The France center back headed home from five yards (meters)
out in the eighth minute but the Gunners, who have played one match more than
United, also lost Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott to injury at Emirates Stadium.
Fabregas, the team's inspirational captain, trudged off with
a hamstring injury in the 14th minute. Walcott was carried off on a stretcher
in the 70th with what manager Arsene Wenger confirmed was a sprained ankle.
Walcott is “definitely out” of the League Cup final against
Birmingham on Sunday, Wenger said. Fabregas will be assessed on Thursday but
the manager said he is in doubt when the London side aims to end a five-year
trophy drought at Wembley.
“It's impossible to say (how long he will be out),” Wenger
said of the Spain midfielder. “It's a concern that he's injured but it can
happen. It's part of sport and we have to face it.” Arsenal, which is still in
contention for all four trophies this season, climbed seven points clear of
third-place Manchester City and piled the pressure back on United, whose game
in hand is against Chelsea on Tuesday.
“”We are all feeling pressure going into March. It's part of
being in the position we are in,” Wenger said.
“We did the job here in a very professional way. We were
intelligent, calm, patient and overall we were resilient when Stoke had their
strong moments.” Despite the match coming only four days before the League Cup
final, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger selected his strongest possible side,
although he may now wish he hadn't.
Chief striker and top scorer Robin van Persie was already
missing through injury, but the Gunners' attack didn't struggle in the
Netherlands international's absence early on against a one-dimensional Stoke
team that had limited ambition all match.
Walcott smashed a shot against the post after little more
than a minute before Nicklas Bendtner, Van Persie's replacement, got on the end
of a deep corner by Jack Wilshere to cross for Squillaci to head in his first
league goal of the season.
Fabregas, who struggled with hamstring problems in December,
was then forced to come off, having signaled to Wenger two minutes earlier that
he was struggling. Wenger also has the second leg of the Champions League
last-16 match at Barcelona on March 8 to worry about.
The rest of the half saw Arsenal dominate possession without
finding a cutting edge as mid-table Stoke sat back with 10 men behind the ball,
appearing to settle for a policy of damage limitation. The visitors' only
chance was a vicious volley by lone striker Jon Carew that was beaten away
one-handed by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the 36th.
Arsenal dealt with the trademark long throws of Rory Delap
well in the first half but found them difficult to defend after the break, with
German defender Robert Huth heading one of them over in the 58th.
“Nobody likes to play Stoke,” said Wenger, whose team's
fluent passing style is the opposite approach to that of Stoke. “They have a
very special way of playing the game.
I am quite proud that we didn't concede a goal against them.”
Walcott was fed by substitute Andrey Arshavin in the 64th but with the goal
gaping, the England winger - Arsenal's most dangerous player all night -
miscued from a central position 10 meters out.
That was his last meaningful action of the game after
falling awkwardly on his left ankle as he was challenged by Dean Whitehead.
A tense last 10 minutes saw Stoke punt some hopeful long
balls into Arsenal's area but Szczesny encountered few problems.