Arsenal hosted Stoke City in a Premier League match on Saturday afternoon, which ended 2-0 thanks to goals from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud, but had the potential to be a much higher scoring affair. Spectacular goalkeeping from Jack Butland paired with Arsenal’s notorious poor finishing were what hampered Arsenal in the scoring column, but the three points are vital and push the Gunners to second place in the league at the time of writing. Here are the three stars of the match:
Third Star: Mesut Özil, Arsenal
First Premier League game back from missing the meeting with Newcastle with a very slight knee problem, Özil showed no issues after a fruitful international break with Germany. The playmaker did what he does best and sent a sublime ball over the Stoke City defence after some hard work from Francis Coquelin, and Theo Walcott got it right on his foot and put the ball through the legs of the otherwise outstanding goalie for Stoke, Jack Butland. The German had some great ideas all day, but the majority of them did not turn into goals because of the lack of nerve in front of goal, something that manager Arsene Wenger will have to address. Nonetheless, a great showing from Mesut Özil today.
Second Star: Jack Butland, Stoke City
Butland, like any other goalkeeper, turned into Manuel Neuer when he arrived at the Emirates this afternoon. He was stellar all day except for the Walcott goal, and he was the sole reason the scoreline was just 2-0. There was not much he could do to prevent the Giroud effort, which was just down to poor marking on a set piece. Butland saved some great chances, most noticeably when he knocked Alexis Sanchez’s point-blank header off the post and out of play as well as keeping out centre-back Laurent Koscielny’s blast from 35 yards.
First Star: Francis Coquelin, Arsenal
Coquelin looked like Claude Makelele in his prime today, as he covered all the ground he possibly could as well as breaking down plenty of would-have-been Stoke City attacks. He was the main catalyst for the Özil-to-Walcott goal in the first half of the match when he worked hard to win the ball and got it to the German playmaker. He had plenty of perfectly timed interceptions and a lot of great tackles, and he did not get booked, either, which is impressive due to his combative performance. All in all, Coquelin became the same player that was one of the main reasons for Arsenal’s success at the end of last season, and if he keeps this form, Arsenal’s dream of lifting a Premier League trophy for the first time in more than ten years could be that much more realistic.
