Wenger’s era coming to an end?
It is the end of something big and great at Emirates and the summer ahead of us will provide answers to many questions as Arsenal finish outside the Champions League for the first time in nearly two decades.
Goals from Bellerin, Sanchez and Ramsey were not enough for the Gunners, who god dropped out of the top-four finish after a generally frustrating season.
Form Guide & Team News
Arsenal welcomed Everton on the back of the four-match winning run in the Premier League, during which they conceded only one goal and scored ten. Their improved run of form came a bit too late though as today’s fifth win on the trot made little difference to Gunners’ place in the standings.
Everton finished their season long before their trip to Emirates as they got stuck in seventh with no chances of going up nor down in the table. Inconsistency followed the Toffees throughout the last couple of rounds in the league as Everton alternated through wins, draws and defeats over the past five rounds or so.
Arsenal headed into the match without Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who got ruled out from the Everton match through thigh injury. On the other side, Everton had much more problems as they were forced to do without Bolasie, Coleman, McCarthy, Mori, Stekelenburg and Lennon.
First Half
Arsenal decided not to waste any time and tried to go in front as early as possible in crucial match of the season.
With just three minutes gone, Gunners should have been ahead but Welbeck was unlucky in the box after diverting Bellerin’s cross wide of the target. Arsenal fans were not kept waiting for too long though as Gunners scored just five minutes later to break the deadlock against Everton early on.
Welbeck’s shocking close-range miss allowed Hector Bellerin to convert for his first goal of the season for Arsenal.
Arsenal’s flying start to the match could have been undone by reckless Laurent Koscielny who got dismissed for his crude lunge on Valencia. Arsenal’s best defender got sent off after 15 minutes to leave his team hanging with ten players on the pitch.
Fortunately for Arsenal, Everton players were not performing to their maximum as Ronald Koeman had problems motivating his men after a long season which has been over for some time. Even with a man down, the Gunners were strolling around against the Toffees and doubled the lead three minutes from the half-hour mark.
Alexis Sanchez fired a shot towards Everton’s goal, but his effort got blocked and went over to Welbeck who atoned for his shocking miss earlier in the match by sending a cross back to Sanchez for an easy tap in from no more than six yards out.
Ronald Koeman attempted to shake his team up a bit by introducing his key man this season Ross Barkley, but little could have been done, until the end of the first half at least.
Second Half
With the half-time break over it’s been blow after blow for Arsenal.
Having lost their key defender to red card in the first half, the Gunners were left without Paulista who looked to have suffered a significant injury. With their Champions League hopes lost for the first time in almost two decades, things could go from bad to worse for Arsenal, who look set to be without both the Brazilian and Koscielny for the FA Cup final.
With Liverpool scoring their third goal against Middlesbrough and taking a firm grip on the fourth place, Everton managed to get back in the match through Romelu Lukaku two minutes from the hour mark.
Leighton Baines’ cross got handled by Holding and it was the Belgium international striker who stepped up to lash the ball past Petr Cech for a more interesting finish of the match.
Realising that his team is fighting for a lost cause, Arsene Wenger made two changes taking off first-team influentials Granit Xhaka and Alexis Sanchez for Francis Coquelin and Alex Iwobi, respectively. The Frenchman’s changes disrupted the flow of the game as Everton still carried a thread in the game with more shots on goal than their rivals.
The Toffees even had a goal disallowed with Valencia’s effort ruled out for a foul.
On the other side minutes later, Mesut Ozil got in a fine chance to wrap things up as he received a fine pass from Ramsey inside the box, but his low drive towards the middle of the goal was denied by Joel Robles’ fine save.
Aaron Ramsey finished Arsenal’s Premier League season with a lovely goal from the edge of the box, as the Gunners’ midfielder fired it into the top right corner for a beautiful but utterly frustrating finish to the season.
For the full 19 years Arsenal were synonymous with top-four finish and the 2016-17 season will definitely go down in history as an end of an era for Arsenal. With Wenger’s team packing their bags for Europa league next season, questions over his future remain ahead of hot summer at the Emirates.
Statistical Overview
- Everton finished the game with 52% possession to Arsenal’s 48%
- Toffees had 20 goal attempts to Gunners’ 15
- Arsenal finish out of top four for the first time in 19 years
- Gunners finish season with five consecutive Premier League wins
- Everton lose in their fourth straight trip to Emirates
ARSENAL: Cech 7 – Gabriel 7.5 (Mertesacker 6), Koscielny 4, Holding 6 – Bellerin 7.5, Ramsey 7, Xhaka 6.5 (Coquelin 6), Monreal 7 – Ozil 6.5, Sanchez 7.5 (Iwobi 6) – Welbeck 7.
Unused subs: Elneny, Giroud, Ospina, Walcott.
EVERTON: Robles 6.5 – Holgate 6.5, Jagielka 6.5, Williams 6, Baines 6.5 – Gueye 6 (Barry 6.5), Schneiderlin 6.5, Davies 6 (Barkley 6.5) – Valencia 7 (Kone 6), Lukaku 7.5, Mirallas 6.5.
Unused subs: Besic, Hewelt, Pennington, Williams.
REFEREE: Michael Oliver
Other results this afternoon
Burnley 2-1 West Ham
Chelsea 5-1 Sunderland
Hull City 1-7 Tottenham
Leicester 1-1 Bournemouth
Manchester United 2-0 Crystal Palace
Southampton 0-1 Stoke City
Swansea 2-1 West Brom
Watford 0-5 Manchester City
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
