Arsenal: Szczesny, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Chambers, Monreal, Flamini, Ox, Wilshere, Ramsey, Ozil, Alexis
Subs: Martinez, Bellerin, Koscielny, Rosicky, Giroud, Cazorla, Campbell
—
Arsenal produced a remarkable late comeback to secure a point against Everton at Goodison Park this evening.
Arsene Wenger made a number of changes from the team that faced Crystal Palace with Per Mertesacker replacing Laurent Koscielny in the centre of defence, Mathieu Flamini coming in for the injured Mikel Arteta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got his first start of the season ahead of Santi Cazorla, while Mesut Ozil’s inclusion ahead of Olivier Giroud allowed Alexis to start the game up front.
The home side had the best of the possession in the opening few minutes, but were forced into an early change, Leon Osman replacing Steven Peinaar after just eight minutes.
Oxlade-Chamberlain had the first Arsenal attempt on goal a few moments later. Picking the ball up, he drove towards goal and fired a 25 yard shot over the bar, but it was purposeful play from the England international.
The Gunners passing looked more crisp than in the first two games of the season and a swift break saw Ramsey flick the ball into the box to no avail. In the 15th minute Seamus Coleman made a poor clearance from his own goal line, the ball came to Oxlade-Chamberlain right at the top of the D and he sidefooted a first time effort wide with Tim Howard static.
However, for the second week in a row Arsenal found themselves behind. The home side were awarded a free kick in midfield, worked the ball wide and got in a cross to the back post. Seamus Coleman beat the offside trap but Mesut Ozil failed to the track the run and the Irishman headed home from close range. 1-0.
It was almost 2-0 a couple of moments later when Kevin Mirallas caught Calum Chambers ball watching, got in behind but poked his shot wide with just the keeper to beat. Ozil looked to make amends for his mistake by setting up Oxlade-Chamberlain well on the edge of the box, but the shot was miscued.
The former Southampton man had another attempt in the 31st minute when a Monreal cross fell to him, again on the edge of the box, but once more his shot was wide. At the other end, Mirallas curled a free kick not far wide and the Belgian had a go from distance after a careless Aaron Ramsey pass.
As the Gunners probed for an equaliser, Everton got a fortunate second goal. When the ball was cleared from deep, Lukaku clearly fouled Mertesacker but awas allowed play on. When his pass then found an offside Naismith the flag stayed down and that allowed the Scottish international to roll the ball under Szczesny to make it 2-0.
While you can certainly criticise the overall performance, it doesn’t excuse blatantly bad decisions from the officials. However, the fact that Flamini and Debuchy were the only Arsenal players in the box when they scored speaks to a somewhat cavalier approach.
Arsene Wenger made a half-time change bringing on Giroud for Alexis, and the Frenchman almost had an immediate impact when he volleyed over from an Oxlade-Chamberlain cross to the back post. The angle was tight, however.
There were claims for an Everton penalty when the ball appeared to hit Aaron Ramsey’s arm in the box, before Jack Wilshere picked up a 54th minute yellow card for a foul on Gareth Barry. Calum Chambers then followed him into the book despite winning the ball cleanly, the referee issued the booking.
Nothing much came off for Arsenal, even if Giroud’s hold up play allowed them a bit more territory. Giroud fired a 66thminute shot not far wide of Howard’s near post as we began to spend a bit more time in the Everton half.
The Frenchman had another shot saved by the American but in pushing forward for the goals they needed, Arsenal left themselves open to the break. Twice Lukaku got down the left, twice Mertesacker foiled him but the BFG looked exhausted on his return to Premier League action.
The manager sent on Santi Cazorla and Joel Campbell for Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain with around 15 minutes to go, yet not much improved from an Arsenal point of view. Ramsey shot wide after being set up by Ozil, but the Welshman got an 84th minute goal back for his team.
After a period of serious territorial pressure, Santi Cazorla picked up the ball deep on the left hand side, just outside the area. He fizzed in a low cross and Ramsey was on hand to poke home from close range. 2-1.
And it got better in the last minute of normal time. Arsenal broke well from deep, Aaron Ramsey put in a cross which went miles over the back but found Monreal. He crossed it back in and Giroud planted a header into the bottom corner for a fantastic equaliser. 2-2.
