Away defeat for wasteful Gunners

Jese Rodriguez had a debut to remember as his goal saw Stoke record a 1-0 win as Arsenal's first away game of the 2017/18 season ended in defeat.

Following on from their opening day 4-3 win over Leicester, Gunners fans knew this would be a tough test as we've always found trips to Stoke tough. 77% possession and 18 shots on goal sounds positive, but we were far too wasteful with just six of those going on target.

Alexandre Lacazette had a goal ruled out for offside and there were also a few penalty shouts that didn't go Arsenal's way, but we only have ourselves to blame with a lack of killer instinct in front of goal.

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech was called into action to deny Jese inside the opening three minutes of the match. At the other end there was a shout of handball against Erik Pieters, but I don't think there was a lot the Stoke defender could have done about it anyway so it would have been harsh if the referee had penalised him.

Danny Welbeck was denied by a decent save from Jack Butland in the Stoke goal before another penalty shout for the visitors. Hector Bellerin was brought down by Mame Biram Diouf in the box. It was a hard one to call as there wasn't much in it - the Stoke man did appear to try and pull out of the challenge, but still connected. Arsene Wenger wasn't happy with the decision, but I don't think too much should be made of it. The only decision that was really frustrating was the handball shout against Kurt Zouma in the second half.

Both sides wasted further chances in the first half with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting shooting straight at Cech, while his Stoke team-mate Ryan Shawcross sent a powerful header harmlessly over the crossbar. At the other end Aaron Ramsey latched onto Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's deep free-kick, but Butland was equal to it and produced an excellent save to deny the Welsh midfielder.

Jese's debut goal came within two minutes of the restart after the home side intercepted a poor loose pass from Granit Xhaka and worked the ball forward. Jese then played a one-two with Saido Berahino before sending a low shot across goal and into the far corner of the net.

Another Oxlade-Chamberlain cross caused danger after 55 minutes and it appeared to hit the hand of Zouma. I feel it should have been a penalty as it was a clear handball, but I also believe we only had ourselves to blame for the defeat for not converting our other chances.

Arsenal continued to create chances as Bellerin latched onto a pass from Mesut Ozil before seeing his shot parried by Butland, who also managed to get in the way to thwart Welbeck's attempted rebound.

Welbeck headed over the bar soon after before Ramsey shot straight at Butland. Those missed chances almost cost Arsenal dearer as Stoke came very close to adding a second goal, but Berahino saw his header excellently tipped over the bar by Cech. Shortly after Choupo-Moting sent a shot into the side netting.

Substitute Olivier Giroud very nearly made an instant impact after coming on 24 minutes from time. The French striker flicked the ball through to Welbeck, but a combination of the Stoke defence and a decent save from Butland kept his fellow striker at bay.

Ozil saw a shot blocked before shooting wide soon after as the chances continued to come and go for Arsenal. With 18 minutes left on the clock Arsenal thought they had found an equaliser, only for Lacazette's effort to be ruled out for offside. It was a very tight call and very hard to call, but it is difficult to have too many complaints as the slightest bit of his foot was offside even though it was marginal.

Arsenal had one final chance to nick a point deep into injury time but Giroud headed wide from Nacho Monreal's cross.

OPPOSITION VIEW
Stoke fan Loz Crouch hailed the spirit shown by his side following their home victory.

"This was a huge result for us," said Crouch. "There's always a special atmosphere for home games against Arsenal but there was a particular feeling of nervousness and excitement for this one.

"Our team is looking radically different in terms of both shape and personnel and no one quite knows what to make of it yet, so an early season test like this was just what we needed to see if we're looking up to scratch after a disappointing season last year. Thankfully we passed it, if not with flying colours at least with a good helping of guts and guile and a much-needed dose of "old Stoke" spirit.

"The game was tight, with bursts of energetic play and sloppy mistakes on both sides. I thought we just shaded the first half but it was quite end-to-end, both keepers having to make smart stops. Welbeck was a nuisance and Arsenal got in behind us down the right a few times too, although both teams were restricted to half-chances. Of our (home) debutants (Darren) Fletcher is looking like a shrewd acquisition and just the sort of calm, experienced head we need in the middle, while Jese was busy enough and Zouma looked rock solid at the back.

"Scoring so early in the second half was almost as much a curse as a blessing as we inevitably dropped deeper and deeper and Arsenal pushed and probed around our defensive third. The pleasing thing was that we seem to have regained the compactness and organisation we lacked so badly last year, and although Arsenal did cut through once or twice we remained pretty firm. Hearts were in mouths when Lacazette smashed home but the replays showed the little toe on his right foot was offside and the liner was correct to raise his flag.

"I said last year after you beat us easily at our place that people's patience with Hughes may have finally run out, but he's banked a bit of credit this time. It was long overdue - we haven't beaten a top-third team for almost two years - and this game brought a feeling of goodwill and optimism back to the bet365 that was almost entirely absent last season. Arsenal had their moments but looked like a team badly missing Alexis and without much else to shout about. The pressure on Wenger will not take long to build again.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
All eyes now turn to our next match and a tough trip to Liverpool. Some would take a point from this game but, due to the loss at Stoke, I feel nothing other than three points will do this time.

When the fixtures came out I was hoping for at least six to seven points from the opening three games. I knew back-to-back away games at Stoke and Liverpool would present very tough challenges, but if we are serious about wanting a better title challenge we must beat Liverpool.

We are creating chances, but we need to be more clinical especially in periods of a match when we are on top. We should be killing a game off not spurning chance after chance and letting other teams back in.

We also need to tighten things up at the back and I am very relieved that Laurent Koscielny should return from suspension at Anfield. There have been some decent positives from the opening two games, but positives don't win titles, points do, and we need to make sure we don't drop too many more.

I'm not convinced as to whether we can get the win at Anfield, but the performance certainly needs to go up another level.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS