Stoke City 1 Arsenal 0

We suffered our first defeat of the season as Stoke debutant Jese scored the only goal of the game, right at the start of the second half.

 Our first away game of the campaign was at the same venue as the last away game of last season, but we were unable to repeat May's victory, despite dominating the second half. Stoke City took the lead when their new Spanish winger Jese scored 90 seconds after the restart, tucking home Saido Berahino's through ball inside the area.

 We enjoyed more than 80 per cent of possession from that point on, but were unable to find a way past Jack Butland. Alexandre Lacazette did have the ball in the net with 20 minutes to go, only to be flagged offside when replays suggested he was level.

 The first half was lively too, if unspectacular, with Danny Welbeck having our best chance. He latched onto a floated Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain pass inside the area, and connected well with his volley, but Jack Butland parried the effort away for a corner.

Stoke's more measured approach was in contrast to their usual blood and thunder style, and Jese was looking lively on the left flank, frequently running at the Arsenal back three. One of those mazy runs ended in an excellent chance for Maxim Choup-Moting, but he fluffed his effort straight at Petr Cech.
Ryan Shawcross then headed over when completely unmarked, and at the other end Aaron Ramsey eluded his marker to meet Oxlade-Chamberlain's free-kick at the far post, but again Butland made the save. We were caught cold at the start of the second half with Jese's strike, but continued to make chances of our own in the second period. Hector Bellerin, Welbeck and Ramsey all had shots saved, while Giroud headed wide late on.

 Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/fixture/arsenal/2017-Aug-19/stoke-city-1-0-arsenal-match-report#5BPSpl9TWAMrsPwL.99 Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/fixture/arsenal/2017-Aug-19/stoke-city-1-0-arsenal-match-report#RhoxQoOdD3bEofjX.99