FOOTBALL Live

Sunday May 24, 2009 Finished Emirates Stadium

4 - 1

Arsenal

  • Beattie 10’ (o.g.)
  • van Persie 14’ (pen.), 41’
  • Diaby 18’

Stoke City

  • Fuller 31’ (pen.)

266 comments | Write your comment

  1. Arsenal coast past Stoke

    Arsenal coast past Stoke

    Arsenal closed out their Premier League season with an entertaining 4-1 win over Stoke City at the Emirates Stadium. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Arsenal
    • Stoke City
    • 90+2' It's all over! Arsenal have won 4-1 and finish fourth. Stoke City finish 12th.
    • 90' Finally some excitement as Carlos Vela brings the ball under control and shapes to shoot...but the whistle has goen for handball. 2 minutes extra-time to be played.
    • 87' The fans are gradually beginning to filter out of the Emirates Stadium as Stoke City continue to chase the ball around in vain. Arsenal are in cruise control.
    • 83' The home crowd shout for a penalty as Fabregas goes down under Shawcross's robust challenge, but the referee correctly waves for play to continue.
    • 79' The tempo seems to have totally gone out of the game now. Arsenal are content with the score at 4-1, and Stoke are struggling to get the ball. On the occasions they do get it, they are failing to actually do anything with it.
    • 74' Typically intricate stuff from Arsenal in the second half, though they have as of yet been unable to add to their lead.
    • 71' Arshavin now comes off to a fantastic round of applause from the Emirates, and Carlos Vela is given 20 minutes to show what he can do.
    • 70' Richard Cresswell is on for Ricardo Fuller for Stoke City.
    • 70' Gorgeous stuff from Arshavin. He sells Shawcross down the river with a cheeky stepover, before Denilson whacks the ball straight into Abdoulaye Faye.
    • 67' Eboué strides forward now, and drills a low shot just past the post. Stoke's back four have looked far more solid on the whole in this second half, though they were almost caught out there.
    • 63' Danny Pugh is on for Salif Diao for Stoke. The game seemed to have rather passed the big Senelagese by.
    • 58' Bendtner swings in an inviting cross for Touré, who sees his header fly just over. Almost a rare goal for the centre back.
    • 57' Eboué is on for Sagna for Arsenal now.
    • 53' Fine goalkeeping from Mannone to punch away a James Beattie cross. He knew he was likely to be clattered by Fuller - which he duly was - but he made the vital punch nonetheless.
    • 50' Good chance for Shawcross as Lawrence arrows a dangerous ball into the box...but the big centre-back can only head straight over the bar!
    • 48' Andrei Arshavin swings in a dangerous cross - and Van Persie heads narrowly wide! If Arsenal had signed up Arshavin last summer, rather than wait for the January tranfer window, I suspect they would be at least playing for second or third spot this afternoon.
    • 46' There was just one change at half-time - the pink-booted Nicklas Bendtner is on Theo Walcott for Arsenal.
    • 46' We're underway in the second-half at the Emirates Stadium.
    • 45' There's the half-time whistle, and Arsenal lead Stoke 4-1. Van Persie, Beattie (o.g.) and Diaby have been on target for Arsenal, while Stoke's goal came through a Ricardo Fuller penalty.
    • 41' What a clanger from Rory Delap!!! In trying to nod back to Sorensen, he heads the ball straight to Van Persie, who calmly taps home past a stunned Sorensen! Both sides' defending in this first half is summed up by the fact that we have had five goals. It has been comical.
    • 37' Arshavin now drills one from distance, but Sorensen is equal to it. It's a glorious day in North London, and we're being treated to an action-packed game of football. A tad meaningless, perhaps, but entertaining fare all the same.
    • 34' Arsenal have a free-kick 30 yards from goal which Van Persie is lining up. The Dutchman hits it...AND RATTLES THE WOODWORK...it comes out to Arshavin, and his overhead-kick is tipped round the post by Thomas Sorensen!
    • 33' Well, Arsenal have looked excellent in front of goal, but very vulnerable at the back. They lead by 3-1, but Stoke will still by no means feel like this is game over.
    • 31' Fuller steps up....GOAL!! 3-1 they now trail!
    • 30' Penalty to Stoke now as Denilson brings down Ricardo Fuller in the area! Stoke have a chance to reduce their arrears.
    • 22' Stoke's afternoon is going from awful to even more awful. Their 'keeper Steve Simonson is having to go off. He has a bad back. Thomas Sorensen is on in his place, but he's not fully fit either, and centre-back Ryan Shawcross is taking the goal-kicks.
    • 18' Arsenal have a free-kick in a dangerous position out wide. Van Persie swings it in...and Diaby rises unchallenged to head home!!! 3-0, and suddenly Stoke are almost out of it!
    • 14' Van Persie picks himself up and tucks away the penalty. Arsenal lead by two!
    • 13' Penalty to Arsenal! Ryan Shawcross brings down Van Persie in the box.
    • 11' It was a comical own goal from Beattie. He turned a short corner taken by Fabregas and Walcott straight into his own net from point blank range!
    • 10' Arsenal have a lead they barely deserve! James Beattie has put through the back of his own net!!!
    • 6' Denilson is somewhat harshly booked for an untidy challenge on Glenn Whelan.
    • 4' Ricardo Fullar goes straight through the Arsenal defence, and Mannone is forced to make an important save on his debut for the Gunners. The Arsenal back line look a mess in these opening minutes!
    • 2' Delap launches a long throw into the Arsenal box...and Shawcross heads just wide!!! An early scare for Arsenal. We know they are weak aerially, and Stoke almost exploit that immediately.
    • 1' We're underway at the Emirates Stadium.
    • 15:45 Stoke boss Tony Pulis is playing both Ricardo Fuller and James Beattie in attack, so Song and Toure are in for physical battle, while Rory Delap, Glenn Whelan, Liam Lawrence and Salif Diao start in midfield.
    • 15:45 Arsene Wenger has handed his young goalkeeper Vito Mannone a start, though otherwise it's a fairly strong Arsenal team. Alex Song and Kolo Toure link up together at centre back, while Arshavin, van Persie and Walcott all start in attack.
    • 15:30 Arsenal have nothing to play for today - they will finish fourth whatever happens, though a win could see Stoke finish as high as tenth. Ninth is possible if they put 10 past Arsenal, but I think it's safe to say we won't be seeing that happen. Tony Pulis' men currently lie 11th, though could slip to 12th if they lose and Wigan win by more than a goal.
    • 15:30 Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text coverage of Arsenal v Stoke City.

