more »
Firstly, Walcott doesn’t deserve his 100K for jogging around and shadowing opposition instead of pressuring them to make mistakes. You don’t win back balls by standing there and trying to jog as they attack. Secondly the whole team was trying to pick out long and harder balls instead of playing it simple. Why do the players always want to play that cross field ball when a free player is 10 yards away? The misses are agonisingly close. But the number of times bad choices were made, just makes me cringe. Lastly, the whole team owes it to kos, monreal and… Read more »
I’ve noticed this happening more and more lately. We are turning over possession far more lately, be it Ramsey reverting back to his Hollywood balls type more often, Walcott effectively drifting out of the game more and more and essentially cutting off half of our attack, or Chamberlain making mistakes in 5 yard passes so reverts to trying to dribble through the entire team. I like the enthusiasm to create something, but it’s exposing us more and more so and the defence is having to work on overtime. Kos has also slipped off the pace a bit. I just hope… Read more »
Ox and Ramsey seemed to become arteta in this game. Lol. The unnecessary cute little pirouette in midfield when a pass or space was available. Guess we just have to hope for some real hunger and inspiration from those missing today. And for others to use that to influence the game better. However frustrating it was to not get 3 points and kick back at the orcs, glad we didn’t lost or lose anyone to injury. #COYG!!
We didn’t lose the game or anyone to injury *
No Ozil
No Sanchez
No Cazorla
No Coquelin
Against the Orcs at Mordor.
I’d say this is a fair result. Beating the Chavs is a must now.
I have to ask, what the fuck is it with referees in today’s league? I counted 6 instances of their players just manhandling our players and throwing them to the ground. The referee didn’t spot any of them, nor the linesman? Bullshit.
Mou hoodoo is gonr but Brittania hoodoo still there. ill take 1 point.
Ox needs to read Ozil’s Passing Manual repeatedly!
Think we are the only English team in the league that had English players that do not contribute to the progress of the team I think if everyone is fit all the English lads shouldn’t be playing should be on the bench as for the the OX what a waste of time he needs to go out on loan to a smaller team and learn how to play football as a professional because honestly I have seen Sunday league footballers that are better than him and for Ramsey the papers are saying Barcelona want him for 50 million can we… Read more »
…… ,,,,,,, ,…….. ,,,,,
Just keep them in reserve for next time.
Think we are the only English team in the league that has fans who categorically write off our English players from almost the get go.
Ox has been slammed by fans this season.
Walcott has been slammed by fans this season.
Ramsey has been slammed by fans this season.
Chambers has been slammed by fans this season.
Wilshere has been slammed by fans this season despite being injured (he’s always injured blah blah)
Welbeck has been slammed by fans this season despite being injured (he’s not better than player x)
Ramsey is welsh
(and because the above poster referenced him about selling him to Barca)
Ramsey was thrown in for being British, not English, obviously.
Then please write British instead of English.
Ouch!
You have seen Sunday league players who are better than the Ox?
Get a grip man.
I think a point at Stoke is a good one all things considered. Stoke is not a crap team like Villa and are actually very hard to beat at home, all this bogey team stuff aside – Just ask United, City and Chelsea(haha). We realistically needed atleast one of Ozil, Cazorla or Sanchez to get the result, and in absence of all of them it is not the worst result. Now the challenge is to beat Chelsea. Hope Ozil and Sanchez return for that. I guess we should be happy though, 1 more Match Day over and we are TOP… Read more »
Lack of replacements in the second half was infuriating…what was Wenger waiting for???? Many of our players had no legs by 65th minute and yet Iwobi is the only replacement (Chambers so late it doesn’t count). Why not bring on Gabriel to give some bite I’m midfield. Oxlade should be sold, totally wasted space. Wenger has ran out of time and ideas, he should resign at year’s end.
I lost count how many times I read “Campbell fouled” and “Walcott loses it” on live blog today!
Next game Ox and Theo are replaced with Ozil and Alexis….I am happy!
(please injury Gods)…COYG!
Walcott is completely useless 85% of the time.
Shudder to think where we would be without our man Petr. Injuries really taking a toll on our team, after coping so well all season we are just keeping our head above water now. If we can stay where we are and start getting our players back we have a chance. At the start of the season we would’ve taken unbeaten away at Stoke & Liverpool
Poor game, except for Cech. He saved us from our typical Stoke away performance
Whole defense was good, including Flamini. He gave the orks some of their own medicine, we needed that.
Ramsey and the Ox can be really good or really really bad, it is so annoying watching them at times. This game was there for the taking. But at the same time Cech was brilliant! Chelsea fans must cringe every time he makes a save for us ? We are still top of the table, not by much, but we have to be happy with that. The Liverpool game was far more frustrating than today’s game. We must beat Chelsea now if we want to stay top. Hopefully Ózil and Sanchez will be back. And we get back to winning… Read more »