Arsenal 3-0 Stoke City - 5 talking points

Arsenal got their revenge in perfect style as they trounced Stoke City 3-0 at the Emirates. Alexis Sanchez’s brace followed by Laurent Koscielny’s thumping header sealed the deal for Gunners. The match was completely one-sided affair as Stoke City was nowhere to be seen in the game for almost the entire duration of 90 minutes.Stoke’s favour was returned to them with interest by Arsene Wenger’s boys who were drubbed by the Potters, not so long ago. The game was more or less the Alexis show but here are some other things along with Alexis’ brilliance which caught our eye.Here are the five talking points from this lopsided encounter –

#1 Scintillating Sanchez

He was deemed surplus to requirements at Camp Nou due to the riches of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Pedro, to some extent. But the wily Chilean is having the time of his life in London. Alexis Sanchez scored two and set up other as he single-handedly blew Stoke apart with his quick feet and exquisite football. He was involved heavily in all the goals for Arsenal.

Everything he touched seemed magical tonight as he toyed with one of the burliest defences in the top flight of English football. His first goal and Arsenal’s second was pure bliss. No one in this world can deny the class that goal oozed. And his cross for Koscielny’s goal was just flawless.

The Gunners were running rampant from the outset as Alexis was simply unstoppable tonight at Emirates. He scored his 18th goal of the season as he is slowly becoming the creative spark of class which has been vacant since the departure of Robin van Persie.

The level of performance displayed by Alexis was reminiscent to a certain Frenchman, who is worshipped in red half of North London. Yes! Some might think this as the exaggeration but he showed glimpses of the brilliance which once used to be a norm at Arsenal, in heydays of Thierry Henry. He surely must’ve been pleased watching this young attacker to dazzle Emirates from the VIP box.

#2 Santi Cazorla - Conductor of Arsenal\'s creative orchestra

Today was all about Alexis Sanchez and his brilliance, but one man was tirelessly working to keep Arsenal’s barrage of attacks in seamless motion was the little Spaniard, Santi Cazorla.

If Arsenal’s display was today a symphony, then Santi was its Mozart. The way he just kept the ball ticking with his defence splitting passes, was sublime to say the least. Cazorla has been immense for Arsenal in the absence of Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere.

The diminutive Spaniard was hardly bullied by the huge players of Stoke. His timely burst forward along with his calming presence while in possession has given Gunners a new found dynamism. He is surely giving Jack Wilshere a run for his money and it will be very difficult to dislodge him from his position anytime soon, unless he gets injured and is ruled out for the season.

Sanchez may grab all the headlines for this win but deep down everyone knows that without Santi this win wouldn’t have been so comprehensive. He is slowly developing into a cult figure at Emirates with his unglamorous approach.

#3 Stoke\'s set-piece woes

Stoke City are known for their brute physicality and their aerial dominance since their early days in the Premier League. Their physicality and aerial prowess have been the only constants in their subsequent reigns right from Tony Pulis to Mark Hughes.

But this season, the Potters have been awful while defending set-pieces. The things which were supposed to be one of their strengths and key to their defensive solidity is now their Achilles’ heel. Mark Hughes’ boys have conceded 12 goals from set pieces till now in the division. This is the highest number of goals conceded by any team in the league.

After initial heroics by Asmir Begovic, the Potters succumbed to a well taken corner by Alexis Samchez, where he linked up very well with Laurent Koscielny, who scored the goal. Once known for their aerial prowess Stoke are now getting beat at their own game.

Mark Hughes needs to bring back their mojo especially for a defensive lineup where all the defenders are above 6 feet in height. When teams like Arsenal, who are barely known for their aerial abilities, score against such a side it means only one thing, trouble.

#4 Potters\' Emirates Blues continue.

Lions at home, lambs away. This perfectly sums up the Arsenal-Stoke tie. Both the teams have been poor travellers. Stoke have been disastrous on their visits to North London.

They drubbed Arsenal at Britannia couple of months ago but they returned the favour at Emirates as they were just ripped apart by Arsenal. The Potters have visited Arsenal six times since their return to the top flight but have failed to win at any of their visits.

Their winless streaks have been more or less due to their own poor displays. At times they were simply in awe of the venue and atmosphere. In their six visits, they have conceded 17 goals and scored a paltry three goals. That is almost three goals a game! With such a shambolic record, it is safe to say that Stoke is Arsenal’s favourite punching bag at home.

And tonight too, the ghosts of the Emirates returned to haunt them this time as well. To add more to their compounding woes, Mark Hughes has an awful record at Emirates have been winless in his last eight trips.

#5 Ozil\'s comeback; Debuchy\'s exit

Arsenal’s injury woes never cease to end. One step forward lead by two steps backwards is the norm at Arsenal, as far as their injuries are concerned. The match was in the news for the return of Mesut Ozil, who was returning to competitive football after suffering a knee injury in Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The German playmaker looked good on his return to first team football, but it was evident that it will take some games to get him back to his full fitness. He looked at ease while in possession and was also having a good workout on the pitch by running up an down. It would be unfair to judge him on this cameo but the good news is that Arsenal’s best playmaker is back to full fitness.

But the joy of Ozil’s return was short-lived as Mathieu Debuchy limped off the pitch due to a spook injury. Arsenal’s defensive fragility is no secret and the Frenchman’s injury makes matter worse for the Gunners. Prior to this injury, Debuchy was sidelined for almost four months when twisted his ankle at Emirates against Manchester City.

Hope Debuchy’s injury is not very serious.