Stoke 1-1 Arsenal: Van Persie to the rescue but Gunners miss chance to tighten grip on third
The visitors were unable to break down a resolute Potters defence as
both sides settle for a point, after Peter Crouch had opened the
scoring for the hosts
Arsenal missed out on the chance to pull away in third place as they had to rely on Robin van Persie to earn them a point in a 1-1 draw with Stoke.
The home side took the lead early in the game
as Peter Crouch rose to head home a Matthew Etherington cross, but five
minutes later Van Persie earned his side a point with a simple tap-in
following an inch-perfect Tomas Rosicky cross.
Both sides made
two changes ahead of kick-off with Jermaine Pennant and Dean Whitehead
returning for Stoke in place of Wilson Palacios and the injured Andy
Wilkinson. The full-back picked up a groin injury against Newcastle so
Ryan Shotton dropped back into defence and Pennant took up his place on
the right wing.
Arsenal named a starting line-up missing
speedsters Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with Yossi Benayoun
and Gervinho were recalled to provide support to the prolific Van
Persie in attack.
The visitors were quickly into their stride and
created two good opportunities in the opening eight minutes for
Benayoun and Van Persie. The Israeli was released by the Dutchman in the
sixth minute but his low shot from inside the penalty area lacked power
and Asmir Begovic was able to save with an outstretched left hand.
Two
minutes later Van Persie had his first sight of goal but he too was
denied by Begovic. Tomas Rosicky delivered an inch-perfect cross onto
the head of the unmarked striker at the back post but the Bosnian
stopper made an excellent reaction save to turn the ball behind.
The Gunners were made to rue those misses in
the 10th minute as the home side took the lead with their first attempt
on goal. Etherington was found on the left wing and he delivered a the
ball right onto the head of Crouch and the striker made no mistake, jumping above his marker and heading into the bottom corner.
However Stoke's lead lasted just five minutes as Arsenal equalised through Van Persie.
Rosicky found more space on the left wing and delivered a lovely cross
behind the Stoke defence to find the run of the striker and the Dutchman
had the simple task of tapping it into the net.
After such a bright start to the game the
rest of the opening period was fairly uneventful as both sides struggled
to create clear-cut chances and neither goalkeeper was forced into a
real save. Gervinho found himself in some good situations but his final
touch seemed to always let him down, while at the other end the Arsenal
defence coped well with the dangerous balls put into their penalty area
by Pennant.
The second half began in lively fashion and five
minutes in Arsenal had a great chance to go ahead through Van Persie. A
typically neat and flowing move from the Gunners ended up with Bacary
Sagna being released down the right wing, his low cross was perfect for
the Dutch striker to fire a diving header towards goal but Begovic saved
well down to his right.
The home side were really struggling to
create any chances as the Arsenal defence remained resolute, and despite
plenty of effort and desire the clinical final touch was just eluding
them.
Tony Pulis’ decision to introduce Cameron Jerome late in
the game for Pennant was met with a few boos from the home crowd but it
was nearly a master stroke as the striker found himself with a clear
shot at goal, his effort was on target but Szczesny saved well and
Arsenal were able to clear.
The Gunners pushed for a late winner,
and even threw Marouane Chamakh up front to support Van Persie but
Stoke remained resolute and held on for a well-deserved point.
Source : Goal.com
