Arsenal v Stoke City
The FA Cup, Third Round
Highbury
09 January 2005

A spirited performance by Stoke City wasn't enough to stop Arsenal's progress into the Fourth Round of The FA Cup and preserve Arsene Wenger's record of never losing to a lower league side in the competition.

Stoke's valiant effort was epitomised by the impressive Ade Akinbiyi who lead the Potters line brilliantly from start to finish with little support from his colleagues.

Arsenal dominated the match in terms of possession position and chances, but with Akinbiyi upfront Stoke were very dangerous on the break.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis said: "I thought we were always a threat and Ade upfront worked tirelessly and caused them all sorts of problems.

"We're a bit disappointed looking back at the game, because we thought it was a goal first half. I thought it was a fair challenge when Ade and the centre half came together."

Both managers agreed that the pacy striker was unlucky to have a 38th minute strike disallowed for a push on Philippe Senderos.

As Arsene Wenger said: "For me there wasn't anything wrong with it, it was a little bit of shoulder-to-shoulder contact.

"What was obvious was that there was a very early whistle and would he still have scored if Senderos hadn't stopped?"

Despite trailing at the break to Wayne Thomas' injury time strike, Arsenal came out more brightly in the second half and Jose Antonio Reyes had the Champions level with the Championship side after 50 minutes.

Akinbiyi hit the bar with the score at 1-1 and it would have been no more than he deserved had it sneaked in to give him something to show for his hard work.

Robin van Persie put the Gunners ahead with 20 minutes remaining, and they saw out the victory comfortably but it was the performance of the Stoke City number 10 that had everybody talking.

Wenger added: "Akinbiyi looked to me a sprinter, and there were a few 40-yard races between him and Kolo [Toure] that were quite interesting, as he didn't lose many. He must be very quick this boy, because I wouldn't like to run with Kolo."

Arsenal's FA Cup dreams are still alive, but Stoke's fans can be proud of their boys, especially Akinbiyi.