Everton do a job on Arsenal: Arsenal 0 - 0 Everton

David Moyes said after the game that they weren’t “going to come to the Emirates and let Arsenal stroke around 600 passes.” They definitely didn’t, as they elbowed and kneed their way to a drab draw. The referee was lenient, to say the least, with Everton tackling: Jack Wilshere bearing the brunt of the fouling. It was a bit rich to see Sir Alex Ferguson in the stands taking notes, seeing how Manchester United employed similar tactics to end The Invincibles’ unbeaten run in 2004. Arsenal found it very hard to get any kind of rhythm going in the first half, however, were much better after the substitutions in the second: Podolski and Oxlade-Chamberlain on for Wilshere and Walcott. Ross Barkley shone for The Toffees while Anichebe was marshaled rather well by Mertesacker. Giroud was ineffective too for Arsenal, and the only goal threats in the game were Cazorla and Baines, with his set pieces—honorable mention for Mirallas.

How the teams lined up


Arsenal lined up in their usual 4-2-3-1 with Wilshere as the most advanced midfielder and Cazorla on the left. Everton was arrayed in 4-5-1 with Barkley and Pienaar given license to move forward, and Fellaini given a license to do anything he damn well wanted.


How play shaped up

The referee allowed Everton to get away with too many “physical” tackles. Wilshere was fouled often and hard and Gibson was lucky to stay on the field after cynically blocking Walcott while on a yellow. Arsenal’s passing game was well neutralized by Everton’s hassling and tackling game in the first half. However, there was a price to be paid as Everton tired towards the end of the half, and Arsenal began to string some passes together and created a couple of chances. Everton had a few chances too in the half; Pienaar was sent through on goal by a beautiful Barkley through ball. For Arsenal, Giroud shot wide at full stretch with an open goal. Wilshere was definitely off-colour, not aided by Everton’s targeting of him, while Ramsey worked hard and earned a few brownie points for himself. Cazorla had a fairly quiet half, and wasn’t able to influence the game much from the left.
Arsenal started the second half strongly. Giroud almost opened the scoring with a left footed curler while Walcott, who was largely anonymous, skinned Distin. Wilshere was probably guilty of trying too much and was crowded out by Everton often. The substitutes Oxlade-Chamberlain and Podolski weren’t able to influence proceedings much too even though they willing ran at the Everton defence. Podolski’s first touch let him down after he got himself into a promising area, though he did start off a passage of play with a terrific pass that almost led to a goal. Cazorla was able to influence the game a lot more in the middle after Wilshere went off, but was unable to snare 3 points for his side.

Final thoughts

It wasn’t a great match by any standards, a throwback to the ear of staunch defending and counterattacking football. Arsenal looked really tired by the end, with Gibbs being substituted for Monreal for the last few minutes. Giroud had a mediocre game; he was marshaled well by Fellaini while trying to win flick-ons and screwed three chances wide. Last season, we had Szczesny kick the ball long to Sagna, who excelled at winning flick-ons for Walcott to run onto. Arsenal seem to have abandoned this strategy, for some reason. This wasn’t a bad result by any standard but Arsenal would have aimed for 3 points at home before the match. Only time will tell if this was a point gained or 2 points dropped.

Arsenal ratings


Wojciech Szczesny: 7/10
Bacary Sagna: 7/10
Kieran Gibbs: 7/10
Per Mertesacker: 7/10
Laurent Koscielny: 7/10
Jack Wilshere: 5.5/10
Santi Cazorla: 7.5/10
Aaron Ramsey: 7.5/10
Mikel Arteta: 7/10
Theo Walcott: 4/10
Olivier Giroud: 5/10

Substitutes
Lukas Podolski: 6.5/10
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6.5/10
Nacho Monreal: N/A

Not Exactly David and Goliath: Arsenal vs West Brom Albion

Gone are the days when a trip to WBA was considered a vacation. A young team of promise, WBA epitomizes the strong “middle of the table” EPL brags about. On paper, Arsenal were dramatically weakened by the spree of injuries to Walcott, Wilshire (who should be back in reckoning in the starting line-up soon), and the long-term injury to the talented yet ever-injured Diaby. For all us Gunners fans, a trip to the Hawthorns left that inkling of teeth clattering nervousness; and for good reason.

Steve Clark made some puzzling changes from the West Ham game with Lukaku on the bench and Jerome in the starting lineup. Arsenal stuck to team that won against Reading, though I expect the Norwich game to feature Walcott and Wilshire, but possibly on the bench.

The first chance of the game came for WBA with a Yacob header cleared off from the goal line by the eventual MOM Rosicky. After a couple of semi useful runs by WBA, Gervinho took over and with Rosicky and Cazorla ran the West Brom defense right into their box. It took 20 minutes for Gervinho to dance around a couple of defenders and crack the ball, which Rosicky darted into the goal. The only possible save for that would have been an accidental one. Though Arsenal had greater control of the game, WBA were more than a handful in the midfield. The Hawthorns challenged every possession and made moving forward seem tougher than the gunners like. The 42^nd minute saw Ramsey shoot himself in the foot with a near impossible miss made possible. Some slick work by Cazorla and Giroud saw Ramsey in an extremely favorable position with only the keeper to beat but alas, as most stories including him end, the ball went wide. The evident despair and pain wasn’t enough to abate the missed open goal. However, Ramsey did make some amends when he threaded the ball through to Rosicky who made a play which epitomizes why I love football. Here’s the commentary from Goal.com:

It was nice to see Arsenal not letting up and continue moving into the final third. Even after Lukaku was brought on in the 56^th minute, WBA were far from creating any proper chances. Gervinho was especially effective in this as he was making long runs thereby pulling as many as four players at time and leaving gaps all over the field for other players to take advantage off. I really hope Wenger sees the missed opportunities for through balls. West Brom’s efforts going forward were mostly wasteful with Shane Long and Lukaku hitting a wall marshaled ably by Koscielny. The defensive backs were strong and had no slip ups. And like every entertaining story, Morrison and Long figured the weak spot in the Arsenal defense. Initially by intercepting a suicidal back-pass by Mertesacker to Koscielny and then by using the long ball against Mertesacker. Long pushed Per’s tolerance enough to make him commit a more than acceptable red card foul, leading to Morrison sinking the spot kick through a diving Fabianksi’s legs.

From then on WBA played brilliantly, pushing the ball forward, creating chances, bringing the 10 players back for defense and justifying the initial nervousness the Gooner felt. Vermaelen’s entrance into the attack brought some solidarity to the back four, but the Hawthorns were relentless. Tons of missed half chances, poorl headers and some gritty defending from Arsenal saw them see off the final barrage of attacks from West Brom. All in all, an entertaining game, missed chances and a shift in the top four of the premier league. Not a bad day at all. The only complaint was with the referees as some unjust and soft yellows were shelled out.

At the end of the weekend, Arsenal moved back to fifth, with a game in hand over the Spurs. West Brom have lost two in a row with their last victory coming four games back and sit comfortably on 9^th spot. Arsenal still need a stronger finisher and a Robben-esque figure who can create clear chances within the box. West Brom really needs someone to score more goals. Even Southampton has scored more goals than them.

Arsenal next faces Norwich City at Home, which will be viewed at as a chance for retribution for the away loss and West Ham travel to the dreaded Etihad stadium where their face Man City who were just buoyed by their big win over Man United.

Can’t wait for next week!