There are few chances in the life of a modern day Stoke fan to celebrate a great result against one of the countrys top clubs, but thanks to Tony Pulis and his battling band of colo suses, the second in just over a month occurred today; the hard earned point away to Liverpool being followed up with a truly fantastic 2-1 win over Arsenal at the Britannia Stadium. Goals from Ricardo Fuller and Seyi Olofinjana put paid to a team of global footballing stars whose famous free-flowing style can only be rivaled by that of West Brom. Referee Rob Stlyes was for once on Stokes side, sending off Arsenals Robin Van Persie in the second half, before Gael Clichy pulled one back for the Gunners late on. Tony Pulis made one Enes Kanter Jersey change to his starting line-up for the visit of the Londoners from the side that beat Sunderland 1-0 on Wednesday, Tom Soares being replaced by Amdy Faye, Pulis opting for the physical presence of Faye over the pace of Soares, who has every right to feel jaded after three starts in ten days. Its true to say that Soares last performance on Wednesday seemed to be just a little off the pace and against the attacking prowe s of Arsenal Faye was judged to have a little extra to offer defensively. Arsene Wengers logic seemed to run along the same lines, including Abou Diaby and Alex Song in his midfield in an attempt to counteract Stokessphysical strength, the selections of the two managers together producing the quirky occurrence of the wings being occupied byfour central midfielders and a centre back playing in the middle for Arsenal. It was the visitors who made the brighter start, Cesc Fabregas warming the hands of Thomas Sorensen in the Stoke goal from range before his team forced a corner off of Stoke left-back Danny Higginbotham. After ten minutes though the Potters faithful were much enthused by their side earning a throw in deep inside Arsenal territory, another chance for a Rory Delap special. The Arsenal defence should have been warned to the approaching danger by this boisterous reaction, and if they were, they could do little to halt it, as a leviathan throw from the arms of Delap landed perfectly on the head of Ricardo Fuller six yards out. The Jamaican gladly obliged, taking advantage of some absent Arsenal marking to glance the ball into the left corner of Manuel Almuniasnet for his fifth goal of the season. The goal was his 31st for Stoke, and of the first 26, only two were headers, it is interesting to see that now four of his last five have been. You cant be offside from a throw Moses Brown Jersey -in Kolo! As the jubilant Stoke fans chorused Delilah, Arsenal looked for a quick reply, enjoying a lot of po se sion in the Stoke half, but failing to create any clear chances, a pattern that developed more and more throughout the match. The home side almost doubled their lead on nineteen minutes, with the influential Delap coming close to notching his second of the season. He capitalised on some hesitant defending in the Arsenal box, looping a header over Almunia only to see it cleared off the line by the head of Gael Clichy. Delap really should have done better, but few could begrudge him this mi s given the importance of his contributions both before and after this incident in the game. The Gunners began to get a foothold on the game as the half progre sed, carving out half chances for Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure and Denilson, but the trios finishing let them down, Denilson finding the target but failing to trouble Sorensen and Adebayor and fellow African Toure sending their efforts flying into the Boothen End. Early in the second half Wenger decided he had seen enough of Jaylen Hoard Jersey his sides lacklustre performance and decided it was time to act, introducing dangerous forward Robin Van Persie and rapid England star Theo Walcott, neither of whom would manage to complete the game for differing reasons. The next opportunity fell to Stoke though, Almunia thwarting the impre sive Salif Diao who saw hiseffort from the edge of the penalty area tipped low around the post. Some strong tackling from Stoke prevented Arsenal from having a clear route to goal until the 65th minute, when Higginbotham failed to track the run of Tourein the box, the Ivorian connecting with Fabregas low corner, only to send his volley inches over the Stoke cro sbar. It was a warning to Stoke that withthe quality at their disposal, Arsenal are never far from a goal, however a large chunk of this quality was removed from affairs with twenty minutes remaining, Ryan Shawcro s crunching into Adebayor when the ball had already left the field of Zach Collins Jersey play. It is likely that Shawcro s was seeking revenge, as Adebayor had left his foot in to catch the young centre-back in the first half when the ball was long gone, an offence that earned him a booking from controversial referee Styles. The Togolese striker suffered an ankle injury, collapsing on the pitch five minutes after the tackle after landing awkwardly after being beaten to an aerial challenge by Shawcro s,and hobbling off to be replaced by Mexican Carlos Vela. Two minutes later Stoke did double their lead, with Seyi Olofinjana doubling his tally for the season. The source of the goal? A Rory Delap long throw, surprise, surprise. Shawcro s met the ball with his head in the penalty area, glancing the ball into the path of the Nigerianwhobundled the ball over the line with his chest at the second attempt, to the delight of the vast majority of the supporters in the stadium. Rory hurls it in Seyi celebrtates his goal Things went from bad to worse for the Londoners, as Van Persie was shown a red card that few, excluding Arsene It was not a red card Wenger could argue with. Sorensen employing his favourite time-killing tactic of waiting until the last po sible moment to pick up the ball after a clever chest back by Andy Griffin. The ploy clearly frustrated the Dutchman, as well after the ball had been picked up, he launched himself into Sorensen leading with hisshoulder and knocking the keeper to the ground, leaving Styles, having an uncharacteristically easy match, no choice but to show the red. Arsenal continued to offer little going forward until the first of the four minutes of stoppage time at the end of the match, Walcott having a clear run at the Stoke defence, only to be brought down from behind by Delap who received a yellow card for his troubles. Walcott suffered a shoulder injury in a painful fall resulting in him being stretchered off and leaving Arsenal with nine men, as all their available substitutions had been Jaylen Adams Jersey made. The Gunners did though ensure a nervy finish for Stoke, Gael Clichy firing Fabregas lay-off into the bottom right corner of Sorensens goal with the help of a heavy double deflection off of Griffin and Amdy Faye. Even this goal could barely muster a cheer from the Arsenal fans who seemed to know that a comeback of Tottenham proportions was beyond them, and Stoke managed to hold on for a memorable and deserved victory, having out-battled and outscored one of the leagues best sides.Stoke team:SorensenGriffin Abdoulaye Faye Shawcro s HigginbothamAmdy Faye Diao Olofinjana Delap Sidibe FullerSubstitutions: Whelan for Diao(78), Cre swell for Fuller(86), Kitson for Sidibe(90+6)Subs not used: Simonsen, Wilkinson, Sonko, SoaresAttendance: 26704 Click here Click here Click here
