Campbell returns - but Arsenal out of the FA Cup

Stoke 3 Arsenal 1. It looked at times like men against boys as Stoke dumped Arsenal out of the FA Cup, even though the oldest man on the Britannia Stadium pitch was 35-year-old Sol Campbell.

The former England centre-back rejoined Arsenal earlier this month, back for his second spell with the club after leaving at the end of the 2006 season, but he must have wondered what he'd let himself in for when the home side took the lead after just 70 seconds.

A long throw from Rory Delap from the right touchline was met by the head of Jamaican striker Ricardo Fuller who, for a big man, had somehow managed to slip unnoticed through the Arsenal defence. His header left Lukasz Fabianski no chance in the visitors' goal and the Potters were 1-0 to the good.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had made nine changes to the side that beat Bolton on Wednesday to move, temporarily, to the top of the Premier League. In came the teenage trio of Francis Coquelin, Craig Eastmond and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (who were all still in nappies when Campbell made his Premier League Debut for Spurs in 1992), while only Cesc Fabregas and Denilson remained from  the midweek victory.

It was that pair who combined to level the score three minutes before the interval when Dean Whitehead handled the ball just outside the left-hand corner of the penalty area. Fabregas shaped to curl one into the six-yard box, but then laid a deft ball square to Denilson and his low drive took a deflection to end up in the back of Thomas Sorensen's net.

It was hardly what Arsenal deserved having been muscled out of the action for most of the first-half and Mamady Sidibe should have made it 2-0 on 26 minutes but fluffed his shot from 10 yards out. And Fuller thought he should have had a penalty when Mikael Silvestre brought him down in the box but referee Atkinson wasn't interested.

Though Arsenal's youngsters never buckled – Coquelin did well to block a Matthew Etherington shot midway through the second half – Wenger brought on the experience of Andrey Arshavin and Eduardo on 69 minutes. But all that did was inspire Stoke to raise their game. And on 78 minutes they regained the lead when Sidibe galloped free down the right flank and delivered an inch-perfect pass across the box – and over Campbell – on to the head of Fuller, who fired home goal number two past the wrong-footed Fabianski.
 
Seven minutes later it was 3-1 after Etherington found space out wide on the left and sent over a low cross that was rifled home by Whitehead. It was just reward for a Stoke performance full of passion and pace, and one that brought to an end a miserable FA Cup record against the Gunners. This was Stoke's first victory over the London club in eight attempts, stretching way back to 1928, when not even Sol Campbell was around.

Wenger later defended his team's performance, saying "technically it [the game] was certainly not the best but commitment-wise it was a very good game...we gave it absolutely everything today but we made a mistake at 1-1 and that made the difference. We got caught on the counter-attack at a moment when we were taking over".
 
As for Campbell's return to the big time, Wenger described the veteran's display as "good, but he will be disappointed because he conceded three goals. But overall it was a good performance for a guy who has not played for such a long time."

Stoke were naturally delighted at the result, though their prize for the stunning victory was to be drawn away to Manchester City in the fifth round. "We have beaten the best team in the Premier League today so we don't fear anyone at the moment," said Dean Whitehead. "We played well from the start and pressed them really hard, which we knew we had to because they are a top team." ·