Stoke 1-3 Arsenal
Fabregas had a hand in all three goals
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By Tom Powell. |  |
Saturday, 27, Feb 2010 07:29
By Darren Estwick.
A late penalty from Cesc Fabregas helped Arsenal defeat Stoke 3-1 at the Britannia Stadium in a game overshadowed by a horror injury to Aaron Ramsey.
Stoke took the lead following a Rory Delap throw in which was bundled home at the far post by Danny Pugh before a wonderful Nicklas Bendtner header brought Arsenal back on level terms, a late penalty by Fabregas and a clincher from Vermaelen ensured three points for Arsenal.
But it was the incident on the 66th minute when Stoke found themselves reduced to ten men following a sickening incident that will live in the memory.
Ryan Shawcross went into a challenge with the Arsenal midfielder recklessly resulting in the breakage of Ramsey's leg to the dismay of all those on the pitch.
The Stoke defender walked off in tears leaving behind a sea of faces in disbelief at the horrific injury sustained by Aaron Ramsey. Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas was seen shaking his head whilst Thomas Vermaelen was visibly distressed by the incident.
The injury ended the game as a contest till the last ten minutes as both teams struggled to regain their composure.
Stoke started the stronger and opened the scoring after only eight minutes. It came from a predictable source.
A long throw by Delap was flicked on by Shawcross and the unmarked Pugh stopped to head the ball in at the far post. It was déjà vu for Arsenal who conceded goals due to long throws in their last two visits to the Britannia stadium.
Delap continued his bombardment, executing three more long throws into the Arsenal box which each caused their own degree of difficulty before Arsenal equalised.
Fabregas received the ball from a throw in and crossed into the box for the lone target Bendtner. The Dane rose whilst back peddling and headed an angled header past the despairing dive of Thomas Sorensen for a quality goal.
From that moment on Arsenal were the team in the ascendancy. For long periods at a time the away team monopolised possession without creating a clear cut opportunity.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis had before the game expressed concern that his team would be tired following their marathon FA Cup tie against Manchester City in midweek and his prophecy proved to be correct.
Ramsey thought he had won his team a penalty when he went down under the challenge of Adboulaye Faye but the referee waved away the strong appeals.
Minutes later Eboue drove towards the Stoke box and struck a fierce shot which was tipped over by Sorensen.
Stoke were then reduced to ten men when Shawcross went in too hard on Ramsay resulting in seven minutes injury time.
Arsenal poured forward as the clocked ticked down to the 90th minute. Five minutes from time Song put Eduardo clean though on goal but the striker could only put his shot wide.
As injury time approached Arsenal were awarded a penalty after a handball by Stoke goals corer Danny Pugh.
Fabregas stepped up to beat the keeper to the relief of Arsene Wenger and in the 94th minute Arsenal wrapped up a deserved win when a parried shot was helped across the Stoke area by Fabregas to the waiting Vermaelen who couldn't miss and ensure a difficult game for Arsenal in more ways than one ended on a positive note.