  • Team Stats

    Arsenal Stats Stoke City
    72% Possession 28%
    26 Shots 4
    9 Shots on target 2
    0 Saves 4
    6 Corners 0
    11 Fouls 9
    0 Offsides 1
    1 Yellow cards 0
    0 Red cards 0
    18 Tackles 25
    576 Accurate passes 186
    63 Bad passes 28

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Arsenal
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      24 Vito Mannone 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 8 1 0
      3 Bacary Sagna 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 32 0 0
      17 Alexandre Song 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 39 5 2
      5 Kolo Toure 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 40 0 2
      14 Theo Walcott 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 15 0 2
      4 Francesc Fabregas 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 84 6 1
      15 Denilson Pereira Neves 0 2 0 3 3 0 0 112 12 4
      2 Vasiriki Abou Diaby 1 3 2 1 0 0 0 65 13 0
      40 Kieran Gibbs 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 54 8 3
      23 Andrey Arshavin 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 22 7 1
      11 Robin van Persie 2 6 2 1 1 0 1 41 6 1
      26 Nicklas Bendtner 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 24 2 0
      20 Johan Djourou 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      18 Mikael Silvestre 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      53 Wojciech Szczesny 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Aaron Ramsey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      27 Emmanuel Eboue 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 30 0 1
      12 Carlos Vela 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 10 3 1
    • Stoke City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Steve Simonsen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
      31 Carl Dickinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 5 2
      17 Ryan Shawcross 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 5 0 5
      25 Abdoulaye Faye 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 2
      28 Andy Wilkinson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0 5
      7 Liam Lawrence 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 23 0 2
      24 Rory Delap 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 11 3 1
      18 Salif Diao 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 7 1 2
      6 Glenn Whelan 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 32 7 2
      20 James Beattie 0 1 1 5 5 0 0 18 4 0
      10 Ricardo Fuller 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 10 7 3
      23 Michael Tonge 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      22 Stephen Kelly 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      14 Danny Pugh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 1
      33 Ibrahima Sonko 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      9 Richard Cresswell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0
      29 Thomas Sorensen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 1 0
      4 Seyi Olofinjana 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 90+2' It's all over! Arsenal have won 4-1 and finish fourth. Stoke City finish 12th.
    • 41' What a clanger from Rory Delap!!! In trying to nod back to Sorensen, he heads the ball straight to Van Persie, who calmly taps home past a stunned Sorensen! Both sides' defending in this first half is summed up by the fact that we have had five goals. It has been comical.
    • 34' Arsenal have a free-kick 30 yards from goal which Van Persie is lining up. The Dutchman hits it...AND RATTLES THE WOODWORK...it comes out to Arshavin, and his overhead-kick is tipped round the post by Thomas Sorensen!
    • 31' Fuller steps up....GOAL!! 3-1 they now trail!
    • 30' Penalty to Stoke now as Denilson brings down Ricardo Fuller in the area! Stoke have a chance to reduce their arrears.
    • 18' Arsenal have a free-kick in a dangerous position out wide. Van Persie swings it in...and Diaby rises unchallenged to head home!!! 3-0, and suddenly Stoke are almost out of it!
    • 14' Van Persie picks himself up and tucks away the penalty. Arsenal lead by two!
    • 13' Penalty to Arsenal! Ryan Shawcross brings down Van Persie in the box.
    • 10' Arsenal have a lead they barely deserve! James Beattie has put through the back of his own net!!!
    • 15:30 Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text coverage of Arsenal v Stoke City.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Martin Atkinson

