Arsenal scrape through

Arsenal 2 Stoke 1

Jose Antonio Reyes again came to Arsenal’s FA Cup rescue as Arsene Wenger’s side were taken to the brink of embarrassment by Stoke.

The Premiership champions went behind to the valiant Championship side on the stroke of half-time as defender Wayne Thomas scored only his eighth goal in 208 club appearances.

The Gunners continued to live dangerously with Ade Akinbiyi, who ran riot through their depleted defence, striking the bar and Gael Clichy clearing off the line from Chris Greenacre.

But Wenger was indebted to Reyes, who returned from injury in the absence of Thierry Henry. The Spaniard put Arsenal level five minutes after the break.

Reyes had similarly put Arsenal back in contention in last season’s fifth-round tie against Chelsea after Adrian Mutu had put the Blues ahead.

And while he scored twice on that occasion shortly after his arrival from Seville, he was involved in the build-up as Robin van Persie struck Arsenal’s 70th-minute winner.

Not that he was hugely impressive otherwise, however, as the real credit was all Stoke’s, even against an under-strength Arsenal side.

Tony Pulis’ side took the game to the Gunners with conviction, with Gerry Taggart and Thomas both inspirational in defence, while Akinbiyi made a mockery of his past top-flight reputation in attack.

Indeed, for some time in the second half, Arsenal must have feared a similarly embarrassing exit to their defeats at York in 1985 and Wrexham in 1992.

Wenger, however, has never lost to a lower division club in the FA Cup and that record, however fortuitously, continued at Highbury.

Boosted by a raucous reception from their large contingent of fans, Stoke had been undaunted in the first half as they valiantly held Arsenal at bay.

Taggart, 34, led by example, as Arsenal huffed and puffed with little reward, even if van Persie sent one effort just wide. Indeed, Stoke’s defence, which has conceded just 20 goals in 28 Championship games, was relatively untroubled as Steve Simonsen produced just one fine first-half save, from Jermaine Pennant.

The warning signs should have been clear enough at the other end, as Philippe Senderos failed to handle Akinbiyi and Lehmann was called upon to tip the ensuing shot around the post.

Akinbiyi, who had failed to impress in the top-flight for Leicester, then muscled Kolo Toure off the ball and cut it back, although Greenacre could not keep his shot on target.

Akinbiyi even had the ball in the net eight minutes before the break but had been penalised for a slight push on Senderos.

However, Stoke then scored for real in first-half injury-time as Arsenal failed to cope with a deep cross by Greenacre.

Lehmann did well to claw out Akinbiyi’s header but centre-back Thomas was on hand to ram the ball into the roof of the net as Arsenal’s defence remained rooted to the spot.

Arsenal deserved some harsh words at half-time and Simonsen was called upon to produce an excellent reaction save to deny van Persie shortly after the restart.

Just a few minutes later, Arsenal were level as Reyes struck his ninth goal of the season, but only his second since October 2.

Stoke could only half-clear Toure’s cross, as Patrick Vieira challenged Thomas, and the ball fell to Reyes on the edge of the penalty area. The Spaniard fired his effort past Simonsen.

Arsenal continued to press, with Cesc Fabregas’ drive flying a few inches wide and Simonsen denying van Persie, but Stoke managed to regain their composure.

Indeed, Akinbiyi was tirelessly chasing seemingly lost causes up front and managed to win a corner against all the odds after putting Toure under pressure.

Greenacre duly produced a neat flick as Arsenal failed to clear the ensuing delivery, with Lehmann static on his line, and Clichy saved his team with a goal-line clearance.

Akinbiyi smacked an ambitious lob against the face of the crossbar from 20 yards out as Lehmann, doing his chances of a regular first-team recall little benefit, was caught out of position.

But Arsenal finally managed to sneak into the lead with 20 minutes left as Reyes won the ball and set up Pennant to deliver a cross that van Persie nimbly flicked past Simonsen.

Arsenal, for whom Pennant came close in the final minute, thereafter managed to find some much-needed breathing space.

The final whistle was nevertheless met with some relief at Highbury as Stoke had emerged with huge credit, but no replay, for their efforts.