They came, we conquered.

All this nonsense about a penalty which upon first sight was nailed on and only on slo-mo was perhaps wrongly given. By this time Stoke were blowing and an Arsenal victory assured,  just check the stats – we had 24 shots! Were Stoke unlucky to lose by 3 goals? Of course not, they were lucky not to lose by more.

That said, the first half was simply awful; full of wayward passes, backward movement, silly defending and hardly a shot on target.

Ospina:  Kicking a bit wayward. Didn’t concede. Stoke hit the post from a corner which he should have caught.  I don’t trust him.   6

Chambers: Some of his passing was dreadful and put us onto the back foot when we should have been launching attacks. His tackling was good as was his work at set pieces. Should/Could have scored.    4

Mustafi: A strange game. Some of his interventions were excellent though I worry when as the last defender he goes to ground to block the attacker. Needs to play the simple ball out of defence.   7

Monreal: Not his best game. Not secure at the back nor contributing much to attack. Had one very good shot saved by Butland.   5

Ramsey: IMO our best player. Always in place for a pass, working hard to supplement the attack. Like others his passing in the first half was below par  8

Wilshire: Didn’t really influence the game. I want more from him.  Worked very hard and improved 2nd half   6

Elneny: We saw his limitaions in what was probably his worst game in the shirt. The difference when Xhaka replaced him was massive, though it must be said that Stoke were tiring at this point. His passing was awful in the first half.   4

Welbeck:  Worked ahrd as always. Contributed little missing a good chance. Again, we saw the difference when Miki came on.   5

Ozil: Not at his influential best but lovely to watch.   7

PEA:  Scored twice. Missed a one on one though Butland did well to stop him. Lovely finish for his second and generous in giving Laca the second penalty.  6 games, 5 goals. Gave a good post-match interview in excellent English (did you listen Sanchez?)  7

As ever ratings are subjective and on a day when few are blogging, does it matter if you disagree? 😀

written by Big Raddy