The Gunners gather together following a 3-1 win, rallying to support the injured Aaron Ramsey. Pic via Sky Sports.
Stoke City 1: Pugh 8
Arsenal 3: Bendtner 32, Fabregas 90+1 (pen), Vermaelen 90+4
Before diving into the recap, I want to take the time to wish Aaron Ramsey a quick recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with the young Welshman. Ramsey fractured both his tibia and fibula, and it goes without saying, he's out for the season.
Earlier in the morning, Chelsea had lost 4-2 at home to Manchester City, so Arsenal could pull to within three points of first place with a win. I told Max upon his arrival at Nevada Smiths yesterday that I expected this match to be "an exercise in frustration," thanks to Stoke's style of physical play, wasting time drying the ball on throw-ins, and being terrified of Rory Delap's throws in general. We were also, bizarrely, surrounded by Newcastle fans for much of the start, despite the Magpies game clearly not being shown on any of the upstairs televisions (must've been downstairs.)
Eight minutes in, Stoke struck first, pretty much in "I told you so" fashion. How obvious it was. Delap fires a long throw into the box, a quick little flick of the head from Shawcross, nobody guarding the back post for Arsenal (surprise!), and an easy put away from Pugh. Max was buying beer at the moment and completely missed the goal.
At this point, despite dominating possession up to that point, Stoke had a lead a decided to drop back and let Arsenal do their thing, instead of keeping up the pressure that they had sustained throughout the start. Eventually, Arsenal pulled level on a lovely little header from Nicklas Bendtner. 1-1 at the break.
Arsenal had a few looks at taking the lead after the restart; a possible penalty for a foul on Ramsey went uncalled and just shy of the hour mark, a great strike from Emmanuel Eboue brought on a great save from Sorensen. Alex Song was booked shortly after for a push that I didn't even think should have been a foul. To make matters worse, that's 10 bookings for Song, and a two match domestic ban. That means he'll miss Burnley and Hull City, but will be available for Porto in between.
Now, to what this match will always be known for: 66th minute, Aaron Ramsey and Ryan Shawcross run at each other at full speed, chasing down a 50/50 ball. Ramsey wins the ball as Shawcross arrives late. So, instead of getting the ball in the challenge, Shawcross catches Ramsey's legs, and a horrific injury is suffered. It was terrible. Unlike Eduardo's break in 2008, Ramsey was actually facing the television camera, showing an obvious leg break immediately.
We didn't see the challenge at the time, it seemed kind of innocuous. We weren't sure at the time who the man down was, for a second (the guy next to me said it was Fabregas, giving me a minor heart attack; not to say this is any better, Ramsey is one of my personal favorites.)
There's really not much more I can say because I haven't seen the challenge close-up or in slow motion. I've only seen it replayed on YouTube, at regular speed, in semi-poor quality. It's hard to tell how high Shawcross caught Ramsey, or whether his studs were up. Didn't seem like a two-footed challenge.
Now, here is the key to this match: Arsenal's reaction. The Gunners crumbled against Birmingham two years ago after Eduardo's broken leg (which was also in the last week of February.) Arsenal went down, took a 2-1 lead thanks to a Theo Walcott brace, then conceded a questionable penalty in injury time, and captain William Gallas threw a minor temper tantrum. The league title slipped out of Arsenal's grasps that afternoon in the Midlands. A draw yesterday, on a day where Chelsea opened a door to walk right back into the race, would have been hard to swallow.
But with the game 1-1 with twenty minutes to play and a horrific injury to overcome, this match had "disappointing, title-challenge ending draw" written all over it. Arsenal did not have much time to put the injury behind them and score to take the three points. But just in the start of injury time, a Nicklas Bendtner through-ball into the area struck Pugh's hand. Definite penalty.
In December, Arsenal had a penalty against Stoke at the Emirates. Fabregas took the show, low to Sorensen's left. Sorensen saved it. With the game on the line, Fabregas's shot yesterday went to the same exact spot. Sorensen guessed right again and got his fingertips on it. But it was not enough, it was in. It was 2-1 Arsenal. A team that could've buckled over the cirumstances and collapsed like they did two years ago instead overcame that adversity, and was well on their way to three more points...
...and then scored again. After playing a short corner, the ball came to Rosicky (who was on as Ramsey's substitute) who fired from 25 yards out, sparking a save from Sorensen. But the rebound came straight to Fabregas, who flicked it perfectly to Thomas Vermaelen for the tap-in, the 3-1 win, and the three points in the standings.
Arsenal's reaction to adversity, rallying for the win, and coming together in the center circle after the match to honor Ramsey (picture above) are the keys here, and the reasons why the Gunners are now a serious contender for the league title.
Before diving into the recap, I want to take the time to wish Aaron Ramsey a quick recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with the young Welshman. Ramsey fractured both his tibia and fibula, and it goes without saying, he's out for the season.
