Arsenal edge past Stoke City at Emirates

Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud give Gunners first home win of the season

Arsenal picked up their first win and first goals at the Emirates Stadium today thanks to a 2-0 win over Stoke City.

The Gunners lost their opener at home to West Ham United before drawing 0-0 to Liverpool, but thanks to Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud, they picked up their first three points at home.

It was a one-sided affair with the hosts dominating the game, but due to sloppy finishing and a brilliant goalkeeping display from Jack Butland, Arsene Wenger‘s men only hit the back of the net twice.

Match Summary

Arsenal started the game on the front-foot, with Alexis Sanchez hitting the woodwork on two separate occasions, and lone-striker Walcott missing two guilt-edge chances.

However, it was a non-Arsenal goal that gave them the lead. It was route-one as Mesut Ozil pumped the ball over the top for Walcott to chase, who them calmly slotted under the onrushing Butland.

Despite dominating most of the second-half as well, it took Arsenal until the final 10-minutes to kill off the game and that came when substitute Giroud headered home from a free-kick.

The win lifts Arsenal to second with 10 points from five games, while Stoke sit rock-bottom with just two points from their first five.

Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt