Arsenal leapfrogged Tottenham into third place in the Premier League with a morale-boosting 2-0 win over Stoke at The Emirates.
Andrey Arshavin, who was by far the Gunners' best player, slotted home from a tight angle in the first half minutes after Cesc Fabregas had missed a penalty on his 250th appearance for the club.
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After a largely frustrating second half, impressive substitute Aaron Ramsey sealed the win with a cool finish 10 minutes from time.
With Robin van Persie, Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott out injured, Arsene Wenger's options up front were further reduced by the late withdrawal of Eduardo, who was left out with a "minor muscular problem".
Arshavin spearheaded the Gunners attack in a line-up that included eight changes from the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City in midweek while Fabregas captained the Arsenal side in Wenger's 100th league game in charge.
Abdoulaye Faye, Rory Delap and Tuncay Sanli came in for Stoke, who were without Ryan Shawcross after he failed a late fitness test.
Wenger admitted yesterday confidence in the Arsenal camp had been hit following their defeat at Manchester City in the Carling Cup and last week's 3-0 humbling against Chelsea, which put them 11 points behind the leaders.
The Gunners started brightly, however, and Fabregas put Arshavin through one on one with Thomas Sorensen but he came out to block the Russian's shot.
Stoke's first meaningful attack came eight minutes in when Manuel Almunia had to come out and punch away one of Delap's trademark long throws.
Delap's throws were the Potters' main attacking option and Almunia looked nervous as he struggled to deal with the defender's third throw of the game 11 minutes in.
