Stoke City
Lee Grant – 7/10
Grant made a couple of important saves in either half to keep the score down. His indecisiveness on whether to come forward to catch Oxlade-Chamberlain’s ball for Ozil to score Arsenal’s second was his only error in an otherwise impressive performance.
Glen Johnson – 6/10
The ex-Liverpool defender struggled to catch up with Alexis Sanchez’s extraordinary work-ethic throughout the game. Though he did make a handful of clearances, he was always second best to Sanchez.
Bruno Martins Indi – 6.5/10
The Dutch defender had a solid first half until he was beaten to Bellerin’s cross by Walcott to concede his side’s first goal. He did well to deal with zipping crosses coming in from either side of the box.
Marc Muniesa – 7/10
Muniesa was focused in defence, keeping immense concentration to make decisive defensive headers and clearances to prevent an Arsenal cross from reaching its target. He personally could not be faulted for any of the three goals conceded.
Mame Biram Diouf – 6.5/10
Diouf made an outstanding last ditch clearance to prevent Mesut Ozil from a tap-in in the first half. He tried his best as a wingback to stretch Nacho Monreal high up the pitch, but the Spanish full-back was up to the task.
Charlie Adam – 6.5/10
Adam may have showed his composure to put the penalty away, but he was guilty of giving the ball away in dangerous positions in midfield, paving the way for Arsenal to have a go at goal. He did put in the hard yards defensively, making interceptions and closing down on Coquelin.
Giannelli Imbula – 6.5/10
Imbula made the cardinal sin of playing Ozil onside for Arsenal’s second goal, filling in for Eric Pieters – who was temporarily off the field having received treatment – at left wing-back. He looked threatening in the first half, outpacing a couple of opponents to lead Stoke’s counter-attacks. However, he petered away in the closing stages as Arsenal began to take full control.
Eric Pieters – 6/10
Pieters had a below-par game at left full-back, offering far too much room for Bellerin to exploit and create chances from the wing.
Xherdan Shaqiri – 6.5/10
Shaqiri’s corners early in the game were spot-on, keeping Arsenal’s defenders on their toes. He looked busy and industrious from a right attacking midfield position, cutting in and attempting to locate Allen and Arnautovic in front of him. The quality of the final pass, however, was missing.
Joe Allen – 7/10
Allen won the penalty which gave the Potters the lead. His overall play was very good, receiving balls from the wingbacks and harrying Arsenal’s defence in order to carve them open. He should have done better when he had a good opportunity to score in the first half, mistiming his shot from 15 yards out under no pressure from any opposition player.
Marko Arnautovic – 7/10
The Austrian forward made a number of good runs into pockets of space in the Arsenal defence – either through the middle or from wide – but was short of quality service. He drew a couple of fouls from the Arsenal back-line as well, winning his side free-kicks from promising positions.
Substitutes:
Peter Crouch – 6/10
The tall striker made an instant impact after coming on, winning an aerial duel from a set-piece to get a header on target and force Cech into a save. He failed to make any further impact.
Ramadhan Sobhi – 5/10
An over-intricate outside-of-the-boot pass was all that Sobhi could muster for the short time he was on the pitch.
Julien Ngoy – N/A
Ngoy replaced Shaqiri in the 85th minute and barely had a touch of the ball.
