1. It was the same old story again from this Beauty and the Beast clash
This game followed a familiar pattern that those who follow Arsenal and Stoke City’s clashes have come to expect; the Potters dominate at the Britannia Stadium while the Gunners shine at the Emirates Stadium. This one-sided affair became the 13th consecutive defeat for Stoke at Arsenal.
This trend may have a lot to do with the fact that Stoke City can exploit their physical advantage at their smaller Britannia Stadium which is usually windy while Arsenal can overwork the Potters at their huge Emirates pitch with their passing game.
2. Stoke City’s problem with set-pieces remains a mystery
Mark Hughes’ disappointment at his side’s current record as one of the worst sides at defending set-pieces in the league is understandable. The Potters have enough physical presence to easily be the best in the division when defending attacks from dead balls.
That weakness cost them this game again as the opening goal came from the second phase of a corner kick while Alexis Sanchez killed the game with a free kick that shockingly found its way between the legs of Geoff Cameron who was part of an ineffective wall.
Stoke City’s coaching staff have recently been working hard to rectify this problem with more set-pieces during training sessions but all that hard work and all that physical presence still counts to nothing in game situations.
3. David Ospina will hope to be selected for Arsenal’s next game
There is no reason to doubt Arsene Wenger when he said that Wojciech Szczesny was dropped for performance reasons and not for his smoking incident at Southampton because the Pole was poor at the Saints and Ospina had a good game against Hull City in the FA Cup prior to this tie.
The only problem for Ospina is that he has featured in two consecutive games in which he has had virtually nothing to do to impress Wenger. The Colombian will therefore hope to play against Manchester City in Arsenal’s next assignment because that game will need a strong performance from whoever Wenger picks in goal.
4. This was a good taste of the Premier League for Philipp Wollscheid
Stoke recently signed Wollscheid on loan from Bayer Leverkusen and Hughes picked the defender after he trained with the Potters for just three days. Wollscheid’s quality, particularly in possession, is impressive for a centre-back and he has a lot of experience after making more than 50 appearances for Leverkusen.
But this game seemed a bit too fast for him as he and his new teammates struggled to match the tempo with which Arsenal moved the ball. Not every team will be as good as the Gunners were at the Emirates and Wollscheid can expect his teammates to perform better than they did in his debut but this was a good “welcome to the Premier League” outing for the Germany international.
5. Alexis Sanchez’s sparkling performance came at the perfect time for the Gunners
Arsenal have lost a lot of big games over the last couple of years because they lack strong personalities who can edge tight contests with a mixture of quality, hunger and determination.
Sanchez has enough experience and quality to inspire the Gunners to a big victory so his brace and overall man-of-the-match performance will boost his confidence ahead of a trip to the champions in Arsenal’s next league appearance.
