Stoke 1-0 Arsenal: Key Stats & Player Ratings

Arsenal’s title hopes suffered a heavy blow as they head into a tricky run of fixtures having suffered defeat at the Britannia Stadium, as they went down 1-0 to Stoke City.

In a game of few chances, the game was settled by a second half penalty, with Jonathan Walters converting after Laurent Koscielny was penalised for handball.

Arsenal now sit four points adrift of Chelsea as they face matches against Tottenham, Chelsea, Everton and Manchester City in their next run of games, while Stoke move further away from the relegation zone after a big win.

Stoke City

Asmir Begovic (63) - Made one save and completed 16 passes as he kept a clean sheet against the Gunners.

Geoff Cameron (8) - Completed two crosses and made three clearances, but lost his only tackling attempt.

Ryan Shawcross (30) - Made seven successful clearances and two interceptions, while he connected with 83% of his passes.

Marc Wilson (4) - Won both of his tackles and completed six clearances to keep Arsenal at bay.

Erik Pieters (19) - Made four interceptions and six clearances, while he won three tackles as well.

Steven N’Zonzi (20) - Had one shot on target and won seven of his eight aerial duels, while he also made two interceptions.

Glenn Whelan (43) - Hit the target with his only shot on goal and completed 88% of his 40 passing attempts.

Charlie Adam (-33) - Completed only 69% of his passes and lost all three of his tackling attempts as he can be considered lucky to stay on the field.

Jonathan Walters (20) - Scored with his only attempt on goal from the spot and made four interceptions as Arsenal’s midfield were denied their usual influence.

Marko Arnautovic (0) - Completed two of his four take-on attempts, but connected with only 76% of his passes.

Peter Crouch (0) - Hit the target with one of his three attempts on goal and won ten aerial duels, but committed three fouls in the lone striker role.

Subs:

Stephen Ireland (1) - Late sub, completed both attempted passes.

Matthew Etherington (4) - Late sub, he completed all four passing attempts and won his only tackle.

Arsenal

Wojciech Szczesny (32) - Made two saves, but could do little about the Stoke goal, while he completed nine of his 16 distributions.

Bacary Sagna (0) - Made eight clearances and two interceptions, but won just one of his three tackling attempts.

Laurent Koscielny (34) - The interception king made another four and won five of six aerial duels, but blotted his copybook with a handball that cost the Gunners the game.

Per Mertesacker (30) - Made a massive 30 clearances and completed 43 of his 45 passes, while winning three of his five aerial duels.

Kieran Gibbs (3) - Made 12 clearances and won five aerial duels, but lost both tackling attempts.

Mikel Arteta (43) - Won three of his four tackling attempts and completed 89% of his passes, while he added five clearances to help out the defence.

Jack Wilshere (15) - Completed 92% of his passes and won four fouls as Stoke targeted him for some rough treatment.

Lukas Podolski (4) - Missed the target with his only shot, but made two interceptions to aid the defensive effort.

Tomas Rosicky (-21) - Failed all four of his take-on attempts and committed two fouls in a frustrated display.

Santi Cazorla (28) - Completed 93% of his passes and hit the target with one shot, but failed to find an Arsenal man with all five crossing attempts.

Olivier Giroud (4) - Won four fouls, but also conceded four, while he won five of his eight aerial contests.

Subs:

Mesut Ozil (-9) - Completed only 71% of his passes after coming off the bench and missed with his only shot at goal.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (10) - Completed 87% of his passes and made one take-on in a decent cameo performance.

Yaya Sanogo (-10) - A stinker of a miss in stoppage time summed up his late showing, as he completed just two of four passes as well.