It was enough to secure a point despite a poor performance, and it should be remembered that Everton’s second goal was clearly offside, but all in all a result we can’t complain about under the circumstances.
2 null and you park it up 2 null and you park it up
Very good draw, and very shitty performance
I wouldn’t call it “very shitty.” We had spells of good play, Everton played very well, and one of our conceded goals was the ref’s fault. We also had a very unsettled back 4 – a second choice LB, a brand new RB and RCB, and Mert was playing his first game of the season, coming off a short preseason.
So, taken in context, not “very shitty.” A point away at Everton is a good point under the circumstances.
3 things
1: A fair result
2: Ramsey to keep scoring goals even when not having a great game
3: We still need a very solid and strong personalty in that DM position especialy against very good sides
4: That officiating was a total joke
3 things
1: You can’t count.
4: Neither can I.
5: 2-2, CMYG!!!!
Beyond not calling it shitty, one can view it this way;
The Arsenal have gained 4 points in 2 matches from losing positions. Smells like the stuff of which Champions are made.
Days like this made Man Utd feared under purple nose as you knew the team never lost but only ran out of time.
If Chelsea or Man City were in this position, many of us Gunner fans would hail their character. And be assured, they will drop points at Goodison Park.
Credit to Wenger whose substitutes turned the game.
By a relieved and glad fan
No goals in 175 minutes, then two in 15. Hmmm, we starting this season a bit inconsistent. The fight to score the two was awesome to see. Just plugging away.
It was VERY shitty! without a doubt.
stop using ‘shitty’, i always read it as ‘city’ and get confused
Gotta rethink that tactics. We start slowly and fall behind, end up scrambling at the last minute.
Need more urgency in our attack.
It’s weird — it takes forever to get into games. Before the arse have really got going they find themselves a goal down. Need to get better at winning possession and keeping it early on.
We had the bulk of the possession in the early period.
They just hit us with that annoying Everton counter punch just like last season.
Wish we would break at speed like that instead of all this tippy tappy flicky stuff around the box trying to score that Norwich style goal all over again.
Tactically, Ozil on the left just doesn’t make sense. Ramsey is not a number 10 and Ozil isn’t exactly known for his defending, Wenger took a real risk with our left flank today.
As far as playing Alexis up top is concerned, it might just work but the chemistry with the other players obviously isn’t there yet so that’s difficult to judge.
Urgency is there. Especially from Sanchez. But we need more cohesion in attack.
Yeah the shape of the team was wrong. We look much better with a double pivot, especially as neither Flam/Art have the legs to cover the entire width of the pitch in transitions. Wenger needs to stop with this one holder and revert back to worked for us last season.
last season was the same we play many shitty game and end up winning them , we have already done better than last year
– we havent lost 3 -0 away at goodison,
– we have won our opening match .
Jesus, the one from Whales, scores again. Is it the beard/hairdo?
What a typo. hahaha.
Not a poor typo, his performace have been Whale sized.
Soft my arse.
Please don’t let the last 30 minutes take away from what you saw for the first hour.
The converse is also true. You are just choosing to focus on the negatives
Today showed the importance of Giroud
Right, definitely, but I can’t help thinking we would have won with a big target man slightly more clinical with his finishing. Plus, the way we were getting torn apart on the counter really shows the need for a defensive midfielder.
All said, though, we did enough to get the point, and should have got three if not for the linesman.
Dont agree with you on the dm.
Everton almost exclusively attacked on our wings(I think Flamini did rather well today). With both the wingers tucking in and the fullbacks pushing high, it gives a chance to teams with pace to create overloads on the flanks.
For me our biggest issue is the inability to deal with set pieces properly.
Yes, awesome to see Giroud just hold Dustin off and place the ball in the corner. Herculean…
My comment up until the 89th minute: “I’m sorry but Wenger has made a fucking pig’s ear of this transfer window. I said this last week: “There’s been a lot of optimism for this season but people forget this team that shipped 6, 5 and 3 goals against big teams is unchanged in defence and defensive midfield other than Chambers and Debuchy so these sloppy goals conceded aren’t a massive surprise.” 17 thumbs down for that comment. But I stand by it, and today proves I am right. Everyone was all skippy because we blew a wad on Sanchez, a… Read more »
Jesus Christ, this post is making my head hurt.
The fickleness makes my head hurt too. Sad.
Is It Inception? or Blogception … A Match Report within a match report 😀
NOW I get what the ice buckte thingie is all about – waking up to the dream level above!
huh..didnt know the comment section you can type that many rows
2 points after two games – 12/13
3 points after two games – 13/14
4 points after two games – 14/15
Not only this, but overall improvement is for all to see(in terms of pure results and quality in our squad). Only Negative fans like you have always been there so there is nothing new in that.
It’s not being negative so much as looking at what we’ve lacked and what we’ve addressed. We’ve certainly added quality in places but they weren’t necessarily the places of biggest need. And for 80 minutes today it was like watching the same movie from the last 4-5 season—opponent sits behind the ball, waits to counter, then scores pretty easily—just with a slightly different cast of characters.
That we got a draw after being outplayed and might have won if not for a blatantly offside goal just means this game is fucking silly.
Should add I’m totally happy with the point. Just a little frustrated along the way. Time left in the window to do some more business.
I just read the end, ‘FML’.
Grow up man, we’re 2 games in and better off than last year. Clearly the new players are still bedding in and the ‘old’ ones aren’t fit. Be patient and remember to enjoy it, how can you be so angry after that game? Jesus like.
You referred to yourself over 20 times in that post.
That is not meeeting the quota. Comrade Policeman’s Bangers ‘N’ Mash has to improve his ways or it is out of the People Republic’s of North Korea Football Commentariat and in to writing matchday reports of the second Mongolian Horse Traders League!
Mate, no one cares.
In other news, I find it harder and harder each day to believe anyone ever doubted Ramsey. The lad is truly immense.
That’s looks as long as the article there friend.
forget the numb nuts buddy . best post Ive seen on here in the last 2 seasons . keep posting !
Best post? Don’t you read rambling Pete?
If you have that much to say just start a blog mate
What makes me like this post?? Arghh
Truth hurts but I fear there’s a lot in the above.
flamini/ateta add nothing to the team in that cdm role. Jack could easily have slotted in there today and allowed alexis to stay on.
Jack is a nightmare defensive-wise, no self control, no tactical awareness (at least for now)
Watch the match again and see the number of times Flamini made interceptions or timely tackles. His yellow was a poor decision by the ref
though flamini played well. ozil and jack really poor.
why was Ozil poor?
a couple of bad touches but so many good passes in the opponents’ third
Ozil did nothing… for his price he fails to impress. It is too bad, but that price tag is always going to drag him down. In any case, I don’t blame the players, I blame Wenger. Everton were clearly better in every department, positioning, movement, incisive passing, decision making, ball winning. I think the only reason we drew is that they thought they had already won the game. Same old same old from Wenger, the team looks lost going forward, the build up play is tedious, the positioning is suspect, it looks like they don’t have any idea how to… Read more »
@neutral, you must have been watching a different match.
Arsenal were better in my opinion and should’ve won 2-1 if the toffee second goal had been flagged offside.
We had 54% possession and more shots. Just wait until they returns and Alexis has slotted more into the team and we will start getting a lot more dangerous.
I disagree.
Theme of the season of starting to play in 80th minute plus has to stop. I think starting Alexis upfront was a mistake, they were too physical and one can see the difference when Giroud came in. Yes, I know hindsight is 20/20. All in all, good point, suppose to be 3 if not for ref’s fuck up.
Mental strength
Ref had an absolute shocker , aside from the second goal which was offside, but every time the crowd asked for a free he gave it, same with yellow cards. In saying that, I think we saw the value of arteta today , flamini just doesn’t have the same ability to keep possession as the captain. Lastly, I’m getting fed up of wilshere (and others) obsessing over one twos around the box instead of just shooting Still positive for the season though despite this result COYG ^ this was all written at 2-0. Thank you Jesus and giroud for changing… Read more »
I feel like we were robbed of points and stole points at the same time
Kind of. But getting a late goal is a heart breaker for the other team, but it’s fair. An offside goal though? That’s just simply the referee’s fault.
Fu*k !
