Delap throws Arsenal's season into disarray
Stoke City's Rory Delap shows his pride after setting up both goals in Stoke's 2-1 win over Arsenal at Britannia Stadium yesterday
Sunday November 02 2008
Arsenal's week went from bad to worse as Rory Delap set up both Stoke goals with massive throw-ins. Arsene Wenger fumed on the touchline as his side were unable to cope with Delap's bombs, lost Bacary Sagna, Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott with injuries and had Robin Van Persie sent off.
Stoke certainly pulled no punches, but the win was a deserved one. First it was Hull, then West Brom and now Tony Pulis's side are putting together a productive run in a manner which suggests they may be coming to terms with the demands of the Premier League. Three wins out of four have taken them out of immediate trouble.
"It was a fantastic result for this football team, for the squad and the city," enthused Pulis. "Arsenal are a good team. Actually, good team? They are a great team with a great manager. The togetherness we showed, working so hard off the ball, was first class.
"The midfield four blocked things up for them, the two up front worked so hard and Mama (Sidibe) was so important. We knew we couldn't get outnumbered in midfield and he's worked so hard, been so unselfish. It's not just him though, they've all had a go."
Pulis, who rated his team's victory over Sunderland last Wednesday as their best performance of the season, made one switch, bringing in Amdy Faye for Tom Soares.
Wenger rang the changes. Out went Samir Nasri, Walcott and Van Persie -- replaced by Abou Diaby, Alex Song and Nicklas Bendtner. Arsenal were also without William Gallas (hamstring), so Kolo Toure returned to the centre of the defence to partner Mikael Silvestre and took over the captain's armband.
This was the first time the clubs had met in a league match since 1985, when Stoke prevailed 2-0 in the old First Division. Song was deployed in a deep-lying midfield role and found plenty of space to figure prominently early on, picking up loose passes and using the ball to good effect.
But the first time Arsenal had to contend with Delap's mighty long throws, they were found wanting and went behind. Delap hurled the ball towards the far post, where Ricardo Fuller got to it ahead of Toure to glance a header beyond Manuel Almunia.
Arsenal were shaken to the core and when the goalkeeper failed to get any distance with a punched clearance, they almost conceded another. It went only as far as Delap, whose header was cleared from near the line by Gael Clichy.
It took a while for Arsenal to regain some momentum and start stroking the ball around again. When they did, Thomas Sorensen made a comfortable save low down after Cesc Fabregas gave Adebayor the chance of a shot on the turn. However, an effort shortly afterwards by Diaby finished up nearer the corner flag than the goal.
Also off target was Adebayor, although there was plenty of venom behind the drive he sent hard over the crossbar after cutting inside.
The pattern was much the same after the interval, Arsenal enjoying bags of possession, yet finding it hard to create clear-cut scoring chances against a side closing them down at every turn. A rare one came when Toure met a Fabregas corner at the near post to turn the ball just over. Fuller, racing goalwards on to a long through-pass, was pulled back by an offside decision, before Walcott replaced Sagna, who was limping after being caught by Delap. Then the ineffective Denilson made way for Van Persie. Adebayor also went off injured.
Inevitably, Arsenal sank deeper into trouble. Another Delap throw was flicked on by Ryan Shawcross for Seyi Olofinjana to bundle the ball in as he stumbled goalwards.
The frustration was too much for Van Persie, who charged in after Sorensen fielded the ball, raised a foot at the keeper then barged him to the ground. Referee Rob Styles had little option but to produce the red card.
In stoppage time, Clichy's shot took a double deflection to reduce the arrears, but it was too little too late.
"We were punished but very unlucky as well," said Wenger afterwards. "But traditional people who love the traditional English game with a lot of fight and a lot of commitment, will have been happy because they got what they like. At the end of the day, Stoke deserved to win the game."
Observer
