Arsenal 3-1 Stoke: Gervinho and You Know Who To The Rescue.

I normally hate Harry Potter references, but I’m too happy to care today.

Editor’s Note: This match review was written by one of our frequent commentators, SJGumby. A big thanks to Gumby for taking the time to write this, since all 4 of us were unavailable to recap. Thanks, Gumby!

When Homey reached out to me yesterday and asked if I could do a guest blog recap for the Stoke match, I admittedly got pretty nervous that I’d be writing yet another Arsenal obituary, given our recent history vs the “broken leg team” as my wife succinctly put it and their solid league form. The announcers noted that this was Arsenal’s 100th Premier League game at the Emirates, and that Arsenal had scored exactly 2 goals per game through the first 99. So of course Arsenal would have to score exactly 2 to keep the symmetry, right? Well, Arsenal didn’t cooperate, in fantastic fashion. RVP was deservedly rested (and perhaps protected?), Song was named captain, and Chamakh deputized up front with Theo, Ramsey and Gervinho in their familiar roles behind him. Djourou filled in out of position at right back, and the rest of the team was as expected. I will note that I was not given a word limit – perhaps as mistake from our hosts, as you will see below.

The first half was vintage Arsenal – vintage recent Arsenal at least. The first 30 minutes may have been Arsenal’s strongest stretch of the year. Good possession highlighted by dangerous diagonal runs from the wings. In the 6th minute, Ramsey made an incisive through ball to Walcott cutting in from the right, which was only just cleared by the weak-side defender. Walcott continued to look lively, winning a corner in the 8th minute by running at the defender. On the resulting corner, Chamakh had a rare free header from 7 yards out, which he only managed to head softly into the ground and wide. A glorious chance from Chamakh, on his head nonetheless, and he failed to put it on goal. Arsenal kept attacking though, with Arteta missing just wide from outside the box in the 11th minute and Stoke rarely venturing forward. Ramsey continued to play wonderful through balls, with Gervinho just failing to control a chip over the top of the defense and allowing the GK to claim. Walcott then created two good chances by blowing past his defender, the first ending with a cross over the GK with nobody at home at the far post to finish (a recurring Arsenal theme), and the second ending in a foul which led to an excellent long-range scoring chance for Ramsey which went barely wide . Stoke revved up the parked bus a bit and began to press tighter and try to counter. But in the 27th minute Arsenal made them pay; Walcott carried down the left, slid a pass to Song in the center, who touched it back to Ramsey about 30 yards out. Ramsey, showing great awareness, lofted a delicate chip over the top to Gervinho cutting in from the right, who controlled with his chest and slotted the ball by the GK. One-nil to the Arsenal, courtesy of the player my wife affectionately refers to as “Forehead”. A few minutes later, Dean Whitehead was the first entry into the book for a late sliding tackle on Arteta in the middle of the park.

In true Arsenal fashion, after dominating for 30+ minutes and going up a goal, the wheels came off for a bit. Kos won a strong header vs Crouch, about 40 yards out, and Crouch fell awkwardly as only he can do – somehow a free kick was given. Stoke hadn’t really had a chance all half, but credit to them, as they capitalized on this gift with a well worked set piece. The ball was played straight in over the top just outside the post, headed back across the goal from the byline, and then nodded back across again to Crouch who finished in the roof of the net from point-blank range. Strong play by Stoke, with an assist from our defense’s ability or unwillingness to jump and contest a series of headers. Arsenal wasn’t able to create much for the 15 minutes following the goal, with Stoke looked slightly more dangerous, mainly from long throws and free kicks which were nervously but successfully defended. Arsenal improved at the very end of the first half, with Arteta putting in a solid cross from the right to Chamakh, who was tackled American football-style by the defender, as the defender spooned him and pulled him down to the ground in vaguely romantic fashion. No foul given, somehow, perhaps because it was just so darn cute. Truly shocking non-call. Arteta continued to look dangerous from his holding position, beating his defender to a loose ball wide on the left (perhaps out of bounds) and crossing in towards Chamakh who just failed to get a touch as the defender glanced it behind the goal. The corner eventually fell to Gervinho, who blazed over from 25 yards, and the half ended with the score even.

Arsenal regrouped at the half, and really controlled the match from there on out. The first 10 minutes were somewhat uneventful, with Arsenal maintaining possession but rarely creating many chances. Stoke received their second card as Wilkinson was booked for an intentional tackle on Walcott as he and Djourou combined to spring Theo down the sideline. In the sixtieth minute, Salif Diao, f/k/a James Worthy, came on for Rory Delap. A strange substitution, unless it was injury related, given that Stoke’s only, and few, chances came of free-kicks and Delap’s long throws. Arsenal continued to lack a cutting edge, with many of their attacks ending with crosses in the box to a position normally filled by a center-forward. I’ll hold off on any further Chamakh thrashing until the ratings. In the 53rd and 62nd minutes, RVP was shown warming up. Simultaneously, Arsenal fans (other than Homey) were shown praying to an idol in his image. And then, in the 66th minute, after more of the same from Arsenal, RVP was introduced. And the game changed. Seconds following his arrival, RVP showed some fancy footwork on the left, making space to chip a cross across that just flew too high. And this wasn’t just RVP – the entire Arsenal squad seemed a half-step faster and sharper. In the 68th minute Stoke tried to stem the tide in their own particular fashion, with Shawcross leveling RVP with an elbow following a contested header. Just as the referee stubbornly refused to give a foul, Arsenal stubbornly refused to give up the momentum. Arshavin replaced a fading Theo in the 71st minute, and minutes later Arsenal made the critical breakthrough. After a long spell of possession marked by dangerous crossing followed by half-chances, the ball fell to Ramsey in front of the box. Ramsey showed excellent awareness to spread the ball wide to Gervinho outside on the right, who turned his defender and broke past him down the byline before cutting it back to RVP making a smart run to the near post and somehow sneaking the ball in at the near post with his recently-prolific right leg.

