Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey clears off the line to keep Stoke City at bay

WEKA TANGAZO

By.Leah Migila

Trips to Stoke have been the stuff of nightmares for Arsène Wenger in the past but this game will not live long in the memory, never mind keep the Arsenal manager awake. In the end it was neither the big step forward that Wenger had hoped for, nor the couple of paces back that would have left Arsenal open to the same old accusations about their lack of stomach for a fight and whether they have what it takes to sustain a title challenge.

Perhaps in the context of what has happened to Arsenal in recent times at the Britannia Stadium a point should be cherished, especially on an afternoon when the temperature struggled to get above freezing, snow was shoved up against the advertising hoardings and the injured Mesut Özil remained in north London.

Given what unfolded on the pitch it was tempting to think that the German – who Wenger said was struggling with some swelling on his foot but will be back for next Sunday’s game against Chelsea – had the right idea by staying in the warm. Despite all the pre-match hype about the enmity surrounding this fixture, the game was a slow burner, struggled to fully ignite and ended up being a tale of two goalkeepers, with Jack Butland and Petr Cech the two outstanding players.

Cech once again demonstrated what a difference he has made to Arsenal this season, whether coming off his line to bravely punch the ball clear or make crucial saves, most notably the one in the 90th minute when he stuck out his boot to deny Joselu a late winner after Aaron Ramsey had cleared Jonathan Walters’ glancing header off the line.

In many ways it felt fitting that Ramsey should have near enough the last word. The Stoke supporters mercilessly booed the Welshman’s every touch, presumably for his reluctance to accept Ryan Shawcross’ apology for breaking his leg at the Britannia Stadium six years ago, and there was also some unsavoury and shameful chanting by a section of the home fans, who sang: “Aaron Ramsey, he walks with a limp”.

Wenger chose his words carefully when asked for his thoughts. “I don’t listen too much, I focus on the game,” Arsenal’s manager said. “I shut my ears and I think that’s the best way to deal with it. I don’t know what to do about it. I have no influence on it. When people get together sometimes they forget their individual responsibility and maybe when you go home and watch it on television you are less proud.”

While disappointed that Arsenal “missed two points” and failed to record their first victory at the Britannia Stadium in six attempts, Wenger praised his players for the way they handled a fixture that been hostile in the past and so often ended up with them being turned over.

“We wanted to win the game but looking at the history we have here it is a positive result,” said Wenger, whose team returned to the top of the table. “Overall it was an old-fashioned Stoke battle because they made the game very physical. The crowd was up for it, the players were up for it, they went for a very direct game, we had to show a physical response – fighting spirit and togetherness – which we did.”

Mark Hughes, not surprisingly and quite justifiably, took issue with a few of those comments. There was nothing particularly physical about the game, so much so that Craig Pawson, the referee, never had reason to show a yellow card. “I’m not sure what game Arsène’s been watching but there we go,” the Stoke manager said.

Arsenal’s best chances fell to Olivier Giroud but on both occasions Butland produced excellent saves and showed why he is regarded so highly. The first opportunity came to Giroud following a deft pass from Joel Campbell but Butland was quickly off his line and parried the Arsenal striker’s attempt to cuAfter tipping over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s effort later in the first half, Butland made a wonderful save low to his left two minutes after the interval. Giroud had managed to lose his marker and met Ramsey’s corner with a powerful downward header that the young England international did ever so well to keep out.

“It’s early days for Jack. It’s only his first season as a Premier League No1 and he’s started remarkably well,” Hughes said. “He’s had 20-odd games and once again he’s proved what a great goalkeeper he is. All the elite teams have a top-class keeper and we’ve got one as well. He’s not at the standard of Petr Cech yet because he’s not been doing it over a longer period like Petr Cech has, but undoubtedly he’s got the potential to be one of the top keepers.”

Cech was certainly busy in the second half, with the Arsenal keeper making a fine double save to deny first Joselu and then Bojan Krkic. Joselu, who must have been fed up with the sight of the Arsenal keeper by the end, saw another low shot turned behind by Cech before that frantic goalmouth skirmish in the closing moments when Wenger’s team were living dangerously.

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