Theo Walcott raced onto a through ball to give Arsenal the lead 30 minutes into the first-half at the Emirates
Jack Butland kept the deficit down with the England stopper producing a string of fine saves to deny the Gunners
Petr Cech made a good save to deny Xherdan Shaqiri from a tight angle 12 minutes into the second-half
Substitution Olivier Giroud put the game to beyond Stoke with a second for Arsenal with five minutes remaining
Gunner had previously won only one of their last six Premier League matches at home drawing and losing this term
Arsene Wenger's side had 29 shots on goal during a rather one-sided affair at the Emirates with Mark Hughes' men
By Matt Barlow for The Mail on Sunday
Having publicly bemoaned the lack of strikers for sale in Europe, Arsene Wenger was relieved to find both his on target as Arsenal recorded their first home win of the campaign.
Wenger rarely fails in this fixture, making it 10 out of 10 at home to Stoke.
Theo Walcott gave Arsenal the lead, converting on the break in the first half, and Olivier Giroud wrapped up the points having come off the bench to replace Walcott.
Theo Walcott tucks in the opening goal of the game between Arsenal and Stoke with the forward chosen to lead the Gunners front line
Theo Walcott hunts down the ball under pressure from Stoke City defender Marc Muniesa in the early stages of the game at the Emirates
Olivier Giroud came off the substitutes bench to double Arsenal's lead at the Emirates with a flashing header past Jack Butland
That home defeat by West Ham on the opening weekend, when Petr Cech’s new career started so dreadfully, suddenly seems an eternity away.
Arsenal have eased towards the top of the Barclays Premier League, six points clear of Chelsea, who they face next weekend, although they do remain criminally wasteful in front of goal.
‘If you want to be critical you can say too big a difference between the chances we created and the goals we scored but that can come quickly,’ said Wenger. ‘Technically, it was a strong performance.
Our movement was great in the first half and we created plenty of chances.’
Arsenal, in fact, had 29 efforts at goal. At times it was a barrage of chances.
Walcott was the chief culprit when it came to squandering them, although Giroud came on and immediately produced the worst miss of the game.
Their frustrations were magnified by a fabulous display of shot-stopping by goalkeeper Jack Butland, without which it would have become embarrassing for Stoke. Arsenal’s profligacy mattered little in the end.
Wenger’s defence kept their third successive clean sheet and Stoke, who slumped to the bottom of the table, winless in five games, barely offered a threat.
Alexis Sanchez hit the woodwork twice: the first a header tipped on to the post by Butland, before Walcott stabbed the rebound wide, the second a curler with his right foot after cutting into the penalty box.
Aaron Ramsey returned from international duty with Wales to feature in the Gunners midfielder against the Potters on Saturday afternoonMATCH FACTS, TEAM NEWS, TABLE, RATINGS AND MATCH ZONE
- Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech 6; Bellerin 7.5, Koscielny 7, Gabriel 6, Monreal 6; Coquelin 6.5, Cazorla 6.5; Ramsey 5, Ozil 6.5 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 83), Sanchez 7 (Arteta 83); Walcott 6.5 (Giroud 75).
- Unused subs: Ospina, Debuchy, Gibbs, Campbell.
- Goals: Walcott 31, Giroud 85.
- Booked: Ozil
- Manager: Arsene Wenger 7
- Stoke (4-4-2): Butland 8; Bardsley 5, Cameron 6, Muniesa 6, Pieters 5.5; Van Ginkel 5, Whelan 5; Shaqiri 5.5, Arnautovic 4; Joselu 4 (Ireland 57, 5), Diouf 5 (Bojan 75).
- Unused subs: Given, Wollscheid, Wilson, Sidwell, Crouch.
- Booked: Bardlsey
- Manager: Mark Hughes 5
- Referee: Jonathan Moss
- Attendance: 59,963
- Man of the match: Jack Butland.
Alexis Sanchez rises above Stoke City's Phil Bardsley to plant a header towards goal after just two minutes of the encounter at the Emirates
Gunners defender Gabriel Paulista is put under pressure by Stoke forward Joselu in the North London sunshine at the Emirates
Butland also beat out a free-kick from Sanchez and Walcott missed a sitter, heading over from six yards. All this, inside the first 10 minutes.
