Football Funnies: Stoke City's Charlie Adam abused online after 'strangling' Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez

Stoke City's Charlie Adam (top) gets a yellow card for this foul on Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez during their English Premier League football match in Stoke, northern England on Dec 6, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Stoke City's Charlie Adam (top) gets a yellow card for this foul on Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez during their English Premier League football match in Stoke, northern England on Dec 6, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A fragile defence and an alarming lack of physicality once again led to Arsenal's downfall against bitter foes Stoke City on Saturday, but there was still plenty of sympathy for the Gunners' star man Alexis Sanchez.

With Arsenal chasing the game at 3-2 and Sanchez running free down the right flank in the 83rd-minute, Stoke substitute Charlie Adam resorted to a move more suitable for a wrestling ring than a football pitch, to halt the Chilean striker.

While there has been no love lost between the two sides' supporters after previous skirmishes (who can forget Ryan Shawcross' infamous tackle on Aaron Ramsey?), plenty of neutrals also condemned Adam's dirty manoeuvre.

It also sparked off a torrent of memes and comments on social media:

Adam escaped with a yellow card from the referee, but it could just as easily have been a sending-off.

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