Premier League - Stoke sink 10-man Arsenal

Eurosport - Sun, 02 Nov 09:58:00 2008

Arsenal slipped to their third Premier League defeat of the season as goals from Ricardo Fuller and Seyi Olofinjana either side of half-time saw Stoke City prevail 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium.

Kolo Toure own goal, Arsenal v Stoke, FOOTBALL - 0

Long throws from Rory Delap were the source of both goals as the Gunners struggled to cope with Tony Pulis's physical side and their misery was compounded when sub Robin Van Persie was shown a straight red card following a collision with home keeper Thomas Sorensen.

Gael Clichy's deflected effort in injury-time gave the visitors a glimmer but they were forced to play out the final minutes with nine men after Theo Walcott was stretchered off with an arm injury.

Bacary Sagna and Emmanuel Adebayor had earlier been forced off injured after heavy Stoke tackles and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger spent almost the entire second-half berating the fourth official and referee Rob Styles for Stoke's combative display.

Wenger was upset by Fuller's 11th minute opener with the Londoners complaining that captain Kolo Toure was held down by the big striker before he flicked Delap's catapult throw into the back of the net.

Delap almost added a second when Arsenal failed to deal with a long ball into the penalty area. Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia flapped badly and the ball was headed goalbound by the Republic of Ireland midfielder but Clichy was on hand to nod the looping effort off the line.

Arsenal rarely threatened in the opening 45 minutes and Sorensen only had to make comfortable saves from long range Adebayor and Denilson strikes.

The Togo striker also curled an effort over the crossbar and his frustration began to show as he was booked for a confrontation with his marker Ryan Shawcross that threatened to boil over.

Sagna was forced off after a tackle from behind by Delap and then Danny Higginbotham became the second of six players to go in the book for a late hack at Walcott.

Goal chances were rare although Toure came close to levelling when he flicked a near post corner just over the crossbar.

At the other end, another long throw caused consternation and Abou Diaby's clearing header only found Salif Diao on the edge of the penalty area. His scuffed shot went through a crowd of players before being turned around the post by Almunia.

Adebayor was forced off shortly after, going down heavily on the troublesome ankle which was earlier stood on by Shawcross and Arsenal's miserable afternoon got worse as Olofinjana smuggled home a second 17 minutes from time.

Delap's catapult reached the Nigerian at the backpost and he saw the ball bounce off his chest and as he fell, he inadvertently nodded the ball into the net.

Van Persie was dismissed soon after, just 10 minutes after coming on. Sorensen hovered over the ball and as he picked it up, the Dutch striker collided with the keeper with a wandering forearm in the general direction of his chest.

Fabregas headed Walcott's cross wide before the England winger, himself a second-half sub, was helped from the field with his arm in a brace after being hacked down from behind by Delap who was booked for the challenge.

Clichy's deflected 30-yard injury time strike was his first for the club but it was too little too late and it was fitting that a bad tempered affair ended with Fabregas and Richard Cresswell booked for a confrontation in the corner.

Lee Walker / Eurosport

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  1. United will SWALLOW the ARSE-enal 2-0 without breaking­ into a sweat. Ronaldo is licking his lips.

    From theo94, on Mon 3 Nov 7:25PM

  2. Stevenpotter91 - practice what you preach mate!! Or is­ 'phisical' a word that I can't find in the­ dictionary???? So can I say - learn to­ spell!!!!

    Anyway, learn to spell­ 'championship' because that is where Stoke will­ be playing next season.

    ..and if you really want to­ be picky - it's we're, not were!!!

    Glasshouses­ / stones / people in them???????

    From jackregan21, on Mon 3 Nov 12:30PM

  3. can i firsty say everybody learn to spell...
    and all­ these people saying arsene wenger out and the­ inexperience of arsenal is your downfall then think­ again.....stoke made you look like a wigan or a­ fulham...basically an average premier league team...our­ phisical strength and rorys rockets are not the only­ weapons we have...mama sidebe flicks the ball on really­ well and also holds the ball up well...they can all­ score goals too....so stop calling us a one dimensional­ team because were not...9 points from 4 games is brill­ for a newly promoted team in the best league in the­ world...so bring on wigan next week and bring on man­ united in a fortnight!!!!
    because WE ARE STAYING UP!!!!­
    come on stoke!!!!!!!!!!!

    From stevenpotter91, on Sun 2 Nov 8:43PM

  4. Well what a week for a spurs fan !this time you gooner­ scum where sayin we going down !Now 7 days later and 3­ matches and not forgetting 7 points!Funny thing !looks­ like we'r gonna be still around for a while.Still­ have to play us at the lane !See you then waiting arms­ opened .Yidos

    From Ray O, on Sun 2 Nov 3:56PM

  5. It is time that Mr Wenger must change his attitude for­ his usual words ie I have a good faith in my squad and­ I have a strong beleif in them. All these words are­ now
    turning to be a lame old excuse. The bottom line­ is that your team doesn't show consistence. It is­ time to make a change on the forthcoming tranfer­ window. Make sure to change the defenders with the old­ legs who every game make the same mistakes plus Alumina­ who is to blame for the last two games slipping equally­ as the defenders.

