Referee Lee Mason found Joe Allen’s acting convincing, believing Granit Xhaka poleaxed Allen with his elbow in the box, and awarded Stoke a penalty. Watching the replay, the first had me half believing, but the second and third showed Allen embellished any contact.
Charlie Adam stepped up and scored and put Stoke up on top. Arsenal responded positively and managed to equalize just before halftime. Alexis found an open Bellerin on the right and his cross found a streaking Theo Walcott, who stabbed the ball home, his 100th goal as a professional.
In the second half Arsenal surged ahead when Ozil beat Stoke’s offside “trap” and headed home Oxlade-Chamberlain’s deft chip. A late goal from Alex Iwobi put the game to rest.
Player Ratings:
Cech 6: Petr had little to do, but made a key stop from Peter Crouch, who had just arrived on the field as Stoke were taking a corner. As I feared, he got to the corner, courtesy of his height and some slack defence, but Petr made the save. He also made a neat back header to keep the ball from Arnautovic.
Gabriel 7: Started out playing right back and then switched to the middle following Mustafi’s injury. He had a solid game and is playing with confidence.
Mustafi 6: Was playing well until he strained his hamstring. He’ll be away for a minimum of three weeks, a player we’ll definitely miss.
Koscielny 7: He had a good match, but was beaten in the air by Diouf, who should have done more with his header.
Monreal 7: Kept Shaqiri quiet and made a key intervention to stop Arnautovic in the second half.
Coquelin 7: Controlled the midfield and broke up a number of their attempts to move the ball upfield.
Xhaka 7: Was it a penalty? I don’t think so, but his elbow came up high. If it was intentional it shows a recklessness that is concerning. Otherwise, he had a fine match, largely dominating the midfield. He had one shot on goal, which didn’t have the power he wanted.
Ozil 8: He pulled the strings and kept Stoke’s defence on edge. Scored a nice goal, courtesy of a well timed run. Martins Indi prevented him from equalizing in the first half.
Walcott 8: He scored a fine equalizer and he looked dangerous a number of times. He had a nice run in the second half, but a late intervention prevented him from scoring a highlight goal.
Sanchez 8: He didn’t score, but he was instrumental in the buildup for the first goal and he assisted on the third goal. When he failed to capitalize on a defensive mistake early in the match, he probably realized he wouldn’t be scoring today.
Oxlade-Chamberlain 7: He had several shots at goal, but they narrowly missed. He had a fine assist on Ozil’s goal and he is looking more settled and made fewer errors.
Substitutes:
Bellerin 8: Replaced Mustafi and he was quickly up to his old tricks. Assisted on Walcott’s goal with a nice cross.
Iwobi 7: Scored an emphatic goal from Sanchez’s cross, his second this week. Let the goals continue to flow.
Giroud n/a: He came on for a short outing.