Stoke City 0 Arsenal 0: Gunners go top but miss chance to open two-point lead over Leicester

Nervy: Neither side did enough to win, but either could have taken the points
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James Olley17 January 2016

Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League after a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Stoke City.

Both sides were indebted to their goalkeepers as Petr Cech and Jack Butland made key saves to ensure the game remained goalless at a bitterly cold Britannia Stadium.

Olivier Giroud was unable to convert the visitors’ best chances - one in either half - but a draw still takes the Gunners ahead of Leicester on goal difference and one point ahead of Manchester City in third place.

Arsenal were forced into one change with influential midfielder Mesut Ozil not risked due to a toe injury, affording Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a rare start as Wenger shuffled his side into a 4-3-3 system. New £7million signing Mohamed Elneny on the bench, Mathieu Flamini anchored Arsenal’s engine room with Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey employed as box-to-box midfielders slightly ahead of him.

The Gunners had not won here since February 2010, a 3-1 victory overshadowed by an incident in which Ramsey broke the fibula and tibia in his right leg following a strong tackle by Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross.

Ramsey initially refused to accept Shawcross’ apology before shaking hands with him when the pair met again for a Premier League game in May 2011. Although the incident was consigned to history by the two players involved, it remains a source of lingering resentment between the sets of supporters.

Wenger claimed in the build-up to this game that he always receives a hostile reception at the Potters akin to that at north London rivals Tottenham and the soundtrack to the opening exchanges was one of ridicule towards the Frenchman and his team.

Wenger, who once compared Tony Pulis’ Stoke side to a rugby team due to their functional style, listened on as Stoke fans turned their attentions to Ramsey, chanting “He walks with a limp” as the crowd sought to entertain themselves amid a sterile opening period.

Stoke were without their own diminutive playmaker, Xherdan Shaqiri, because of a hamstring problem which contributed to a lack of fluency in the home side’s play.

The first chance of note came after 20 minutes. Marko Arnautovic helped the ball with a clever flick to Ibrahim Affelay, who had the time to line up a shot from a central position 25 yards out. His effort whistled wide of Cech’s left-hand upright.

Player Ratings: Stoke City vs Arsenal

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Arsenal responded immediately as Joel Campbell produced a sumptuous through ball to meet Giroud’s run in behind Stoke’s defence. Giroud attempted to curl a shot past an onrushing Butland but the Stoke stopper stayed upright and beat his effort away superbly.

Oxlade-Chamberlain then forced Butland into a much easier save and from the resulting corner, the ball fell once to the England international, whose left-foot effort was well-struck but it ricocheted off Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny and flew wide.

Butland was called into action again moments after the restart as Giroud climbed highest to meet Ramsey’s corner, but he got down well to make a smart save low to his left.

Arsenal claimed a penalty when Theo Walcott went down in the box under a challenge from Stoke defender Philipp Wollscheid but referee Craig Pawson waved away their appeals.

As the temperature inside the stadium plummeted, the intensity of the game increased and Stoke created their best chance of the half in the 56th minute. Arnautovic fed Joselu, who ran to the edge of the box before cutting inside Koscielny and unleashing a right-foot shot at goal which Cech did superbly to repel before climbing to his feet to save Bojan’s effort on the rebound.

Cech saved again from Joselu a few minutes later after Koscielny gifted possession to Glen Johnson in Arsenal’s half as Stoke began to create some momentum midway through the half.

Stoke boss Mark Hughes introduced Mame Diouf for Bojan and Wenger responded by replacing Walcott with teenager Alex Iwobi for the final 18 minutes. Campbell curled an effort wide from 16 yards out late on before Stoke went close at the death.

Ramsey headed Jonathan Walters header off the line before Cech stuck out his left foot to deny Joselu from the rebound.

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