This left 15-minutes for Arsenal to hold on against one of their bogey teams, and while a few scary minutes followed and Szcz was called on to claim a few crosses and through balls (and be tackled to the ground), but Stoke really never looked likely to score. Finally, in the 82nd minute after another long spell of possession, Arshavin broke down the left wing, slid the ball to Gervinho behind the defense on the left, who cut it back to RVP to finish just inside the near post again with his right-leg. Arsenal’s back four was called on to make a few final tackles and clearances, but the game ended comfortable for Arsenal, for once. Frimpong came on for Gervinho in stoppage time, presumably to tell Gervinho what a DEENCH game he had, and you could see the satisfaction on Wenger’s face as the whistle blew.

This was a particularly sweet victory for Arsenal, as they dominated other than a 15-minute stretch to close the first-half, and the team showed great resiliency after giving up their lead. Stoke’s goal came from perhaps their only real chance, and despite long stretches of possession without creating any clear chances, the team remained patient until they found their spots.

Match Stats:
Possession: Arsenal 61%-39% Stoke
Shots (on target): 9(5)-5(2)
Corners: 10-1
Fouls: 9-13

PLAYER RATINGS:

SZCZESNY – 7: Really had little to do, and was faultless on the goal. No mistakes though, and even some fancy footwork.

SANTOS – 6: Didn’t make much of an impact attacking, but neither did he make any glaring mistakes. Still gives the ball away a bit too much, and apparently thinks you’re allowed to use your arms to control the ball, but solid against an opponent that didn’t really test him.

KOS – 8: Another assured display, with timely interceptions and strong positioning. Wasn’t really sure who to dock for the goal, as it was a full team error and admittedly a nice play by Stoke.

PER – 7.5: See the above description for Kos, though didn’t seem to be everywhere like Kos, just slightly less everywhere.

DJOUROU – 7.5: I expect some of you will find this to be too high, and he really wasn’t quite as solid as the center-halves, but I wanted to give him credit for playing out of position in a time of need. Looked solid, even got forward and played in some decent crosses, and his height was helpful on set pieces.

SONG – 5.5: Perhaps this is harsh since he was decent defensively and that’s what we ask of him, but part of not conceding is not giving the ball away in dangerous positions, and he had some horrid passes today. A stronger team may have capitalized on his loose play, though we escaped.

ARTETA – 8: I thought he was truly excellent, showing great defensive awareness, maintaining possession, and playing the occasional incisive ball. Picked and chose his times to get forward, and generally gave Arsenal exactly what they usually needed (and usually get from Song). No, he hasn’t been a Cesc-replacement, but he gives Arsenal a quietly effective hybrid midfielder next to Song.

RAMSEY – 8: Also very solid, with a number of really quality passes forward. While he disappeared at times, it seemed like everytime he had the ball he did something threatening with it. In his new forward role, we really need him to be willing to take chances with the ball, and you can see him grow in confidence as the season progresses. Beautiful pass to Gervinho for the first goal, and provided the ball out wide to set up the second.

WALCOTT – 7: I may be more bullish on Theo than the crowd (as shown during the live blog), but I thought he was extremely dangerous early on, drawing a number of corner kicks and free kicks. Really tormented his defender early on, and seemed to run by him at will. And I didn’t even see too many poor decisions. However, most of this came in the first 30 minutes as he really faded as the game went on, and was obvious candidate to come off in the non-Chamakh division.

GERVINHO – 9 (CO-MAN OF THE MATCH): Wonderful display. Scored the first and set up the second and third. As always ran at his man, but this time he seemed to avoid literally running into him more often than not. Really seems to have a knack for finding RVP with his cutbacks.

CHAMAKH – 4.5: Really poor. Had a gilt chance with a header, his supposed specialty, and didn’t even make good contact. Otherwise, anonymous. At some point, Wenger needs to write him off as a sunk cost. The only real question may be whether he loses his spot prior to the African Nations Cup or afterwards.

RVP – 9 (CO-MAN OF THE MATCH): Oh, sweet, sweet dependency. Let’s see – 24 minutes played, two goals, and at the heart of almost every dangerous attack. His very presence on the pitch seemed to lift the side. I consider myself truly lucky to witness such an extended run of form. As an aside, while he is obviously critical to our success, I have a theory that our dependency is magnified and perhaps exaggerated by the fact that he’s consistently replaced by an out of form Chamakh, who is far from an average PL forward at this point.

ARSHAVIN – 7.5: Looked lively and helped create the third by springing Gervinho. Also effective while killing off the game. Probably would have been higher if he had been on for longer.

FRIMPONG- N/A: Came on for Gervinho near the end.

So another win and up to seventh place – two points behind Liverpool, three behind Spuds (though they have a game in hand), and six behind Newcastle, Chelsea and a CL spot. Still a long way to go, but perhaps all is not lost quite yet.

Some Related Stories:

Category: Arsenal News