Stoke City managed to hold on to a remarkable
half-time lead to secure a 3-2 win over Arsenal, as a second-half double from the Gunners
wasn't enough to inspire a comeback at the Britannia Stadium.
It was job done for the Potters by
the break, or so it seemed, while Arsenal were a complete mess from the off as Peter Crouch opened the scoring after just 18
seconds when he poked the ball home after winning a scrap in the box.
The former England man’s strike was
the fastest this season, and their lead was soon doubled when Bojan skipped
through a static defence to score with a neat first-time finish following good
wing play from Jonathan Walters.
Stoke’s first-half dominance was
highlighted as chants of “olé” sounded around the Britannia Stadium stands.
And Walters made it three moments
before the break, capitalising on more horror show defending from Arsenal to
fire high into the roof of the net
Arsenal improved after the break but
were still frustrated, with Sanchez hitting the post after a long mazy run into
the box, and they appeared to have fallen yet another goal behind when Bojan
again found the net, but the Spaniard’s strike was ruled out for offside.
The Gunners were then gifted a
foothold in the game when Mame Biram Diouf’s trip on Mathieu Flamini handed
Wenger’s men a penalty, with Santi Cazorla
confidently sweeping away his spot-kick on 68 minutes.
And the comeback looked very much on
two minutes later when a smart save from Asmir Begovic denied substitute Danny
Welbeck and handed Arsenal a corner, with Aaron Ramsey smashing in a volley through a
bundle of bodies from the resulting set piece.
Stoke looked shell shocked following
Arsenal’s quick-fire double but Hughes’ men managed to gather themselves, while
Calum Chambers’ late sending off for a second booking ended Arsenal’s hopes of
an equaliser, as the Potters held on during a nervy five minutes of added time
to seal a brilliant win.
Meanwhile, Queens Park Rangers
managed to end Burnley’s run of four games unbeaten with a 2-0 victory at
Loftus Road, despite ending the match with ten men.
Both sides were fired up for this
bottom of the table clash but eventually entered the break goalless following a
cagey opening half.
The hosts started the brighter after
the restart, and Harry Redknapp’s Super Hoops took the lead just six minutes
in, Leroy Fer with a crafty chip over Tom Heaton following decent link-up play
between Charlie Austin and Bobby Zamora.
Austin made it two against his
former club shortly after, the in-form frontman finding the net from range with
a clinical finish from Mauricio Isla’s pull back.
The ex-Clarets star then went from
hero to villain within minutes when he was given his marching orders for a
second yellow card, but it made little difference to the contest, as a hard
fought three points sees QPR move out of the bottom three.
And that was it in terms of goals in
the afternoon kick offs, as the three other fixtures all ended in 0-0
stalemates.
Liverpool again suffered from a lack
of firepower upfront as the Reds were held by a stubborn Sunderland at Anfield, with captain Steven Gerrard relegated to the bench once more.
Meanwhile, a below-par Tottenham may
count themselves lucky with a point as they held on to draw with Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane, with Jason
Puncheon a whisker away from grabbing a win as his second-half strike clattered
the bar.
And West Brom were left to rue
Graham Dorrans’ first-half penalty miss as they drew 0-0 at Hull, who slip into
the bottom-three as a result.
image : Source
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