Game Over?

Stoke 1-0 Arsenal

Arsenal virtually threw away their chances of winning the Premier League title this season with a typically insipid display away to Stoke on Saturday.

The performance from Arsene Wenger’s side was extremely frustrating given the fact that Stoke are not a team that spring any surprises and catch an opponent off guard. Every team due to play against Stoke know exactly what they are going to be facing; a technically inferior side who will attempt to physically bully the opposition in order to make up for this inferiority. Yet rather than use this knowledge to their advantage, the Gunners let it prey on their minds and seem to go into these encounters with a defeatist attitude. A solitary win from eight visits to the Britannia Stadium speaks for itself. It was the same when Sam Allardyce was in charge at Bolton and season after season, Arsenal would turn up at the Reebok stadium and allow themselves to be physically intimidated by the home side’s approach.

Throughout the game on Saturday the Gunners were far too busy feeling sorry for themselves as Stoke pushed and bundled them off the ball time and time again. Arsenal’s players had to roll their sleeves up, grit their teeth and start to assert their passing game, but not one player was capable of doing this as far too often passes went astray and the Gunners failed to build any momentum as they became unsure of themselves and passed the ball far too slowly.

Arsenal’s target man up front, Olivier Giroud, cut a pathetic figure, as he struggled to win aerial battles against the imposing Stoke defence or hold the ball up for his team. The Frenchman spent more time on the ground, licking his wounds and complaining to the referee, than he did in possession of the ball. In games such as these you need a centre forward who has no fear and is willing to smash into the centre backs time and time again, so that by the final whistle they know they have been in a game.

Of course Charlie Adam should have been sent off when he needlessly stamped on Giroud’s leg, while the Frenchman was lying on the floor, but the referee and his assistants failed to spot the incident, having also missed Adam’s studs up challenge on Arteta earlier in the game.

However Arsenal can complain all they like, the Gunners just need to toughen up. There are eleven men out there and to allow themselves to be pushed around for an entire 90 minutes is ridiculous. There was a title on the line and they all knew they were going into a brutal battle on Saturday but not one of them stepped up to the plate. If ever a game was made for the battle hardened and ferocious nature of Mathieu Flamini this was it. Wenger’s decision not to deploy the Frenchman was therefore all the more baffling.

As a result, Arsenal had no real presence in the midfield and struggled to create goal scoring opportunities. In the first half, Lukas Podolski drilled an effort into the side netting, but it was a half chance at best and Cazorla shot straight at the goalkeeper towards the end of the opening period, when through on goal.

The second half was not much better for the Gunners and in fact as the game wore on Stoke began to create more and more opportunities. Peter Crouch in particular, should have done better when a Charlie Adam free kick found the striker completely unmarked in the box. Yet rather than attempt a header, Crouch tried to steer the ball home with his foot but did not connect well with the ball and the chance was lost. With 65 minutes gone, the England striker forced Szczesny into a fine save, as his header from an Arnautovic cross was tipped wide by the Arsenal goalkeeper. From the resultant corner, Cameron was found unmarked as the Gunners marking let them down once again, but the American’s ferocious effort flew wide of goal.

The decisive moment of the game came in the 74^th minute as Arsenal failed to deal with a long ball. Crouch headed the ball into the path of Whelan and as he attempted to lift the ball over Koscielny, the ball struck the Frenchman’s hand, giving the referee the opportunity to point to the spot. It was an extremely soft penalty, given the proximity of Koscielny to Whelan when the ball was played and the fact that the Arsenal defender could not have moved his hand out of the way. Walters, who had previously missed four of his last six penalties, sent Szczesny the wrong way and the scene was set for another defeat at the Britannia Stadium.

The Gunners did have a couple of opportunities to rescue a point, but failed to convert either. The first fell to Ozil, as he combined well with Giroud on the edge of the area, before firing a shot across goal and just past the far post. The second, right at the end of the game, fell to Yaya Sanogo, following a fine cut back from Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Frenchman was all alone in the box, but did not look confident at all as the struck the ball and as a result, his shot was blazed high over the bar.

After the game Wenger suggested that Stoke were fortunate to win the game, but in truth this was a poor performance from the Gunners and they did not deserve much from this match. With Chelsea now four points ahead and Arsenal soon to meet Mourinho’s side away from home, defeat against Stoke appears to have come at a high cost. Unfortunately the chance of a first title in ten years now seems a distant dream with a desperate fight for a top four finish now appearing more likely. Football can be a cruel game, but the Gunners only have themselves to blame.