    From abdi g, on Sun 2 Nov 3:04PM

  6. Sick of it.....Wenger must go

    From darraghpatton, on Sun 2 Nov 2:52PM

  7. After January, if the gunners are still played with the­ same players..then sorry to say U ARE NO LONGER BE THE­ BIG 4. ALMUNIA IS PLAYING LIKE @#$%!!!AND MOST OF­ THEIR DEFEND ARE BULLS**TT, THEIR MIDFIELD ARE DEAD!!

    From Aldurrs, on Sun 2 Nov 2:31PM

  8. Aesene Wenger must go its not fun anymore. Hwe has no­ bull$$$ so if a player like Clichy and Almunia, get­ straight back to the team after the mistakes from­ the4-4 its stupid tom think Gunners gonner win the­ title, Mr Wenger is too soft and always defends bad­ behaviour its time to get someone like AF and tell the­ players were to go and bench them after silly mistakes.­ And Almunia he is crab he cant even play for Spain and­ Lehman was right he started playing when he was 21 so­ no way he will get better AW could have bought­ Cuddicine instead of Gallas c rab frencgh arrogant

    From Paulo, on Sun 2 Nov 2:27PM

  9. hi sparkymrk typical asn supporter bad looser just­ like your manager wake up to the truth you idiot most ­ inteligent asn fan can see the true winners stoke­ city ha ha ha bp stokie

    From kellysixcassie, on Sun 2 Nov 2:20PM

  10. It is time for Arsene Wenger to take a bow ,and leave­ Arsenal. Like all good players ( any player in fact­ ),they have their time , then they lose a step and new­ player comes to the front . It happens to us all. It­ part of life. It is no different with Wenger. The time­ has come for a change at the helm.

    From Ball Bag, on Sun 2 Nov 2:04PM

  11. an Arsenal fan for 37 years and rarely been so­ disillusioned than now. Some of the youngsters are­ great talents but you need a mix of experience and­ youth. At the heart of our defense we have 2 rejects­ who aren't good enough to play for our biggest­ rivals yet we give them a game. We even make one of­ them captain, he is no more captain material than i am.­ We lack a real leader on the pitch,a Tony Adams Gallas­ certainly is not. Wenger must bring in a couple of­ experienced heads to help mould these talented­ youngsters into a real team and that doesn't mean­ has beens like Silvestre.

    From P G, on Sun 2 Nov 1:19PM

  12. HA,Ha Gooner scum it's all falling apart­ ,Yido's

    From Ray O, on Sun 2 Nov 12:55PM

  13. Wenger is Quite WRONG to defend van persie he should be­ fineing him the absolute maximum allowed he was acting­ like a thugish spoilt brat!!
    As a long time over 40­ years Arsenal fan this sort of behaviour should not be­ tolerated and i blame the manager as he is far to quick­ to defend them for there stupidity

    From LEX, on Sun 2 Nov 12:40PM

  14. aresnal sc8m up the yids

    From Spurs..xx, on Sun 2 Nov 12:36PM

  15. sparkymark - if stoke are as dependant upon the­ 'thrown' ball as you seem to imply then why are­ they near the bottom of the league. The fact is you ­ great turd is that arsenal were beaten over 90 minutes­ not just by a couple of throws. Arsenal were not good­ enough - end of story.

    From Mike S, on Sun 2 Nov 12:25PM

  16. gunners for life wenger plz do something in january plz­ i beg of you help sort out the deffence thts our real­ problem

    From ANONYMOUS, on Sun 2 Nov 11:46AM

  17. we can not win any thing with this type of defence,the­ Boss have to make some new signings by january,we­ need three good players in January,one midfielder,two­ tall defenders, A success is needed in Arsenal this­ year.Charmings Emma [Dublin]

    From charmtomgrace, on Sun 2 Nov 11:29AM

  18. Amazing. Stoke fans hailing a player as the greatest­ in the world when all he can do is throw a ball and­ kick lumps out of real footballers. Delap is a joke -­ can't play, can't tackle - if throwing is the­ new football, then he should p-off to american football­ and pretend to be a quarterback.......but then they­ only need to use one hand, not two, so even there he­ would be useless.
    Stoke are a typical championship team­ who need to stay where brute strength and bad tackles­ are the norm.....leave the premiership to the teams who­ actually want to try and play football. Enjoy your one­ season in the top league......you won't be missed.

    From Sparkymark, on Sun 2 Nov 10:52AM

  19. HAHAHAHA!! I see the a***wipes mouths are now shut­ after the abuse they been dishing out to other­ teams.
    How does it feel to loose to the teams at the­ bottom.............not so good LOL.

    Arsene to stay and­ ARSEWIPES off to the championship

    From knight.rider2205, on Sun 2 Nov 10:37AM

  20. Well Done Stoke be interesting to see how you'd­ actually cope in Delap got injured but you deserved the­ result Arsenal bottled it again. Wenger needs to­ finally respect his club and fans or go off and manage­ france.

    From maguirejj2, on Sun 2 Nov 10:23AM
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