Felt like a game of fifa where the passes were forced. But always rambo and HFB to bail us out
Wow, great spirit, we looked beaten. Fantastic point that is, would have taken that before the game. But honestly didn’t understand all the pre season hype. Effectively we have the same team as last year plus the one addition of Sanchez. Ospina replaced the second choice keeper, Debuchy replaced Sagna and Chambers is a back up RB/CB. We still haven’t addressed the two main issues we had last year, a defensive mid and a striker. We were weak in those two departments, and it was obvious for all to see. It seems that the signing of Sanchez has really blinded… Read more »
After watching that game I’d says that our problems have more to do with tactics than the strength of the squad, he fact that with Ozil, Sanchez, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wilshere on the pitch we were struggling to create clear-cut chances is worrying suggests that tactical tweaks are required. I believe we had around the same amount of possession as Everton, which is an achievement, it’s just that we have absolutely no clue what to do when we get near the opposition box.
Totally agree.
I wouldn’t swap any of our squad for any Everton player.
The problem is not quality of player, it’s quality of gameplan.
The only thing missing from this match was a 94th minute Joel Campbell volley into the top corner, with Howard diving as far as he can reach and watching it creep past his finger as he crashes defeated to the ground. That, would have made this match a classic. Seriously though, this whole underdog rising thing we have going right now isn’t good for the heart. I was sweating buckets at the end.
Joel Campbell looked good and worked hard
the reason why Podolski might be leaving
I was concerned when Wenger took Sanchez off, but all the subs were perfect. Campbell needs some more game time and I really think it’s time to accommodate properly for fast wingers either side of Giroud, with Campbell, Sanchez and Walcott all perfect for that spot. Ozil is clearly best playing through the middle and then have Ramsey and Arteta drop back for more defensive roles, with some leeway for Ramsey to bomb up field and nick those vital goals.
“…meaty french forehead…”, not sure who was commentating that 2nd goal but that was class
That was Arlo White with Lee Dixon on NBC.
Well it made the equaliser 8x sweeter for me
Wow! Just wow….. we scraped through by the skin of our teeth… Giroud.. what a player he was today. Well done…
I really hope the arsenal we saw in the 2nd half are a sign of things to come because that first half performance was fucking lethargic and pissweak.
Shame that cunt Naismith’s offside goal stood but that was a very very good point to salvage from what seemed an unwinnable situation at times in the first 45.
2-0… And you fucked it up 2-0 and you fucked it up 2-0!!!
Not sure how to feel about that one…. Got a point against top 4 rival but i feel like we should be beating everton, man for man, we are better, right?
They’re a good team and let’s not forget they weren’t playing Tuesday night and it was at their place. Given last year’s performance I think it’s a good result.
Everton seem to have read our gameplan before we did. Me thinks we are very predictable.
Pass down right flank, cut back, pass across the box, pass back, ensure all opposition back in defence than try defence splitting pass, lose ball, repeat if no yellow card or goal scored in other end.
Sshhhh don’t give our plan away 😉
A surprisingly uplifting result after what felt like another toxic defeat. Viewed from this end of the telescope I feel like we can say that this isn’t too hard to take and that the game was seriously marred by some atrocious refereeing.
Still don’t feel 100% like we’re right yet though. And also worried that a better team than Everton could hurt us more, and quicker, than they did today…
Yeah, there were definitely some moments where we didn’t play like a team, a more clinical team would have given us a pounding! A point at Goodison is still a good result though.
Ref was a fucking cunt.
I’m kind of having a flashback to Villa last year at home, albeit with a more palatable result today: we were shite, but the game was really ruined by incompetent refereeing. I’m convinced that ref last year was either bent or the team bus had run over his cat.
Oh yeah because being bent would cause him to make bad decisions, jog on ye fuckin eejit
He could have meant ‘bent’ as in corrupt.
‘Bent’ is indeed British slang for corrupt, eg a ‘bent copper’ meaning a corrupt police officer. While I applaud your calling out perceived homophobia, you are quite mistaken in this instance. You’ve used an Irish form of ‘idiot’, although I’m guessing you’re not. Unless you were taking issue with my calling the referee corrupt, in which case, it was mighty alarming the way he couldn’t wait to award a penalty and send of Koscielny, not to mention award Villa free kicks for every Arsenal tackle. You don’t have to jog, go at whatever pace you feel most comfortable with.
