Gunners lucky to avoid upset by Stoke, admits Wenger

ARSENE WENGER admitted Arsenal were fortunate to avoid an FA Cup upset at home to Stoke City as the Championship side had a first-half goal harshly ruled out.

Wenger conceded Arsenal benefited from a decision by referee Neale Barry to rule out a strike from Ade Akinbiyi due to a push on Philippe Senderos when the scoreline was still goalless.

"I have seen it again and, for me, there was not a lot wrong in there. It was a bit of a strong shoulder charge but that's acceptable," revealed the Arsenal boss.

"But Senderos stopped because the referee had blown early, so I don't know if he would still have scored. What would have happened if it had been against us though? I wouldn't have seen it!"

If Akinbiyi's goal had been allowed to stand, Arsenal would then have fallen 2-0 behind when defender Wayne Thomas struck on the stroke of half-time.

As it was, they were able to equalise through Jose Antonio Reyes five minutes after the restart, while Robin van Persie scored the winner on 70 minutes with an exquisite backheel.

Arsenal were nevertheless pushed to the limit as Akinbiyi also struck the crossbar, while Gael Clichy cleared a Greenacre flick off the line.

Wenger added: "Stoke did very well but we just had enough quality to slip through. The turning points went for us as there were one or two situations in the second half where they could have scored another."

Wenger praised van Persie and Reyes for their second-half displays.

"Jose Reyes had a good game for a first match back. It takes a while to get confident after a knee injury.

"Robin van Persie also has qualities that I admire. He has a good presence in the box and is a tremendous quality player. In the first half, I felt his physical presence wasn't strong enough but he added that in the second half."

Stoke boss Tony Pulis agreed that Akinbiyi was harshly treated.

"We're a bit disappointed, looking back at it, because we thought it was a goal.

"We thought it was a fair challenge.

"On another day, that decision could have gone for us."

Pulis was nevertheless delighted at the superb performance of side and Akinbiyi in particular.

"The players have given us everything and I'm really pleased for them. I thought we were always a threat and Ade worked tirelessly and caused them all sorts of problems," he said.

ARSENAL: Lehmann, Eboue (Hoyte 71), Toure, Senderos, Clichy, Pennant, Fabregas, Vieira, Pires, Reyes, Van Persie.

STOKE: Simonsen, Thomas, Taggart, Buxton, Hall, Russell, Greenacre (Asaba 77), Halls (Henry 52), Clarke (Eustace 77), Akinbiyi, Jarrett.

Referee: N Barry (N Lincolnshire).