Today’s win sees Arsenal move up to third after a 2-0 win against Everton. Arsenal needed a reaction after the midweek debacle. The first surprise although many fans had predicted it was that Mertesacker had been dropped to the bench meaning Gabriel made his first league start, although, the official line was that Mertesacker was being rested. The match also saw Oxlade-Chamberlain replace Welbeck.

Arsenal got off to a fairly slow start but went 1-0 up with a Giroud goal from Ӧzil corner. Everton then came back into the match until the 89th minute when Rosicky’s shot was deflected in to make it 2-0.

Arsenal bounce back from the disappointing midweek loss to Monaco in the Champions League with a 2-0 victory against Everton which sees the Gunners climb up to third in the Premier League and only four points behind second place Manchester City.

Arsenal made a slow start to the game as Everton had most of the ball early in the first half, however it was the Gunners who took the lead in the 39th minute through Olivier Giroud who volleyed in from Mesut Ozil’s corner to amend for a miss earlier in the half.

The second half saw Arsenal have their backs to the wall for much of it as Everton pressed for an equaliser as David Opsina was called upon to keep the Gunners lead on a few occasions. The Gunners then sealed the win late on as Tomas Rosicky’s deflected shot beat Tim Howard to cap off a successful afternoon for Arsenal.

After an appalling display from Arsenal last night it is now time to look at the issues surrounding that display in a calmer manner.

Arsenal fans were optimistic before the game and the majority was expecting a comfortable win. This was reflected in the fact that most were going with a two goal winning margin. However, this was to be proved wrong by a long way.

This afternoon’s game saw Arsenal grab the 3 points and move up to 3rd in the Premier League.

Ospina - 6 – Ospina was ok but didn’t look assured and had a rush of blood when running out of the box. There will be plenty of talk regarding the goalkeeping situation.

A comfortable two nil win against championship high flyers Middlesbrough saw Arsenal go through to the FA Cup quarter final. The game saw Gabriel make his Arsenal debut after his move from Villarreal but the Arsenal side was near full strength, featuring the likes of Sanchez, Cazorla and Ӧzil.

Arsenal came out in control playing a good possession based football but also moving it round comfortable and with ease. This Arsenal performance made a very good Middlesbrough side look ordinary. Cazorla captained the Arsenal side today and played in a much deeper role than what we are used to however, he showed his ability often dictating the play when receiving the ball from the Arsenal centre halves.