London: New signing Jese Rodriguez made a dream debut for Stoke City, scoring the winner in a 1-0 victory over Arsenal in the Premier League, Saturday.
The livewire Spaniard, signed on loan from Paris St Germain in midweek, started and finished the decisive move 90 seconds after the break, slotting home expertly after a sharp link up with substitute Saido Berahino.
In an entertaining game, the former Real Madrid man’s goal prompted Arsenal to throw everything at the home defence in a bid to claw their way back but Jack Butland proved a rock in Stoke’s tremendous rearguard action.
Arsenal were denied an equaliser when Alexandre Lacazette’s strike was ruled fractionally offside but the defeat ensured the Gunners’ miserable sequence of being unable to win their first two matches of a season stretched to eight years.
A few months ago, when Arsenal won 4-1 here, some of their fans hired a plane and flew a banner over the bet365 Stadium that read: ‘Wenger – Out Means Out.’ After an unconvincing win over Leicester in their opening game followed by a performance that lacked conviction here and a 1-0 defeat, it will not be long until the discontent resurfaces.
Earlier, Liverpool struggled to squeeze past Crystal Palace 1-0. The Reds secured their first league win of the season, and inflicted Palace’s second defeat, when Sadio Mane broke the deadlock at the Anfield after 73 minutes, although Christian Benteke should have given the visitors the lead moments earlier.
Dominic Solanke, 19, helped set up the decisive goal for Mane just two minutes after being introduced by Jurgen Klopp who needed some inspiration to break down a resolute Crystal Palace rearguard.
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