Arsenal 2 Stoke 0:NORMALLY ARSENAL beating Stoke City at home would be unremarkable, just par for the course. After all Stoke have not won at Arsenal since the opening day of the 1981-'82 season when Charles and Diana were still thanking people for their wedding presents. What made Saturday's 2-0 victory exceptional were the straitened circumstances in which it was achieved.
Having lost their two previous Premier League fixtures Arsenal’s chances of seeing off a durable Stoke side, beaten only once in seven league games, looked decidedly dodgy when Eduardo da Silva joined the rest of Arsene Wenger’s injured strikers with a thigh strain.
The Arsenal manager’s response was to play Andrey Arshavin alone up front with close support from a five-man midfield. In naval parlance this was akin to an attack with midget submarines. And on this occasion it worked.
Statistically it should have been a no contest. Arshavin is 5ft 8in, the Stoke centre-backs, Abdoulaye Faye and Robert Huth, are each 6ft 2in. But Arshavin ran the pair ragged all afternoon as he employed a combination of speed, strength and, above all, a shrewd footballing brain to inspire a victory of mind over muscle.
The Russian’s goal, which gave Arsenal the lead after 26 minutes (Thomas Sorensen having earlier saved a penalty from Cesc Fabregas) said it all. After accepting a return pass from Fabregas, with the defence converging and Andy Wilkinson snapping at his heels, Arshavin calmly switched the ball from left foot to right before firing past Sorensen into the far corner of the net. But for saves from Sorensen and a shot which ricocheted off a fallen Faye onto the crossbar Arshavin would have scored a hat-trick at the very least.
As it was he provided the pass which sent in Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal’s 18-year-old Welsh prodigy, for their second goal 11 minutes from the end.
Praise for Arshavin’s performance was fulsome on all sides. “Considering his size he caused the centre-backs big problems,” said Wenger. “I don’t think he was fanatical to play centre-forward but I’m convinced he can play there because he has good body power, good movement and good technique. He made intelligent movements and it worked today.”
Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager, added: “I thought Arshavin was brilliant today. They played him up front from the start and that gave him more room and licence to roam. He caused our centre-halves problems from start to finish.”
Unless one of his recognised strikers recovers ahead of schedule, Wenger will be faced with a similar option for Sunday’s visit to Liverpool although he still has to make up his mind whether Arshavin has a long-term future in this role.
“I have to try it again to see if it works at home and away from home,” he said, “and to find a balance because I have good technical players who can all attack from deep positions, which is needed when you have a player like him. We’ll see. At the moment we don’t have much choice.”
Away from the Emirates Arshavin would be fortunate to get the consistent support he enjoyed from Fabregas, Emmanuel Eboue, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky and Denilson on Saturday. In fact, some of this support ebbed away in the second half as Arsenal became nervous and introspective.
That was Stoke’s chance to get something from the match and it was odd that Pulis, with a surfeit of strikers, should choose to leave his first choices, Ricardo Fuller and James Beattie, on the bench until the last half-hour. The Stoke manager explained that he did not want to risk Fuller getting a fifth booking but without his most intelligent forward the attack appeared lobotomised.
After the Liverpool game Arsenal play Burnley, Hull, Aston Villa and Portsmouth which, while not a rest cure, is a negotiable holiday programme. “This win was needed,” said Wenger. “If we had not won today you could question that we have been touched mentally. We have a game based on initiative and if our confidence drops then we are in danger, so it is important not to lose confidence.”
With Arshavin this is never likely to happen. He plays as if he was born confident and will be the World Cup’s loss in South Africa.
