Now Go And Win The Title

Stoke City 1 – 3 Arsenal

1 – 0 Pugh (8)
1 – 1 Bendtner (32)
1 – 2 Fabregas (90 pen)
1 – 3 vermaelen (90)

A win that closed the gap to Chelsea to three points, overshadowed by the injury suffered by Aaron Ramsey. The tackle from Ryan Shawcross was appalling; indefensible. It was not malicious in the same manner that Taylor’s was on Eduardo but that does not matter; the outcome was the same and that is where the focus should be. Ryan Shawcross adds his name to the list of Dan Smith and Martin Taylor in a hall of shame.

Ramsey had been playing his way up the midfield pecking order with some good displays this season. The next campaign may be virtually over before he can perform on the pitch again. As soon as the tackle happened, the faces of both sets of players betrayed the seriousness of the injury.

Vermaelen exhibited the same emotions his colleagues did two years ago; Cesc was distraught; they all were. Yet they rallied once the medical team attended to Ramsey; Clichy consoled and cajoled as did his captain. The desire to win took hold, to ensure that an opportunity presented by Chelsea’s collapse at lunchtime was not wasted.

Post-match, Arsene queried how much more of the overly physical approach would be permitted by the authorities. The answer is that it will never stop so long as referees fail to punish. Cesc noted that in England, ‘play on‘ is the mantra; had Walton blown for the deliberate handball by a Stoke player immediately prior to Shawcross’ tackle, Ramsey would not be contemplating a long spell of recovery and rehabilitation.

Is there a coincidence in these events? Yes and no. Yes, it is coincidental that they have happened on a seemingly bi-annual basis. No; teams acknowledge that they go in harder on Arsenal, to unsettle and unnerve. The mentality was highlighted by Kevin Davies before the recent encounter at The Reebok, claiming Arsenal ‘scream like girls‘. Did the FA intervene then and demand explanation. No. Will they do so in the future? No. Would they do so if the suffering were from Rooney or Gerrard…

Stoke hoped that Shawcross would not be demonised. He should not be. His manager though left a foul and noxious stench around the club. Wenger did not criticise Shawcross as a person; he criticised the tackle. Pulis felt it necessary to insult his counterpart, telling the world that he ‘wouldn’t give tuppence for Wenger’s opinions about his players as people‘, a vile tirade buried in remorse for the incident.

So to the match itself. Dominating the penalty area against Stoke was the message beforehand; it didn’t sink in. Seven minutes was all that it took for Stoke to take the lead from the expected source, a Delap long throw. In much the same way that Bolton, Wimbledon and other long ball merchants have had success from home fixtures against Arsenal, Stoke produced a quick tempo start, capitalising on lax marking to take an early lead, Pugh from point blank range heading home.

Arsenal stumbled through the next twenty minutes, gradually imposing their strength and passing onto the contest. Fabregas forced Sorensen to scramble to prevent his effort from range entering the net. Moments later, the Spaniard’s corner skewed towards the top corner, the Stoke goalkeeper blocked by Campbell in front, Sagna behind, the ball evading the far corner by inches.

The equaliser came from an unlikely route, a case of ‘Anything you can do, we can do better; Fabregas curled an excellent cross into the area, Bendtner rose and guided his header into the far corner of the goal, past the despairing dive of Sorensen.

Arsenal controlled the second forty-five minutes, having recovered from the early Stoke advantage. Ramsey was felled in the area, unsurprisingly the referee did not award a penalty. Eboue picked the ball up on the edge of area, weaved and jinked, launching a shot that Sorensen fumbled to safety such was the ferocity of the strike.

Inevitably, the match petered for a few minutes following Ramsey’s injury, apparently heading towards it’s conclusion without incident. Then the mental strength that Arsene has been publicly talking of for months took over. The ten men were stretched and strained over the pitch. Possession retained, the full width of the pitch used. Chances came and went until Stoke’s defiance broke with injury time approaching.

Song cleverly lifted the ball over Stoke defence, Eduardo skewed wide. The breakthrough came as Bendtner’s flick found Pugh’s arm moving downwards. A penalty always given to the home side, never the away, was awarded and Fabregas controlled his emotions to calmly despatch the kick against a goalkeeper who had enjoyed a purple patch for stopping them. Emotions erupted in the celebration, the team ethic shining through. The result was put beyond doubt when Vermaelen nudged home from Fabregas’ knockback.

Overall, it was a fighting performance. Almunia had his moments of indecision and slack hands but on the whole, dealt with the expected Delap barrage, making good saves along the way, hopefully convincing a few people of his worth.

The defence contained Fuller and Sidibe far better than in the cup-tie, holding a firm line, containing Stoke’s threat once the initial bombardment was over. Campbell and Vermaelen grew in stature as the game went on, matching their opponents in challenges.

Fabregas, Ramsey and Nasri struggled to impose themselves initially but once they did so, they controlled the game. Nasri had an afternoon where his hard work provided less reward than it merited; a day when things would not fall just right for him. Like Eboue, he will play worse and be more personally rewarded.

The Spaniard and Welshman were vying for Man of the Match, along with Bendtner. For a team which prides itself on physicality and strength, they had few answers to the Dane who followed up his good start against Sunderland with another at The Britannia.

As Wenger said post-match, before that tackle, it was an even contest in terms of the physical side of the game. Arsenal stood up to any attempts to bully them out of the stride. Once they got to grips with that, imposing the passing style ensured victory. It is this attitude which needs to be carried on into future games.

Three points set the coming month for a charge to the top. By the time Chelsea next play in the Premier League, they could be third. In five games time, the top two meet at Old Trafford. Inbetween, United entertain Liverpool amid a set of routine fixtures. Chelsea have the potentially tricky visit of Aston Villa to overcome. Arsenal has an opportunity to take 15 out of 15. The business end of the season is here; Let’s go to work.

’til Tomorrow.

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