It is entirely possible that Arsenal will recover their poise, restore their sublime early-season form and come surging through to win the league they dominated for so long. But that was not how Arsene Wenger was sounding after the match.
When he described this defeat as ‘a big worry, a massive setback for us’, he might have been quietly laying to rest his fondest ambition.
Stoke City are a club for which the Arsenal manager has no love and precious little respect, and the fact that his feelings are fully reciprocated does not concern him.
Of much more concern is his team’s record at the Britannia Stadium, where they have won only once in their past eight visits. In truth, they never really deserved to break that sombre sequence yesterday.
VIDEOÂ Scroll down to watch post-match reactions form Arsene Wenger and Mark Hughes
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From the spot: Jonathan Walters celebrates with Peter Crouch after his penalty made it 1-0 to Stoke
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From 12 yards: Walters sent Szczesny the wrong way from the spot to open the scoring
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Down: Arsenal look dejected as they fall four points behind Chelsea at the top of the Premier League
Match facts
Stoke City (4-5-1): Begovic 6.5; Cameron 7, Shawcross 8, Wilson 7, Pieters 6.5; Walters 7, Nzonzi 6.5, Whelan 7, Adam 7 (Ireland 73, 6), Arnautovic 6.5 (Etherington 88); Crouch 6.
Subs: Sorensen, Muniesa, Palacios, Guidetti, Wilkinson.
Scorer: Walters pen 76
Booked: Pieters, Wilson
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Szczesny 6; Sagna 5.5, Mertesacker 6.5, Koscielny 5, Gibbs 6; Arteta 5.5, Wilshere 5 (Sanogo 81 5); Rosicky 6 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 74, 6), Cazorla 6, Podolski 5.5 (Ozil 66, 6); Giroud 6.
Subs: Fabianksi, Vermaelen, Flamini, Gnabry.
Booked: Rosicky
Referee: Mike Jones 6
Man of the match: Ryan Shawcross
*Player ratings by Chris Wheeler at the Britannia Stadium
The fact that defeat came courtesy of a contentious penalty was no more than a distraction. Quite naturally, Wenger could not go along with the judgment: ‘It was a nice gift from the referee,’ he said.
But it was difficult to deny the justice of the award, which arose in the 76th minute when Laurent Koscielny waved an indiscreet hand at a bouncing ball and Jon Walters nudged in the kick.
By contrast, Mark Hughes worked hard to conceal even a trace of smugness. He thought his Stoke team had been ‘very accomplished’, that it was a ‘very satisfying result and performance’. And he concluded, with face as straight as a career diplomat: ‘In recent seasons they’ve found it difficult here but I don’t think they can have any complaint.’
Well, up to a point. The Stoke crowd screamed merciless abuse at the Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud for a series of apparently theatrical collapses under Stoke challenges. Referee Mike Jones could detect nothing illegal and certainly it appeared that Giroud was milking the moments. Until we saw the replays, which showed quite clearly that, in the 38th minute, Glenn Whelan had trodden with his full weight on Giroud’s outstretched leg, when evasion seemed simpler.
Then again, in the 66th minute, Charlie Adam performed the same assault on the same player with what looked like the same degree of calculation.
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