Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger reserved praise for FA Cup opponents Stoke after his team's hard-fought 2-1 third round victory at Highbury. "You had everything you needed for a good Cup game," said Wenger.
"Stoke came here, defended well, relied on Ade Akinbiyi, and he gave our defenders a hard time.
"Overall that Stoke did very well, we did well, and it was an interesting game. We just had enough quality to slip through."
Despite dominating the first half, Arsenal conceded a shock goal just before half-time when City defender Wayne Thomas scored from the six-yard box.
But Arsenal bounced back, equalising through Jose Antonio Reyes early in the second half, before Robin van Persie drove home the winner in the 70th minute.
"This game is a team game, and we lacked a little bit of offensive cohesion in the final third in the first half, but we did much better in the second.
"The turning points went for us because we had one or two situations in the second half where they could have scored a goal.
"But overall I feel we had so much possession, and we looked always like we could score in the second half."
MMIX
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