Arsene Wenger has suggested the Stoke supporters who directed chants at Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday will feel ashamed in hindsight.
Advertisement
Both veteran Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech and Stoke counterpart Jack Butland were in good form, but it was England global Butland who produced the save of the match when, early in the second half, he dived low to his left to push away a goalbound-header from Olivier Giroud.
Arsene Wenger said despite the lack of goals, he was pleased with his team’s performance against Stoke City.
Before the game, Wenger had praised Stoke for their style of play under manager Mark Hughes, saying that their increased focus on a possession-based and technical game suited Arsenal better than the team’s “rough” style under Tony Pulis. I thought it was a game between two evenly matched sides and that says a lot about how far we have come. So I don’t know why the physical aspect of the game needs to be mentioned.
“With the amount of teams that could potentially win this league, it’s probably going to be the most exciting Premier League for a neutral ever, I think”. “We have to play so many games in January and it is very important to have the whole squad involved in what we are doing if we are to remain a competitive team in all of the competitions”.
“Petr Cech was outstanding, we needed a player like him in the air when Stoke played that kind of game”.
The Wales global suffered a serious leg break as a result of a challenge from Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross in February 2010, an injury which caused him to miss much of the rest of that year. We could have won and could have lost.
Wenger, who said he shut his ears to any abuse towards himself, retorted to the Ramsey chants by stating: “When people get together sometimes they forget their individual responsibility”.
As the temperature inside the stadium plummeted, the intensity of the game increased and Stoke created their best chance of the half in the 56th minute.
Having already beaten both Manchester clubs and Chelsea at home in the league this term, the Potters’ hopes of defeating Arsenal on their own patch too were thwarted by Cech’s second-half brilliance. “We had to fight”, Wenger told reporters after the game.
“I don’t think there was a yellow card”.
Advertisement
Arsenal’s first chance arrived on 20 minutes.
