Ramsey 79

Arsenal cruised to victory over mid-table Stoke City despite having to field a side without a natural forward, with their four frontmen all injured.

Russian international Andrei Arshavin had to play in an unaccustomed position as lone striker. But he took to the role like a duck to water.

And Arsenal were denied a more convincing victory by all sorts of ill-fortune, including a fabulous goalline clearance…by one of their own players.

It was a return to form for the Gunners, after a fraught week which saw their EPL prospects shrink and their Carling Cup prospects disappear, against a Stoke side that offered their usual dollop of honest endeavour but were given precious little chance to contribute more to the match.

Arsenal could even afford the luxury of seeing a Cesc Fabregas penalty saved with the game still goalless.

Stoke keeper Thomas Sorensen saved well from Samir Nasri and Arshavin in the opening five minutes.

And just short of the twenty minute mark he got down to his left to save Fabregas’s penalty, which was awarded for Rory Delap’s trip on Arshavin.

It was almost inevitably the diminutive Russian who broke the deadlock six minutes later, playing a neat give-and-go with Fabregas before taking his right-foot shot early and placing it with unerring accuracy past Sorensen’s left-hand.

The Gunners were denied a second goal moments later when Armando Traore’s cross was deflected onto the post and crossbar and Fabregas’s follow-up was cleared off the line by Emanuel Eboue - defending of which he would have been proud…at the other end.

Arshavin had one shot saved by Sorensen and another deflected onto the crossbar as the one-way traffic continued to flow after half-time.

But the points were sealed with eleven minutes remaining when Aaron Ramsey latched onto another pinpoint Arshavin pass and drilled the ball past Sorensen’s left-hand from the edge of the box.