Despite dominating their Saturday clash with Stoke, Arsenal came away from the bet365 Stadium with nothing after Jesé’s second-half goal separated the two sides.
Arsenal had a number of opportunites to take the lead in the first-half, only for a mix of poor finishing and superb goalkeeping from Jack Butland to keep the visitors at bay.
The Gunners had a decent shout for a penalty, only for referee Andre Marriner to wave away the protests after Mame Biram Diouf looked to have fouled Hector Bellerin in the box.
Bellerin should’ve had a pen.#STOARS #SCFCvAFC #afc pic.twitter.com/rDsag4p1xj
— Still Need a CM (@InvertdWhinger) August 19, 2017
The one and only goal of the game came soon after the break, with sloppy play from Granit Xhaka culminating in Saido Berahino slipping in Jesé, with the ex-PSG man firing past Petr Cech after some shoddy defending from Nacho Monreal.
Arsenal pushed for an equaliser, but again some poor finishing from the likes of Danny Welbeck frustrated the travelling fans.
The north Londoners thought they had a precious equaliser, via a smart finish from Alexandre Lacazette only for the linesman to flag for a very, very debatable offside.
Despite throwing on super-sub Olivier Giroud, the Gunners couldn’t find a goal their 77% possession deserved.
Instead, it was Mark Hughes who would celebrate a hard-fought win over the Gunners.
As for Arsene Wenger, once again the same old problems persist, no matter which players are used.