  • Arsenal

    Manager: Arsene Wenger

    Captain: Cesc Fabregas

    Starting line-up

    • V. Mannone
    • B. Sagna Substitution Out (57′)
    • K. Toure
    • A. Song
    • K. Gibbs
    • .. Denilson
    • A. Diaby Goal
    • T. Walcott Substitution Out (46′)
    • C. Fabregas
    • A. Arshavin Substitution Out (70′)
    • R. van Persie Goal

    Subs

    • M. Silvestre
    • J. Djourou
    • E. Eboue Substitution In57′
    • N. Bendtner Substitution In46′
    • C. Vela Substitution In70′
    • A. Ramsey
    • S. Wojciech

    Injured

    • T. Rosicky
    • W. Gallas
    • M. Almunia
    • G. Clichy
    • D. Eduardo

    Suspended

    None

  • Stoke City

    Manager: Tony Pulis

    Captain: Rory Delap

    Starting line-up

    • S. Simonsen Substitution Out (23′)
    • A. Wilkinson
    • R. Shawcross
    • A. Diagne-Faye
    • C. Dickinson
    • L. Lawrence
    • S. Diao Substitution Out (64′)
    • G. Whelan
    • R. Delap
    • J. Beattie Own Goal
    • R. Fuller Substitution Out (67′)

    Subs

    • T. Sorensen Substitution In23′
    • R. Cresswell Substitution In67′
    • I. Sonko
    • D. Pugh Substitution In64′
    • M. Tonge
    • S. Kelly
    • S. Olofinjana

    Injured

    • A. Faye
    • D. Higginbotham
    • M. Etherington
    • M. Sidibe

    Suspended

    None

Comment 227 - 246 of 266

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  1. The younger they are! the hottest they be. Keep them­ together and if Adebayo want to go, he can go why we­ build up the defence and key man in support of the like­ of Walcot, VanPersi etc. Up Gunners!!!!!!!

    From Ahmed, on Mon 25 May 11:33AM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Man Utd for the title!!!!!!!!!!

    From Angelos, on Mon 25 May 10:41AM

  3. kudos boys,oops next season wanna be fireworks.Why cant­ you sign Martins ?4 he is a fantastic player.oops­ wenger can look on that we are behind u.

    From doslex, on Mon 25 May 10:12AM

  4. very good finishing the season for the gunners and­ arsene

    From bahram, on Mon 25 May 7:10AM

  5. Do the best next season.. Young gunners..

    From alistorhiteolaenf, on Mon 25 May 5:09AM

  6. Next season we xpect big from you young­ Gunners,alright?keep it tight

    From Dennnis, on Mon 25 May 4:00AM

  7. Well done young gunners!See you next season.You all­ must be stronger next season.

    From vernjetwong, on Mon 25 May 2:07AM

  8. Arsenal Fan Here witha little wish List. Realistically­ I'd love to add to the squad Nigerian BulletMan­ Martins (Quite possible) and Fulhams Norweigan Yankee­ Rock in Defence Hangeland. If Adebayor wants to be the­ lazy sod he is.. He should be worried about his job! by­ the way, COMMON BARSA!!!!

    From daryl r, on Mon 25 May 2:03AM

  9. see you next season.we must bi stronger

    From nikola, on Mon 25 May 12:13AM

  10. banange u have to help us we a going stupide now

    From Kawuma, on Sun 24 May 10:25PM

  11. they should change in there way of playing pliz they­ have to buy playerz like ashavin andrew i love my­ teame

    From Kawuma, on Sun 24 May 10:20PM

  12. We gotta go get Tuncay he's class works hard never­ seems to give up, and i can see him fitting in­ perfectly at the mighty Stoke.

    From Robert W, on Sun 24 May 7:12PM

  13. TUNCAY,go and get him....stoke

    From KJ, on Sun 24 May 6:49PM

  14. now is the time to move on, come on stoke sign Tunguay­ from middlesboro

    From KJ, on Sun 24 May 6:44PM

  15. this was the only good game today in england

    From boyggi36, on Sun 24 May 6:22PM

  16. what a way to finish the season brilliant you gunners­ and hopefully next season will bring many many joy and­ shut up the critics, 3 cheers for the gunners:)

    From SANDRA A, on Sun 24 May 6:14PM

  17. carmellesimpson83 is A LIAR!!!!!!!!!
    F***­ YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

    From saeed, on Sun 24 May 6:11PM

  18. HEY carmellesimpson83....

    is it true u can get ps3 4­ free.....
    or u just try to trick us....
    there is no­ free in this world....
    i dont believe you!!!!!!!!!!

    From saeed, on Sun 24 May 6:11PM

  19. well done boys !

    From Renan, on Sun 24 May 6:09PM

  20. well now newcastle have went down and adeboyor is bl8s­ leaving can we have martins or owen?

    From Geo, on Sun 24 May 6:04PM
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