Arsenal were undone by an unfortunate handball and resultant penalty in their 1-0 defeat to Stoke City, but created little themselves. Read player ratings here:
Wojciech Szczesny – 7/10
Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has been the top performing player in his position this season, and could do little about the goal scored by Jonathan Walters from the penalty spot.
Bacary Sagna – 7/10
Bacary Sagna frequently ventured forwards for Arsenal, but Stoke City dropped so deep with so many men behind the ball that he was often seen gesticulating at team-mates to make runs.
Per Mertesacker – 7/10
Per Mertesacker was relatively untroubled at the back, with Stoke City creating few opportunities, and organised the Arsenal defence well.
Laurent Koscielny – 7/10
Laurent Koscielny’s partnership with Per Mertesacker continues to impress, with the Frenchman providing the pace and tackling to the German’s anticipation and organisation.
Koscielny was unlucky to concede a penalty for the winning goal, after being harshly judged to have handballed.
Kieran Gibbs – 6/10
Kieran Gibbs got forward regularly throughout the match, but was often bereft of ideas once he got to the byline.
Did provide a fine cross that Olivier Giroud was unable to head on target in the first half though.
Jack Wilshere – 4/10
Jack Wilshere continues to delight and frustrate in equal measure, and this was one of the more frustrating games of his up-and-down season.
The England midfielder spent a huge amount of his time on the floor, even taking into account Stoke City’s typically physical approach, and was unable to offer his team his usual drive and creativity.
Mikel Arteta – 7/10
Mikel Arteta dictated play excellently from midfield, and touched the ball more than any other player, even setting up Lukas Podolski for one of Arsenal’s best chances of the game.
Tomas Rosicky – 5/10
Tomas Rosicky usually injects pace into Arsenal’s attacking play, but was as ponderous as the rest of the Gunners’ attacking midfield.
Santi Cazorla – 5/10
Santi Cazorla had three shots against Stoke City, with one on target, but was not able to strike the ball as well as he has shown in the past.
As Manchester United’s crossing approach against Fulham was criticised for its predictability, so should Arsenal’s sideways play be today.
Lukas Podolski – 5/10
If Lukas Podolski does not have his shooting boots on, he offers very little to the Arsenal attack, for while he is clearly the most natural finisher in the squad and a harder worker than he is given credit for, he is neither a creative player nor adept dribbler.
Blasted the only shot he managed all game high and wide.
Olivier Giroud – 7/10
Olivier Giroud won the majority of his aerial duels against a mean Stoke defence, and brought team-mates into play well.
The French striker was on the end of some horrendous tackles from the Potters, who occasionally appeared to leave the boot in, but he worked extremely hard despite his lack of service.
Substitutes:
Mesut Ozil – 6/10
Played in a typically tidy fashion, but was unable to break down the resolute Stoke defence.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7/10
Ran impressively at the Potters’ back line, and could have earned the Gunners a penalty had he not been too honest to go down.
Yaya Sanogo – 5/10
Despite some encouraging performances against Liverpool and Bayern Munich, Yaya Sanogo is still too raw to play at the highest level regularly just yet.
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