On Sunday afternoon, Arsenal welcomed Everton to the Emirates in the sixth round of the 2018/19 Premier League season.
The two teams came into the round with rather contrasting results in the previous one, with Arsenal seeming to be on the right track after booking their third consecutive victory with a 1-2 win away to Newcastle. After that they beat Vorskla Poltava 4-2 in the Europa League on Thursday. Meanwhile, Everton suffered a crushing 1-3 home defeat at the hands West Ham, their first one of the season.
Team News
Both managers arranged their team in a flexible version of a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Unai Emery put Petr Cech in goal and his usual back four of Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal in front of him. Lucas Torreira made his first Premier League start ahead of young Matteo Guendouzi and he played next to Granit Xhaka. Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang formed the trio supporting Alexandre Lacazette upfront.
Jordan Pickford unsurprisingly started in the Everton goal, but the early return of Michael Keane from a skull fracture was a most welcome piece of news. He partnered Kurt Zouma at the heart of defence with Lucas Digne on the left and Jonjoe Kenny on the right. Tom Davies captained the team and played deep in midfield alongside Idrissa Gana Gueye. Upon his return to the Emirates, Theo Walcott played on the right attacking flank, Richarlison on the left and Gylfi Sigurdsson behind the back of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The First Half
Everton, who never won a game at the Emirates Stadium, looked to catch the Gunners by surprise with a charged-up start to the match. They had a huge chance within two minutes as Calvert-Lewin suddenly broke through and rushed one-on-one towards Cech, but the Arsenal goalkeeper was too smart for him.
After that initial burst by the Toffees, Arsenal settled in possession but the visitors still pressed them well. An appallingly sloppy Xhaka lost the ball near his own box after eight minutes and Everton attacked in numbers, but they worked themselves into an offside position.
However, the Merseyside team kept looking the more dangerous. They kept the ball for shorter spells and played far more directly, moving the ball forward quickly and threatening repeatedly. Arsenal finally hit back after 12 minutes with Monreal hitting the target from close range but Pickford produced a fine save.
The game continued much in the same way, and Torreira was booked for a late tackle deep in Everton’s half that had to be made to stop Sigurdsson from launching a counterattack. As much as Arsenal slowly grew into the contest, they always looked rather vulnerable on the break. The trio of Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin and Walcott seemed a handful for their much criticized back four.
On 20 minutes, Richarlison received a long pass on the edge of the box, dragged Bellerin inside with him and made use of Calvert-Lewin’s dummy run to find space and shoot, but Cech was up for it. Indeed, the 36-year-old shot stopper looked the best Arsenal performer for long patches of the match.
At the other end, Lacazette could do very little; Aubameyang was invisible. However, the Gabonese striker did manage to get Digne booked after breaking away for an Arsenal counterattack and getting himself fouled by the Everton left back. A minute later Richarlison threatened from around 20 yards, but failed to bend his shot enough to get it on target.
Everton continued to cause danger and Sokratis also got into referee Jonathan Moss’ book for a late challenge on Walcott, enabling Digne to take a very good free-kick and draw a fantastic save from Cech. Immediately afterwards, Ozil combined with Ramsey to create a good chance at the other end, but the visitors successfully defended.
Seven minutes before the break, Cech again had to come to Arsenal’s rescue as a fantastic pass by Sigurdsson put Walcott through. The Gunners’ goalkeeper rushed out quickly enough to thwart his former teammate.
Straight after that, Sokratis was forced to leave the pitch. The Greek centre-back seemed to have caught the wrong end of the stick in that tackle which had earned him a yellow card earlier. Rob Holding came on.
As the half approached its end, Arsenal turned up the volume and pushed Everton back. Gana was forced to act swiftly and stop Lacazette in a favorable position for the striker inside the box, before Aubameyang hit the bar from range. Crosses were coming in from all sides but the Toffees held out. A minute before the 45 were up Richarlison once again made Cech work hard to protect his net with a run at the defence and a shot from around 10 yards.
There were three whole minutes of injury time added before the break, during which Torreira was lucky to avoid being booked for a second time as his late challenge on Digne seemed to be overlooked by the referee.
The Second Half
Arsenal started the second half more lively and they threatened after only three minutes. Xhaka’s corner found Ramsey who hit a volley from range and hit the target, but Pickford was alert.
