Stoke City’s Jesé Rodríguez makes Arsenal pay for lack of cutting edge

An impressive Jesé Rodríguez debut goal, a superb Jack Butland display and an Alexandre Lacazette strike controversially ruled out for offside gave Stoke City a deserved win on an evening when Arsenal suggested theirs may be another frustrating Premier League campaign.

Arsène Wenger’s side ended up bombarding Butland yet lacked a ruthless edge. The sight of the record £52m signing Lacazette – anonymous apart from the disallowed 72nd-minute finish after his foot had been marginally in an offside position when the ball was played forward – being taken off near the close summed up their bluntness.

The result allowed Mark Hughes to have a pop at Stoke naysayers who believe the team’s prime tactic is to spoil. “We have been criticised a bit, some of it unfair,” the home manager said. “We’ll take valid criticism but when we get things going we’ll always be a feature in this league.”

Both teams had had shaky opening displays. Stoke went down 1-0 at Everton and Arsenal had to come from behind to grab a late 4-3 victory over Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium. This was the Potters’ first home outing and so an inaugural performance at an enhanced Bet365 Stadium that boasts a new south-east quadrant, raising capacity to just over 30,000.

Amid a raucous, vibrant atmosphere, the game began in invigorating, end-to-end style that continued until the break. Darren Fletcher sparked proceedings with a run and pass to Rodríguez, whose shot was smothered by Petr Cech. Next Arsenal roved forward via Héctor Bellerín. The wing-back surged into Stoke’s area and a precisely timed Kurt Zouma tackle was required to kill the danger.

After a Granit Xhaka corner broke and fell to Danny Welbeck, who miskicked, Aaron Ramsey got in down the left-hand channel. His attempted shot rolled to Butland but this area was proving a popular one for Arsenal. Next a precise Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pass found Welbeck and Butland needed to be alert to repel the attempt.

Hughes had made two changes from the defeat at Goodison Park, the new signings Rodríguez and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting coming in for Saido Berahino and Bojan Krkic. The manager’s strategy lasted only 25 minutes, though. Xherdan Shaqiri took a knock and so Berahino replaced him in a rejig that pushed Choupo-Moting to the right. Wenger decided on two changes, too, as Ramsey replaced Mohamed Elneny and Shkodran Mustafi came in for Rob Holding.

In addition to the broken leg Ramsey suffered from a Ryan Shawcross challenge here in February 2010, Rodríguez also faced his own injury-nemesis in Sead Kolasinac, Arsenal’s free summer transfer from Schalke. The Spaniard, who arrived at Stoke on loan from Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the week, had his rise at Real Madrid halted by a Kolasinac tackle that caused an anterior cruciate tear in a Champions League last-16 game in March 2014.

Rodríguez was among Stoke’s brightest players as half-time approached. He will have been disappointed with a weak effort that hit Cech but a willingness to take on and beat Arsenal players posed the visitors awkward questions. Before kick-off Geoff Cameron had said Stoke wanted to get in Arsenal’s faces and they did so by taking the match to them. Joe Allen engineered an opening along the right, Rodríguez won a free-kick from Xhaka, and Mame Biram Diouf set off on a barrelling run that took him into enemy territory before being halted.

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Arsenal’s clearest opportunity arrived just before the half-hour. Oxlade-Chamberlain swung over a free-kick and Ramsey broke clear to bundle the ball at Butland, who blocked.

Two minutes into the second half and Stoke fans could regale Arsenal with taunts of “Who are you?” after Rodríguez’s goal, which derived from a slick but simple move following Xhaka’s concession of possession. While Wenger called this a “stupid mistake” from the midfielder, when Berahino took over he passed to Rodríguez, who slipped behind a slumbering Shkodran Mustafi, then pulled the trigger to beat Cech.

Cue a jubilant Hughes while Wenger again rued the slipshod defending that had allowed Leicester three goals. “It was frustrating getting caught cold for the goal. Defensively there is no excuse. We gave them a cheap goal,” the Frenchman said.

Against the Foxes Olivier Giroud was the matchwinner, the France striker scoring with five minutes to go after coming on as a substitute. He was again Wenger’s go-to option here, yet an hour into the game the manager maintained the same XI.

But in Butland Arsenal faced a determined keeper, who first punched away an Oxlade-Chamberlain cross, then kept out a Bellerín shot, and Stoke’s maintained menace was illustrated when Cech beat away a Berahino header.

Now, Wenger acted, bringing on Giroud for Kolasinac on 66 minutes. It nearly reaped an instant dividend as a one-two with Welbeck again required Butland to be brave. Next Ramsey, who like Lacazette virtually vanished after half-time, broke into the area though his run yielded nothing.

So, with Lacazette’s strike chalked off, Arsenal drew a blank. And despite there being 36 matches left, Wenger’s challenge of ensuring they are genuine contenders looks difficult already.