From a corner? Who saw that coming?

So, we beat Stoke. Squillaci scored. From a corner. Not the most likely of goal scorers you would have thought. All in all a decent match, injuries aside. Stoke's five-man midfield tried to crowd Arsenal out, failing as Arsenal burst out of the gates and could have been 2-0 up withing two minutes, Walcott hitting the post amidst other good chances. A Jack Wilshere corner was controlled by Bendtner beyond the far post who played it back across goal for Squillaci to head home. Stoke weren't exactly threatening, but a snap-shot towards the end of the half from John Carew required good concentration from Szczesny to palm it away.


After half-time,  Stoke came out looking more determined, i.e. more fouling, particularly a studs-up challenge from Delap on Sagna. Arshavin, on for the injured Fabregas, showed good determination to get past his man, get to the byline and cut it back for Walcott; who was caught on his heels by the pace of the ball and sliced his shot wide when he really should have put us two up. Stoke threatened briefly towards the end of the match, but Arsenal were able to hold onto possession and gain a valuable three points to close the gap on Man United.

Read Le Boss' thoughts here. It's been a while since we scored early and shut out a match, it's nice to see this increasing solidity and resilience around the Arsenal team.

It came at a price however, with injuries to Fabregas and Walcott, the latter leaving on a stretcher. Fabregas looked to have a muscle strain, but the prognosis seems to be that he was taken off as a precaution. After all the talk about winning a trophy for Arsenal, you really hope he makes the final on Sunday and, from the man himself... " I dont know if i'll make sunday or no, but all i know is that from this moment to sunday 16'30 i wont sleep if its necessary. Ive waited too long to captain a final for arsenal and i wont give up till the last second." Legend.

On the Walcott front however, things look a good deal worse, with him leaving on a stretcher and missing our Wembley date at least. It's a shame for both of them, particularly with Theo's ability to torment Maxwell in the Nou Camp, but at least Arshavin is coming into the attack with form rather than without.

So overall Szczesny (7) did well saving Carew's snap shot and dealing with Stoke's physicality at set pieces, punching a number of corners. Bacary Sagna (7) was a rock at the back, as usual, but wasn't able to offer that much going forward. Clichy (6.5) had a decent game as well, handling his defensive work well but not able to offer much going forward, like Sagna. Djourou (7.5) was solid as we have come to expect, always dealing with Stoke set pieces and Carew wasn't able to get much change out of him and his partner Squillaci (7.5). It was good to see Squillaci, who has been poor on occasions this season have no major troubles at the back and get on the score-sheet as well.

Song (7) had a decent game, always available for a pass and his physical presence was always going to come in handy. Wilshere (8) carried on his good run of form with mazy runs from deep and solid distribution, he showcased his defensive talents as well, coming back to help defend. Fabregas (6) was only on for about 14 minutes but his absence clearly affected the team as the tempo slowed right down. Given the stats out this week, that's not surprising though, he's officially the best playmaker in Europe. Walcott (6.5) had a bit of a mixed bag, almost scored after a minute and looked to be getting in good positions, but was profligate in front of goal and the injury ended his night earlier than he would have hoped. Nasri (7) stepped into the 'Fabregas role' but was quieter than we've come  to expect, tried to make good runs and used the whole width of the pitch in his distribution.

Bendtner (6.5) had a mixed bag as well, another assist can't be argued with and he played the typical target man well, trying to hold up play and bring other in, but his link-up play could do with improvement. Replaced by Chamakh (6) with about 10 minutes left, didn't really have much to do, just helped play keep-ball as the team looked to see out the win. Arshavin (7.5) came on for Fabregas after about 15 minutes and looked lively, the little Russian looks to be back to his best, even with his dislike of criticism,it's clearly spurred him on as he came on and looked to set people running and was generally quite creative. He mucked out and tracked back when required as well, good to see. Denilson (6) came on for Walcott and sat back next to Song, like Chamakh there's not that much to say, he tried to help the team maintain possession to see the win out, but did give away a silly free kick just outside the box from which Pennant hit the side netting.

So, Stoke aside a few other things have been going on, earlier in the season there were rumblings that despite his dislike of pre-season tours, Arsene Wenger was willing to take the team on a pre-season tour to Japan for a week in late July. Given this article in the Sun backing this up, I'm hearing from numerous sources that this is confirmed and that the club is looking into this possibility. I think Japan is a good choice, a market which hasn't really been looked at, it is estimated that the tour could bring in upto £15m, with sponsors looking to get involved. Aside from his managing experience in Japan, the signing of Ryo Miyaichi, a skillful winger set for a big future has seen Arsenal's eye casting a glance at the ranks of young Japanese players.

Following his impressive performances, RVP has been nominated for PFA player of the month, which is quite nice for him. Also, Neil Banfield has been talking about Ignasi Miquel; Elton Monteiro has signed a contract with the club and YoungGuns has more on the signing of Toral Harper from Barcelona, who are really throwing the toys out of the pram. Mind games? As if a team that big would stoop so low.....

Elsewhere, Aaron Ramsey feels that his goal last weekend against Leicester was the icing on the cake as he returns to top form and it's all eyes on Wembley as Johan Djourou believes lifting the cup could well lead to greater things.

Well that's it for today peoples. :)