Arsenal saw off Stoke City 1-0 thanks to a deflected strike in the second-half from Germany international Lukas Podolski.

The first-half saw little in terms of goalmouth action but Arsenal had the better of the chances. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was denied a certain goal in the 32nd minute when his close range strike was saved brilliantly by Asmir Begovic.

Laurent Koscielny then had another chance three minutes later with a header but again Begovic was on hand to make the save.

Oxlade-Chamberlain would get another opportunity five minutes later when he latched onto a great pass from Jack Wilshere but Begovic continued to stand firm as he tipped his effort around the post to keep the deadlock intact at the break.

Gunners new boy Nacho Monreal put in a superb delivery eight minutes into the second-half but nobody was on hand to finish it off.

Olivier Giroud then went close two minutes later when he got onto a pass from Wilshere but the Frenchman was unable to keep his shot down.

The Gunners were pressing though and with 12 minutes to go the in-form Lukas Podolski would see his shot deflected past Begovic. The linesman had his flag up but referee Chris Foy overruled the decision.

Santi Cazorla could have made the result save with 10 minutes to go but after bundling through, he sent his shot over the crossbar.

Arsenal had done enough though and saw out the remainder of the game to claim all three points.