Everton quickly recomposed themselves and responded. They pressed high up the pitch and caused all sorts of nervy moments from the home team, but they were far from safe at the other end. Arsenal returned pressing with pressing and a minute after having a penalty appeal waved away, Xhaka won the ball in Everton’s half, Ramsey took it and employed Lacazette who slammed an unstoppable shot into the top corner from around 15 yards. There was nothing Pickford could do and Arsenal were in the lead.
Two minutes before the hour-mark they doubled it. A howling mistake from Everton’s defence allowed Ozil to run towards the goal with the ball, with Ramsey and Aubameyang in support and only young Kenny in their way. Ozil came in from the right side and squared it for Ramsey, who slipped and only just managed to extend the pass to Aubameyang. Unobstructed at the edge of six yards, the Gabonese put the ball in the net. He was actually in an offside position but the linesman’s flag stayed down and the goal stood.
Visibly shaken, Everton suddenly found themselves on the ropes for a while. Arsenal were now comfortable in possession, circling the box and looking for an opening for a potential third. They were winning all the loose balls and their little combinations left the opposition turning in their spots.
With 68 minutes gone, Emery replaced Aubameyang with Alex Iwobi.
A minute later, some good work by Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison enabled Everton to finally spend some time in possession in Arsenal’s half and push the hosts back. Then Silva decided fresh blood was needed upfront and took out Calvert-Lewin and Walcott, replacing them with Cenk Tosun and Bernard.
But even though their efforts looked much better in those moments, Arsenal were the team that had things going their way. The Gunners were still in a two-goal lead and they seemed very composed even when pushed back. They were fully in control as the game entered the final 10 minutes, and Emery decided to pull out Ramsey. Danny Welbeck came on.
The Gunners could have increased their lead further in the 82nd minute. Lacazette stole the ball from a careless Gana and gave it to Iwobi. The Nigerian set Welbeck up for a shot from just inside the box, but the shot was blocked.
Everton were left with little choice but to go all out and try and get something from the game. They hit Arsenal with everything they had, and the ball spent quite some time in the Gunners’ half. Cech was very busy with crosses, as were Mustafi and Holding, but they held out until the Toffees ran out of steam a minute or two before the 90 were up.
A decent attempt by Xhaka that went wide and an overcomplicated Arsenal counterattack were the only two moments of note in the four-minute stoppage time, before Moss marked the end of the game.
The Afterthought
Given how Everton performed in the first half the result may seem a bit harsh, especially given that their team seemed better organized than Arsenal, but they simply lacked quality throughout. On the other hand, Arsenal’s attacking players did what they’ve been known and expected to do on two occasions and Cech made an extremely valuable contribution of his own, and the two goals scored in quick succession gave them the confidence they needed to see the game out.
After six rounds, the Gunners sit in sixth place with 12 points to their name. It can be said that they’ve gathered momentum and turned their season around, setting it on the right path. For how long – it remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Everton have suffered their second defeat in a row and Silva faces a hard task to iron out everything that needs ironing in his team at the moment. Their numbers on the table are the exact opposite of Arsenals – 12th place with six points. It’s very early, but the players seem like they will need to step up their game if they are to avoid a relegation battle this season. Only Richarlison can be said to have put a decent effort in this game.
Match Report
ARSENAL: Cech 8.5, Mustafi 7, Sokratis 6.5 (39′ Holding 7), Bellerin 7, Monreal 6.5, Xhaka 7, Torreira 7.5, Ozil 7, Ramsey 7 (80′ Welbeck N/A), Aubameyang 7.5 (68′ Iwobi 7), Lacazette 7.5.
EVERTON: Pickford 7, Keane 7.5, Zouma 6, Digne 7, Kenny 6, Gana 6, Davies 6.5, Sigurdsson 7, Walcott 7 ( 72′ Bernard 6), Richarlison 8, Calvert-Lewin 6.5 (72′ Tosun 5.5).
GOALS: Lacazette 56′, Aubameyang 59′.
YELLOW CARDS: Torreira 15′, Digne 27′, Sokratis 30′.
REFEREE: Jonathan Moss.
VENUE: The Emirates Stadium.
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