Earlier in the morning, Chelsea had lost 4-2 at home to Manchester City, so Arsenal could pull to within three points of first place with a win. I told Max upon his arrival at Nevada Smiths yesterday that I expected this match to be "an exercise in frustration," thanks to Stoke's style of physical play, wasting time drying the ball on throw-ins, and being terrified of Rory Delap's throws in general. We were also, bizarrely, surrounded by Newcastle fans for much of the start, despite the Magpies game clearly not being shown on any of the upstairs televisions (must've been downstairs.)
Eight minutes in, Stoke struck first, pretty much in "I told you so" fashion. How obvious it was. Delap fires a long throw into the box, a quick little flick of the head from Shawcross, nobody guarding the back post for Arsenal (surprise!), and an easy put away from Pugh. Max was buying beer at the moment and completely missed the goal.
At this point, despite dominating possession up to that point, Stoke had a lead a decided to drop back and let Arsenal do their thing, instead of keeping up the pressure that they had sustained throughout the start. Eventually, Arsenal pulled level on a lovely little header from Nicklas Bendtner. 1-1 at the break.
Arsenal had a few looks at taking the lead after the restart; a possible penalty for a foul on Ramsey went uncalled and just shy of the hour mark, a great strike from Emmanuel Eboue brought on a great save from Sorensen. Alex Song was booked shortly after for a push that I didn't even think should have been a foul. To make matters worse, that's 10 bookings for Song, and a two match domestic ban. That means he'll miss Burnley and Hull City, but will be available for Porto in between.
Now, to what this match will always be known for: 66th minute, Aaron Ramsey and Ryan Shawcross run at each other at full speed, chasing down a 50/50 ball. Ramsey wins the ball as Shawcross arrives late. So, instead of getting the ball in the challenge, Shawcross catches Ramsey's legs, and a horrific injury is suffered. It was terrible. Unlike Eduardo's break in 2008, Ramsey was actually facing the television camera, showing an obvious leg break immediately.
We didn't see the challenge at the time, it seemed kind of innocuous. We weren't sure at the time who the man down was, for a second (the guy next to me said it was Fabregas, giving me a minor heart attack; not to say this is any better, Ramsey is one of my personal favorites.)
There's really not much more I can say because I haven't seen the challenge close-up or in slow motion. I've only seen it replayed on YouTube, at regular speed, in semi-poor quality. It's hard to tell how high Shawcross caught Ramsey, or whether his studs were up. Didn't seem like a two-footed challenge.
Now, here is the key to this match: Arsenal's reaction. The Gunners crumbled against Birmingham two years ago after Eduardo's broken leg (which was also in the last week of February.) Arsenal went down, took a 2-1 lead thanks to a Theo Walcott brace, then conceded a questionable penalty in injury time, and captain William Gallas threw a minor temper tantrum. The league title slipped out of Arsenal's grasps that afternoon in the Midlands. A draw yesterday, on a day where Chelsea opened a door to walk right back into the race, would have been hard to swallow.
But with the game 1-1 with twenty minutes to play and a horrific injury to overcome, this match had "disappointing, title-challenge ending draw" written all over it. Arsenal did not have much time to put the injury behind them and score to take the three points. But just in the start of injury time, a Nicklas Bendtner through-ball into the area struck Pugh's hand. Definite penalty.
In December, Arsenal had a penalty against Stoke at the Emirates. Fabregas took the show, low to Sorensen's left. Sorensen saved it. With the game on the line, Fabregas's shot yesterday went to the same exact spot. Sorensen guessed right again and got his fingertips on it. But it was not enough, it was in. It was 2-1 Arsenal. A team that could've buckled over the cirumstances and collapsed like they did two years ago instead overcame that adversity, and was well on their way to three more points...
...and then scored again. After playing a short corner, the ball came to Rosicky (who was on as Ramsey's substitute) who fired from 25 yards out, sparking a save from Sorensen. But the rebound came straight to Fabregas, who flicked it perfectly to Thomas Vermaelen for the tap-in, the 3-1 win, and the three points in the standings.
Arsenal's reaction to adversity, rallying for the win, and coming together in the center circle after the match to honor Ramsey (picture above) are the keys here, and the reasons why the Gunners are now a serious contender for the league title.
Don't know if you saw this yet, but there's a Match of the Day replay of the tackle with commentary available on YouTube that might be worth seeing. In it, they say Shawcross's studs were down.
ReplyDeleteThe whole day today, I would get distracted, then see someone in an Arsenal hat, and be like "OMGZAARONRAMSEYOMGZ :(" Can we send him flowers??
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01587/stoke-ramsey_1587372c.jpg
ReplyDeleteOne footed challenge. Studs clearly down. Shin on shin, pretty much.
Actually, scratch the "shin on shin" remark; it was Ramsey's right leg that broke.
ReplyDeleteIf this picture is before contact, then Ramsey's leg was already in an awkward position. But it already kinda looks broken... so I can't tell...