Never in my time as a Gooner have I wanted a group of players to succeed more than I do now, much more than my own personal happiness. I want Arsene Wenger, Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Abou Diaby and the youngsters who have been told they are not good enough to prove them all wrong

Match Review – Stoke City 1 Arsenal 3 – Premier League

What should have been an absolute joyous day had turned into a somewhat soloum time for Gooners. A young and gifted Arsenal player Aaron Ramsey has almost certainly suffered from a broken leg after a late challenge from Ryan Shawcross.

My first impression of the incident was that it was mistimed but accidental, Shawcross was going for the ball but Ramsey was quicker. That was my initial thoughts and I have only seen the replay one more time since it happened.

It is such a shame for the player because he had pushed himself into Wenger’s plans and was playing very well before his injury. He won the ball very well and contributed to most of our good attacking moves.

The reaction from all the Arsenal players brought all the memories back of St Andrews when Eduardo was the player in Ramsey’s shoes. Vermaelen stood with his hands on his head, Campbell was raging at Shawcross, Cesc and Bendtner looked devastated. What makes it worse for me is that Ramsey is so young and he is in such an important stage of his development, that development will have come to a halt and his new priority will be healing correctly.

Although I feel that no intension was meant in the challenge, I agree with Wenger that it is no coincidence that we have suffered our third serious break in recent times. I am starting to believe that our abnormal amount of injuries is not just bad luck.

It seems to be common knowledge that the only way to play Arsenal is to kick them off the park, get in their faces and let them know you’re there. That mantra is being read by every pundit, every ex player, every sports radio host. It is being ignored by referee’s because it has now transformed into acceptance.

The reason for Arsenal being treated in this way is because our players are technically better than the likes of Stoke City right? Aren’t Manchester United’s team more talented and technical than most of the opposition? Why aren’t they treated in the same way? Why is it not said that to beat Chelsea you need to get stuck in?

Perhaps they ‘like it up em’. I think you’d have a good chance of beating someone like Manchester United by punching their players square in the face when they have the ball, it doesn’t mean it should be allowed.

These are questions that I do not hear many answers to. These regular kickings could be taking its toll on our players and the more it is allowed to continue to more likely a Diaby, Eduardo and now Ramsey situation will rear its ugly head.

Wenger has come out and spoken about this which could be the tonic needed to resolve these problems. The incident being made so public along with Wenger’s comments may help the club. Referee’s will be much more scrutinised now that this has happened, and hopefully action will be taken from now on.

The most important aspect here is the condition of our player and we wish him a speedy recovery.

Now we have the doom and gloom pushed to one side, I can talk about the great part of yesterday. Saturday was very nearly perfect as Chelsea got a taste of their own medicine by getting undone on the counter attack, Arsenal would have needed no more motivation after that result. The chance to cut the lead to only three points was a chance that the team had to take.

Stoke City came out the blocks the stronger of the two sides, still running on the adrenaline from the midweek defeat of Manchester City. Arsenal were not giving any time or space to execute their passing game and the home side swarmed over the Gunners.

So much of the pre match talk has been of Rory Delap’s long throws. He had assisted three goals in two games at the Britannia before this game but we didn’t have the likes of Vermaelen and Campbell playing in those games, so we will deal with it, or so I thought. When Alex Song raced after the ball to prevent the corner and knocked it out for the throw, I wondered if he was actually giving Stoke City an advantage.

Delap’s resulting throw was an absolute missile, it came in with such power. Shawcross glanced a header to the back post where Danny Pugh had run into to head in from close range. Emmanuel Eboue was marking Pugh at the back post and had left his man go. Eboue for all his great attacking qualities does not possess the instinctive defensive awareness that Sagna has. I was devastated at that point, not just because of yet another throw that we couldn’t deal with, but the fact that we were not even able to play our football at all by that stage.

Often when we start games poorly, we find it difficult to get into the game and I was fearing that it could be the case in a very important afternoon for our season.

Arsenal’s first effort of the game came after 25 minutes, it took us that long to get our game together. Fabregas took a ball down on his chest and hit a shot towards Sorensen who scrambled it away.

It was the spark that the Gunners needed and the game slowly started to turn around. Just after the half hour mark the Gunners were back in it and how. Cesc was allowed far too much space on the right, I would have been fuming if that was an Arsenal player not closing down. His cross was a beauty but Bendtner’s leap and placed header into the top corner was even better.

Bendtner is the only attacking player in the squad who could have met that ball and scored at that height. That is now two in two for Bendtner, we will need some more from him in the games coming up.

