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
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
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