It was an angry match. Everton came out eager to take points from this game, and Arsenal had to fight until the end to eventually take all three. With Man U and Chelsea also winning, this game is potentially vital to finishing on top.
Wilshere was booked in the 5th, Cesc should have been booked in the 8th, and the Fox Soccer Channel announcer was calling out players for falling down too easily. It was easy to tell that this was going to be a great match. RVP and Cesc were great up the middle as usual, and their combo produced a chance for #4 to put Arsenal up in the 16th, but he missed everything when he probably should have scored. It was RVP’s 100th EPL start, and it was showing tonight.
In the 21st, Theo received a lucky bounce in Everton’s box, but fired it right at the American. This is where I think Theo needs to improve. We all know he has the ability to GET to the goal, but he needs to FIND the goal. Everton had a chance in the 23rd after some shaky central defense, but nothing happened. The ref today, Lee Mason, was really looking overwhelmed at this point, and it showed on the next Everton chance. They played the ball in between Djourou and Koscielny to an offside Saha, Koscielny inadvertently touched it onto Saha, and he finished it past Szczesny. Even though Koscielny touched it, Saha was offside, and the goal should not have been allowed. It would have had to have been a direct backpass that was intercepted, but it was not. The officiating crew was having a terrible night.
Arsenal then kept building it up but couldn’t find anything dangerous to test Howard with. RVP finally had a corner flicked on by Djourou to the back post, but Koscielny was too far to make contact. Cesc was then played through by RVP (again) in the 35th, but missed (again). It was beginning to look bad for the Arsenal. Both teams traded possession back and forth with sloppy passing, and Everton had a decent chance around the 40th minute, but Szczesny made a nice save after more shaky defense.
Cesc was then pulled down by Rodwell who wasn’t booked, and then Theo was fouled but nothing was called. Lee Mason was having a bad night, and the fact that the Arsenal players and crowd were all over him didn’t help him make any decisions in their favor. The half ends 1-0 to Everton.
Cesc came out of the tunnel the same way he went in: harassing the ref. He does this a lot, and I don’t think that it helps him (or his team) win any 50/50 calls. Diaby came on for Song at the break because of a thigh injury—this is not an even swap. Rodwell was finally booked for a tackle on Theo. And this is when it became evident to me that even if Theo isn’t finishing, he’s drawing opponents to him. I love it. We need him on there all the time.
RVP won a free kick right on the edge of the box in about the 50th, but weakly shot it right at the wall. He should have done better. Clichy then took a run into the Everton defense in the 53th and won a corner; nothing happening, though. RVP had another shot easily saved in the 55th. We needed something soon.
Arshavin came on for the dull Rosicky in the 62nd, and he proved to be that something. He was moving well and passing through the eye of the needle like his old self. He found the equalizer in the 70th minute after a lobbed pass over the top from who else but Fabregas, and the game (and hopefully Arshavin’s season) was back on.
Bendtner had come on for Wilshere in the 69th, and I didn’t like it, but when he had a nice shot at scoring a bicycle goal in the 73rd from another Cesc pass, I changed my mind quickly. Theo won another free kick (he’s the man) in the 74th, and RVP finally forced a great save from Howard. The heat was on Everton now. The ball went out for a corner and RVP found a wide-open Koscielny for a 2-1 lead! One quickly forgets #6’s defensive errors when he scores.
Everton made a double sub in the 78th, but it could have been a quadruple sub and we weren’t going to budge. They had a dangerous corner in the 84th, but Mr. Consistent, Bacary Sagna, was there to get rid of the danger.
As the minutes started to wind down, the announced said that there has been a goal in the 89th minute or later between these two sides in the last eight matches! I wasn’t too worried, but when the terrible ref crew threw up 5 minutes of added time, I was given a dose of reality. Everton couldn’t produce much, however, and even Clichy had a chance only to prove that he is supposed to play defense not striker. No hard feelings.
It was a great game but we need to get rid of this shaky defending. Maybe it takes more work in training, but it has to go. Szczesny is our keeper, Cesc is our captain, Wilshere might be our future captain, and Sagna is our rock. Not to mention RVP is often overlooked for his potency. Theo had a great game too, and needs to be included as much as possible. I hope Arshavin has turned the corner because we need someone to fill in for Nasri’s absence. Once again, great game.
P.S. – We need to worry less about the ref and more about ourselves. We let our heads get too hot sometimes. Not good.
