Gunners finish season with Stoke stroll

Arsenal’s up-and-down season finished on a high note on Sunday with a 4-1 defeat of Stoke.

A Robin van Persie double, a James Beattie own goal and a rare strike from Abou Diaby enabled the Gunners to claim revenge for a punishing defeat at the Britannia Stadium earlier in the season.

Arsenal needed only ten minutes to take the lead and were 3-0 up within eight minutes of Beattie knocking Cesc Fabregas’s low cross past his own goalkeeper for the opener.

Stoke were still reeling from that setback when Ryan Shawcross pulled down van Persie, handing the Dutchman the chance to score from the spot.

With Arsenal playing with complete freedom, a rout looked on the cards and a third goal duly arrived, Diaby meeting van Persie’s free-kick with a powerful header from close to the penalty spot to leave Thomas Sorensen with no chance.

To their credit, Stoke refused to crumble and Arsenal’s back-up goalkeeper, Vito Mannone, had to be alert to keep out Beattie’s long-range free-kick before Theo Walcott was denied by Sorensen’s outstretched boot.

The visitors pulled a goal back in the 31st minute after Denilson was judged to have tripped Ricardo Fuller, who got up to send Mannone the wrong way from the spot.

It was quickly one-way traffic once more and Sorensen was forced to make a fine save from Andrey Arshavin after van Persie had struck the crossbar with a 25-yard freekick.

And the pressure on Stoke told four minutes before the break when a misjudged back header by Rory Delap gifted van Persie a free run on goal for Arsenal’s fourth.

With victory in the bag, Arsenal took their foot off the gas after the break and it would be surprising if manager Arsene Wenger did not allow his thoughts to drift towards the issue of his summer recruitment plans.

Arsenal have finished the season with a 22-match unbeaten run in the league but the 18-point gap between them and champions Manchester United tells its own story.