Premier League: Arsenal 3 Stoke City 1

Substitute Robin van Persie scored twice as Arsenal defeated a resilient Stoke side 3-1 in their Premier League encounter at the Emirates.

Gervinho opened the scoring for Arsenal after excellent work by Aaron Ramsey, though Peter Crouch bundled home an equaliser before the interval.

Arsenal came up short in attack, before Van Persie was brought on and chalked up a quick-fire brace after some smart play down the wing by Gervinho on both occasions.

It was a game that served to perpetuate several popular Arsenal stereotypes, most notably a marked listlessness without Van Persie, though the Gunners’ revival continues after the ground-out win.

Marouane Chamakh had the first opportunity to open the scoring yet after being found free in the box by a Mikel Arteta corner, the Moroccan unconvincingly glanced his header wide.

Gervinho’s heavy touch let him down when through on goal after Ramsey’s pass prized open the Stoke defence, though the Ivorian made no mistake in a similar incident a few minutes later, collecting the Ramsey’s scooped pass on his chest, before rifling past Asmir Begovic from close range.

After being camped in their own half during the opening stages, Stoke managed to plunder an equaliser, with Andre Santos caught napping by a quickly taken free-kick, allowing Crouch to see home Jonathan Walters’ nod across goal.

The introduction of Van Persie sparked some life into the hosts, though Stoke’s resilience made things increasingly difficult as the Emirates crowd began to become agitated.

Their fears were allayed when Gervinho bundled his way along the byline to centre for Van Persie who tucked an effort into the near post.

The same partnership linked up again to deliver the killer blow to Stoke, as Gervinho cut down the opposite flank to feed Van Persie, who yet again did just enough to force the ball beyond Begovic.