Source: Daily_Mail
Arsenal 2 Stoke 0: Arshavin inspires Diddy Men as Gunners leapfrog Spurs
[LNB]Move along, move along. Nothing to see here. On the occasion of his 500th Premier League game in charge of Arsenal, Arsene Wenger shook hands with an opposing manager for the 497th time and his patched-up side staunched the bleeding after three consecutive defeats. [LNB]When wounded and accused of being physically and mentally fragile, the last team you want to meet is Stoke City; tough, uncompromising and the tallest outfit in the Premier League. [LNB]Arsenal made light of lumbering opposition, however, and their quicker and slicker pygmies caused havoc in the land of the giants. [LNB] Classy finish: Arshavin beats Thomas Sorensen[LNB]None more so than Andrey Arshavin, who scored the first goal and setup the second for substitute Aaron Ramsey, easing in the processArsenal's crisis up front - despite a reluctance to play as a leadstriker. [LNB]How much poorer will be the World Cup finals without the diminutive Russian. [LNB]It brought respite for the beleaguered Wenger and his side after agloomy week that saw them humiliated by Chelsea, then ousted from theCarling Cup by Manchester City, with the Arsenal manager criticised fornot shaking hands with City boss Mark Hughes.[LNB]'It was a relief for the team especially,' said Wenger, who admittedthat anything other than a win could have done longer-term damage.[LNB] 'If we don't win today then you could question whether mentally wehave been touched. We have a game based on initiative and if ourconfidence drops, we are in danger.' [LNB] Young star: Ramsey fired Arsenal's second[LNB] [LNB]Instead, it was a day of other happy landmarks at the Emirates to add to Wenger's. [LNB]On his 250th appearance for the club, Cesc Fabregas took a captain's responsibility for lifting the side. [LNB]With Arshavin, he ensured that Arsenal, after a wobble in the secondhalf, could ultimately celebrate comfortably their 100th game at thestadium. [LNB]'I don't think he was a big fanatic to play centre-forward but hehas got good body power and intelligent movement,' said Wenger ofArshavin. [LNB]'I will have to try it again away from home to see if it works.' [LNB]Had Fabregas not spurned a penalty, Arsenal would, as deserved, haveseen off even more emphatically a disappointing Stoke team who were ashadow of the side who bullied Arsenal to defeat at the BritanniaStadium last season. [LNB]'We work hard. We did our best,' said Stoke boss Tony Pulis, grateful that the defeat had not been worse. [LNB] Off target: Fabregas saw his poor spot kick saved by Sorensen[LNB]'Because we can't compete for class and quality we have got to make it up with organisation and commitment.' [LNB]Even the latter looked missing, though, as Stoke retreated when theyshould have scented blood, Arsenal having lost Eduardo to a thighstrain to add to the longer-term absences up front of Robin van Persieand Nicklas Bendtner.[LNB]Necessity being the mother of invention, Wenger thus sought to becreative with his formation, with Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky and SamirNasri buzzing off Arshavin. [LNB]The result was some excellent one and-two-touch combination play.After Thomas Sorensen had done well to save early on from Arshavin andNasri, the goalkeeper then excelled himself.[LNB] Arshavin jinked his way into the penalty area and Rory Delap wassuckered into bringing him down. The Dane guessed correctly whenconfronted by Fabregas's penalty and dived to his left to turn asidethe kick. [LNB] Aerial battle: Abdoulaye Faye tussles with Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Vermaelen[LNB]'Yes, I thought it might be another one of those days,' Wengeradmitted later but Arshavin then clearly decided that he had bettertake matters into his own hands. [LNB]A neat exchange of passes with Fabregas on the left took him aroundAbdoulaye Faye and he struck a sharp, low shot across Sorensen into thefar corner to give Arsenal the lead. [LNB]Stoke somehow survived when Armand Traore's cross from the leftdeflected off Faye on to the far post and rebounded to Fabregas, whoseemed sure to score until Emmanuel Eboue, virtually on the goalline,got in the way of his captain's shot. [LNB]Arsenal grew edgy. Delap's long throws apart, Stoke were rarely seenat the other end, but there was a scare when Tuncay - finally getting aleague start after his move from Middlesbrough in the summer - brokefree but allowed William Gallas to get back in the nick of time toblock his shot.[LNB] After the interruption, Arshavin was close once more, with Fayedeflecting his shot from substitute Ramsey's low cross on to the bar. [LNB]Finally, Ramsey settled the contest, Arshavin holding off thelabouring Robert Huth and setting up the young Welshman for a run andshot past Sorensen. [LNB]On a day of all hands on deck, you had to hand it to Wenger and hismakeshift team. Thankfully in football, good little 'uns can still beatbig 'uns.[LNB] Wenger admits: 'Yes, I'm a bad loser,' after Hughes cup spatWenger rules out signing strike trio to replace Van Persie in JanuaryFuller reveals Stoke's game plan: You beat Arsenal by being physicalARSENAL FC
