The last occasion on which Stoke won away at Arsenal was way back in 1981, and that statistic never seemed in danger of being broken as Arsene Wenger’s men dominated throughout.
The Gunners started positively, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shooting wide from 20-yards when he should have done better and at least hit the target.
The home side continued to be the more attack-minded XI, but struggled to break down a stubborn Stoke defence, while at times the final pass also lacked quality.
The visitors finally strung some passes together and on 17 minutes they had their first chance when a combination ended with Peter Crouch missing the target with a half-volley.
Just after the half an hour mark and Arsenal had the best opportunity of the game, but Oxlade-Chamberlain was denied from close range by a superb Asmir Begovic save.
Just three minutes later Begovic again stood in between Arsenal and the opening goal when he did superbly to save Laurent Koscielny’s header.
As the second half got underway the match soon continued in the same vein as the first, with the London side dominating ball possession by a significant margin.
On the hour mark Oxlade-Chamberlain nearly picked out Jack Wilshere in front of goal, but the latter was inches away from making contact.
Five minutes later the Gunners had a good appeal for a penalty turned down after Theo Walcott tangled with Jonathan Wilkinson.
The pressure, however, finally paid off when Lukas Podolski’s low free kick deflected off Geoff Cameron and flashed past Begovic in the 78th minute.
MEANWHILE....
Moussa Sissoko scored twice on his home debut to help Newcastle beat European champion Chelsea 3-2 in the English Premier League on Saturday.
The France midfielder, who joined the Magpies on Jan. 24, scored in the 68th minute to level the game at 2-2 and then blasted home a brilliant winner to further boost Newcastle's hopes of avoiding relegation.
Chelsea looked on its way to a first victory in four attempts in all competitions. Frank Lampard canceled out Jonas Gutierrez's first-half opener at St. James' Park by scoring his 10th Premier League goal of the season for the 10th successive season and Juan Mata curled home a superb 61st-minute effort.
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