Arsenal missed out on the chance to move
seven points clear of the field after being held to a 1-1 draw by Everton
at the Emirates. After Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea either
lost or drew on Saturday, the onus was on the Gunners to deliver. Yet after a
slow start that saw them thoroughly dominant for the first 40 minutes of the
game, the Gunners had a number of chances to take the lead and finally did with
10 minutes left, when Ozil netted a Walcott header across the crease. And then
the unthinkable happened – Barcelona loanee Gerard Deulofeu found a
slight opening and smashed the ball past Szczesny for a draw.
Everton played a high-tempo
pressing game, with the impressive Ross Barkley and Kevin Mirallas swarming
all over Arsenal. But for all the pressure and possession, Everton did not
have a shot on goal in the first 45. It was in fact Arsenal who crafted the two
best chances of the first half, in the last five minutes. First a clever pass
from Jack Wilshere played in Olivier Giroud, though Tim Howard
dashed off his line to make the save.
The Everton keeper then showed
his class again in the final minute of the half after a combination of Cazorla,
Giroud and Ramsey sliced open the Toffees. Once again, Howard was fast off
his line and able to smother the ball at the feet of Ramsey, moments before he
scored.
The second half started with Arsenal in
the ascendancy, creating several half chances. Everton had chances of their own
on the counter though and Szczesny was called into action for the first
time on 54 minutes, as he had to push out a stinging drive from Steven Pienaar after
a rapid Everton break. Minutes later, the alert Howard denied Ramsey
a ninth Premier League goal, as the Everton keeper scrambled across his
line to keep out the Welshman’s volley. Szczesny was in the thick of the
action again in the 67th minute. He had to push out a fierce drive
from Barkley after Wilshere had inexplicably allowed a loose ball to
run across the edge of his own area.
Wenger then made a surprise triple
substitution with a shade over 20 minutes remaining, and it almost provided an
instant impact. A loose ball fell to Mathieu Flamini inside the box, and
he flashed a shot a fraction wide of the target. Arsenal were well short of
their best, but there is a steely determination about them, and they found a
goal with 10 minutes remaining. Two of Wenger’s substitutes had a big say
in the goal. Theo Walcott nodded a cross from Tomas Rosicky across
goal, and Ozil was on hand to stroke the ball home after Giroud had
missed his kick. The lead did not last long, courtesy of an on-loan Everton substitute—as
Gerard Deulofeu picked up the ball inside the box and flashed a
powerful, dipping shot that flew past Szczesny.
Arsenal and Everton then both pushed
forward for the winner and Giroud came closest with a rasping drive that clattered
against the woodwork as time elapsed. In the end, it was a fair result as
Everton won the possession battle 56 to 44, had one more shot (12 to 11) and
only one less shot on goal (4 to 5) and a higher pass completion rate (84 to
78%). Arsenal had more fouls (13 to 11), but that was partially down to Howard
Webb being rather judicious with his calls as Everton played an extremely
physical game that probably should have resulted in more yellows.
It was a disappointing loss of the
opportunity to go a full seven points ahead, but still leaves us five points clear
of City and Liverpool, with a game against the former coming up in a fortnight.
Ramsey had an odd night off, with only a 77 percent completion rate, a couple
of missed opportunities and giving the ball away far too often (particularly in
the first half). Wilshere played some decent ball, but again gave it up on
several occasions that led to Everton counters. And Giroud failed to connect
with two clear cut chances, though Howard had a lot to do with both. The
defense held strong for much of the game, with Kos and Mertesacker both putting
in strong games that kept Lukaku at bay, Arteta breaking up play on several occasions
and Gibbs and Jenkinson marshalling well down the wings. However, it was Gibbs
who failed to close of the leveler – and this was not the first time this
season. It is the one aspect of his game he needs to work on, closing out the
spaces in front of goal and timing his headers better.
When Flamini, Rosicky and Walcott came
on in the 70th minute, the tide of the game changed completely and
there are serious questions about why the Czech doesn’t play in front of
Wilshere at the moment, as his play is far superior – pushing the ball forward,
completing more passes and providing a greater threat without really giving up
anything on the defensive end. There have been concerns that Arsenal’s
inability to put teams away would hurt them in the end, and one could argue
converting their chances would have made the equalizer moot, but the reality is
that Everton was impressive throughout and that Martinez appears to have
improved the team since taking over for Moyes, while the latter is mired in a
veritable crisis at United, after losing to Everton and Newcastle within a
week. Arsenal now has three imperative games starting with the final group
match against Napoli on Wednesday – where they simply have to not lose 3-0 to
advance (though a victory could see them top of the group of death). Then it is
a trip to City where a point would be a success before hosting Chelsea. COYG!
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