Mark Hughes had boldly gone with two up front, flanked by attacking wingers in a 4-4-2 formation, but his team were simply over-run.
Sanchez and Mesut Ozil tormented right back Phil Bardsley until Hughes adjusted and moved striker Mame Biram Diouf out to the right wing.
Xherdan Shaqiri was a defensive liability on the right until he was redeployed in the No 10 position and Stoke stabilised after switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
On the other side of the pitch, Hector Bellerin proved as creative and dangerous as any of Arsenal’s wingers.
Laurent Koscielny tested Butland from 40 yards and the England U21 keeper produced another splendid reflex save to deny Santi Cazorla before he was finally beaten following a move of Route One simplicity from Arsenal.
Francis Coquelin won the ball deep in his own half from Joselu and it ran free to Ozil, who clipped a 40-yard pass behind Stoke’s central defenders. Walcott dashed clear of Marc Muniesa, held the centre half at bay, and squeezed the finish past Butland.
It was an 11th goal in the last 11 Premier League starts for Walcott, and vindicated Wenger’s decision to start him up front.
‘Walcott scores but if he does not, everybody says why did you not buy a striker?’ said the Arsenal boss. ‘If I bought a striker Walcott would not play.
EA SPORTS DISTANCE STATS |
|||
|
MINS
|
KM
|
MILES
|
Arsenal
|
|
106.1
|
65.9
|
Aaron Ramsey
|
90
|
11.3
|
7.0
|
Nacho Monreal
|
90
|
10.3
|
6.4
|
Hector Bellerin
|
90
|
10.2
|
6.3
|
Stoke City
|
|
105.7
|
65.7
|
Marco van Ginkel
|
90
|
11.8
|
7.3
|
Xherdan Shaqiri
|
90
|
10.1
|
6.3
|
Glenn Whelan
|
90
|
10.1
|
6.3
|
Data courtesy of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, the Official
Player Rating Index of the Barclays Premier League
|
Walcott slides the ball beyond Butland to score his first league goal of the season after netting twice for England in the international break
Walcott was a surprise choice as striker at the Emirates on Saturday and the England international repaid his manager for showing faith
Stoke City's Glenn Whelan looks escape the challenge of Sanchez as the Republic of Ireland international looks to make early in roads
‘I believe Theo can be a prolific goalscorer because he has chances. You come out of the game and think how many chances he had. The bigger the belief, the more he will score. It helps to have a run of games.
‘At the moment we play every three days for three weeks; I will have to rotate the strikers without letting them drop confidence.’
Stoke stirred after going behind. Joselu and Shaqiri forced saves from Cech and Marko Arnautovic angrily accused Gabriel Paulista of throwing an elbow in his face as the pair clashed on the run.
Referee Jon Moss took no action and Hughes chose not to make an issue of it.
Butland continued with his heroics but was beaten for a second time in the closing stages. Cazorla whipped in a free-kick to the near post and Giroud (below) headed in his second of the season.
It eased the nerves inside the Emirates Stadium. There was no way back for Stoke, who were left to search for consolation.
‘Jack has shown what an outstanding young keeper he is,’ said Hughes. ‘We knew what we had in the building when we let Asmir Begovic go. It was important to know we had trust in him. We gave him the No 1 shirt and he’s been outstanding.
‘We were also delighted to see Bojan back in the Premier League for the first time since his injury. On a day of negatives, those were the two highs.’
Xherdan Shaqiri escapes the attentions of Laurent Koscielny during the first-half at the Emirates but the visitors fell behind in the first-half
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes looks on in frustration as he side slumped to another defeat at the Emirates
Laurent Koscielny rises to beat Mame Biram Diouf to the ball during a comfortable afternoon for the France international defender
Walcott finds his path to goal smothered by Butland on this occasion as Arsenal secured their first home league of the season
Sanchez runs at the Stoke City defence as the Chilean looked to shake of the effects of a curtailed summer due to the Copa America
One of Arsenal's 29 attempts on goal against Stoke flashes wide as the Gunners were made to sweat over sealing the victory
France international Olivier Giroud twists his neck muscles to give the Gunners a two-goal lead over Stoke in the final five minutes
The striker blows a kiss to the Emirates faithful after sealing his cameo appearance over the Potters with his second goal of the season
Gunners manager Arsene Wenger has guided his side up to second in the Premier League after losing the opening game against West Ham