We scored from about seven minutes of attacking dominance, if we had that kind of strike rate then we would have wrapped up the league a long time ago. Goals change games and Bendtner’s goal gave the game a completely different complexion. The weary Stoke City players were now chasing shadows and defending for their lives. If we could deal with Delap’s throws then we would win this game, I was sure of that.

The second half began much as the first had ended, Arsenal dominance. Many of the Arsenal players were on top of their game and that is always a good sign that victory could be close. Ramsey and Cesc was superb in the midfield, Song had improved from a relatively shaky start by his high standards. Emmanuel Eboue continued his excellent form and drove at Stoke City whenever he could.

Four minutes into the second half Arsenal should have been awarded a penalty, how many times have we said that this season?

Cesc flicked the ball into the path of Ramsey who was bundled over inside the area, the referee as instructed to when it comes to Arsenal waved play on. It was yet another clear penalty but what can you do?

Everything was going well until the horrific incident. Ramsey was stretchered straight into an ambulance and I wondered how the team would respond after that. It didn’t go well for the team at Birmingham that day and the team couldn’t suffer in the same way this time.

The likes of Gael Clichy were seen encouraging Thomas Vermaelen, Sol Campbell was telling his young team mates to focus on the job at hand. It was very good to see, especially coming from someone like Gael Clichy who suffered probably more than most after the Eduardo incident. The team were showing signs that they were growing mentally.

Gael Clichy had been having his best game for Arsenal for sometime, defensively and offensively he looked sharp but everyone knows that he needed games and it was unlikely that he could return after so long out and just produce his best.

Shawcross had been sent off by the referee and I am not sure if that would have been the case had Ramsey not had his leg broken. Arsenal were being kicked all over the pitch and nothing was done about it from the referee.

Alex Song was booked for a nothing 50/50 with Delap whilst having his arm pulled back. Yet further proof of Arsenal being punished for far less. Alex Song now picks up a two game suspension after collecting his tenth yellow of the season. He will now miss Burnley at home and Hull City away.

Tomas Rosicky replaced Aaron Ramsey in the midfield and Arsenal attempted to put the incident behind them in search of a winner. Walcott had replaced Eboue and Eduardo came on for Nasri.

After a shell shocked restart Stoke were being pushed further and further back. Campbell could not reach a Cesc free kick then moments later Eduardo was played through by Alex Song but he lashed his shot wide. I thought that was going to be the chance that got away.

Arsenal did not drop their heads and the pressure continued. Song fed a pass into Bendtner and his return flicked struck the hand of goal scorer Danny Pugh inside the penalty area. Penalty!

I thought my eyes had deceived me. Two penalties in two games for Arsenal? The funny thing was that the two penalties given could have been the softest two out of all the ones waved away from referee’s since the Eduardo Celtic incident.

The pressure was on Cesc Fabregas, minutes remaining against Sorensen who had an excellent recent record from the spot. Sorensen got a hand on Cesc’s side foot but it wasn’t enough to stop the ball from finding the corner.

I haven’t celebrated a goal like that for a long time. It was a massive massive goal for so many reasons. It was a goal for Aaron Ramsey, a goal to put to bed the negative response after Birmingham, a goal that stops the Stoke hoodoo myth, a goal that took Arsenal three points off the top, a goal that had galvanised the team, a goal that has given the team belief that they can go on and win the Premier League and it is not just a ridiculous outside chance.

With the collective tails up, Arsenal continued to thump loudly on the Stoke door and when Rosicky’s shot rebounded off Sorensen, Cesc reacted first and had the presence of mind to slip it square to Vermaelen to continue his feat of being the leagues top goal scoring center back.

I loved the celebration from the players, Campbell pumping his fists roaring, Rosicky and Cesc hugging Thomas with Theo and Song jumping on top. You could sense a real togetherness amongst the players. The final whistle went and the joy on the players faces was evident.

The huddle at the end was very special for me, it brought back all the memories of the former side, a team that knew they could win. I could sense a change in the mentality of the players. They were in this together and would be aiming for their destiny.

Never in my time as a Gooner have I wanted a group of players to succeed more than I do now, much more than my own personal happiness. I want Arsene Wenger, Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Abou Diaby and the youngsters who have been told they are not good enough to prove them all wrong. To be proud that they have deserved to be the best this season.

I have never doubted the talent in this squad, it is crystal clear to me but injuries and form was worrying me. The win last night will transform our inconsistent form, I am certain of that.

As great as the victory is, the day has to go to Aaron Ramsey, a young talented 19 year old who was realising his talent. The news is that his operation was successful and that is the best news we could have asked for.

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