Stoke review: the lucky number

Yesterday Arsenal`s winning streak continued with yet another emphatic performance, which left us in no doubt as to which of the teams was the best.
The big news ahead of the game was Walcott`s unexplained absence. Turned out the Englishman sustained a abdominal/ pelvis injury during the warm-up and had to give way to Serge Gnabry for his debut. The German thus became the second-youngest player making a debut for us in the league, with Whilshere occupying the first position. And, in all fairness, the young winger didn't disappoint. TGSTEL and Arteta, meanwhile, were named among the substitutes.
We started brightly enough, and such a start made sure it were the hosts who took the lead. In the 5th minute Whilshere was bundled over just outside the 18-yard box, Ozil took the ensuing free kick and his low  curler was only just palmed away by Begovic. It was, however, not the end of the story, as Ramsey was first to send home the rebound right under the arm of Stoke`s keeper. 1:0.
After that the game calmed down a bit and the visitors took advantage of that. Their dip-dip-dip approach has yielded positive results, when a lob pass found Ragnatovich (or some similar surname) at the far post, who smashed his effort against the post. Cameron was the quickest to get to the ball and send it into the bottom corner. 1:1 and we had to start all over again.
Which we did with all the vigor we could master. A corner in the 32nd minute saw Mertesacker nearly convert, only for the ball to be cleared off the line. This, however, didn't serve as a lesson to Stoke and four minutes later they paid the price.
Ozil once again took the inswinging corner, Mertesacker won the aerial duel and this time his headed effort found the back of the net to make it 2:1. We puffed and huffed for the remainder of the first half, but nothing came out of this effort.
After the restart Stoke took the initiative in their hands, had a much greater share of the ball and few would have complained, had they found the equaliser they were searching for. Szscesny made some decent saves to prevent that, though and in the 72nd minute we scored a goal, which was against the run of play, but it was a totally welcome one.
Ozil was, once again, the supplier when his cross from a free kick found Sagna in the box. The Frenchman headed the ball in a wide arc towards the far corner and Begovic could only helplessly watch the ball land into the net.
In the remaining minutes Stoke tried to lessen the margin between the two sides, but it could only have widened even more, when Ramsey`s shot was tipped over the bar by Begovich.
A win well deserved, props to Ozil, who made that win possible, but some things caught my attention.
First (and the most noticeable one) was the style of play Stoke adopted. They kept the ball on the ground as much as possible and their usual tactic of lumping it forward was clearly abandoned. It was interesting to see them play a completely different style of football and being better off for it.
The second thing is how we saw the game out in the second half, after our exhaustion kicked in. We gave the ball away, but were basically in no danger of conceding at any point. Great to see, we can do that.
After the game the manager hailed the team for doing so well and getting the results inside seven days. It truly was a hard week and the fact that we took all the points speaks of our mental fortitude and a will to succeed. Now we should just keep it up.
Have yourselves a good Monday (or what is left of it). Back tomorrow (I hope), when we start looking ahead to our midweek cup game against West Brom.