Linesman was an even bigger CB
Flamini must be annoyed for having to wait till 77th min to get his customary yellow card
Haha, so polite in the interview after too. Love the guy.
Good thing he only had to wait 15 seconds into the game to commit his first foul!
What a cone back. Guess Giroud isnt such a shit after all. But we still need more quaLity
He has saved himself from a butchering with that goal.
It has to be said he did miss 3 chances which most decent strikers would put away. I still want another man upfront to pair with him.
Strange day… Joy at seeing alexis start the match upfront, pain seeing arsenal do what we do (dominate but not score), absolute disbelief seeing alexis replaced by Giroud at half time then a strange smile filled my face after seeing the man himself head home in the 90th!!! Lots of lessons learnt today
I wouldn’t say we dominated at all – we looked toothless going forward and Everton were far more dangerous. Lots of lessons learnt today? More like we learned that there are lots of lessons to be learned. Arsenal are often slow to learn their lessons and still too naive at times.
Good point at Goodison, but I dearly hope that both the excitement and quality in our attacking play and the ruthless defending from last season comes soon, and I’m sure it will. Early days.
Nanananananana
Nana nana
GIROUD!
Safe to upvote guys, i’ve counted the na’s
I hate to do this but there’s a ‘na’ is missing. I still thumbed up it though, great effort.
may be just may be, the draw, the second half come back will prove to be more worth than 1 point. you need results like this to bring the side together
I really hope Ospina comes good, ive been really unimpressed with szc. That first goal was saveable, regardless of the fact that ozil failed to track colemans run.
Disagree on that. The shot was way too powerful for any keeper to save
Nonsense
both were saveable, the first header went right through his hands and the second nutmegged him.
Bloody referee made so many decisions against us – played 11 vs 12 and got a draw at Goodison Park – I’ll take that point – thank you very much.
Once again, the team played much, much better once Jack Wilshere took his seat on the bench.
Good game, but can anyone tell me why Podolski wasn’t on the bench? I seriously hope we are not gonna be selling him..
Played like shit, got a point… I’ll take it
Great comeback.
Too bad we had to play against the officials too. Should have been 1-2, that offiside goal shouldn’t have stood.
Come on Arsenal!!!
Do we get the three points or is that second goal actually going to be allowed, because my god what a joke.
Much improved second half.. Much improved Giroud..
1 point better off than last season. Get in Giroud!
It’s hard to keep defending Jack
But players like Rosicky & Cazorla shouldn’t be sitting on the bench
That chase back and defensive work by Alexis in the 1st half – awesome stuff!
Can’t believe he got subbed off. Wilshere should have been benched at halftime for Giroud, Alexis dropping into the wings, and Ozil moving central into the hole.
Maybe Wenger had one eye on the midweek game vs Besiktas.
#COYG
I honestly dont think Wilshere had a bad game, he went in with much more strength this game and hardly lost the ball at all.
I think if anybody should have gone off a half time it should have been Özil who for the large majority of the team seemed invisible. (not even going into the first goal)
Poor ref and subpar performance doesn’t make for good television
On the bright side I probably paced a mile in my living room
Great fight back by the lads, fair play. However it shouldn’t paper over the cracks, I’m not sure Sanchez up top will work in the league (maybe it will in Europe) and I have no idea what Ozil was doing on the left. We desperately need a striker (someone who play up to on their own and is mobile) a centre back and a defensive midfielder. I’m also concerned about the left wing. Podolski looks to be off, Carzola wants to cut in all the time and Jack/Oxil there is a no no. I wonder if Sanchez will play there… Read more »
The officials are all massive cunts…
Great fightback from the lads, should have been 3 points not 1… I guess it’s hard playing against 12 men.
hope i didn’t make anybody cry more, but i cried for Istanbul’s turf excuse after this match. BTW hope my english is not bad.
I teach English literature to English kids. Trust me, my friend, your English is better than theirs.
meaning kinder garden’s standards, nice try and it convince me you Teach kids. thanks btw.
No, I teach 11-18 year olds, and I haven’t the foggiest idea what any of them are talking about most of the time. It’s very distressing. For that matter, have you ever heard an ‘English’ footballer speaking? I’m from London and I need bloody subtitles.
Good game, but can anyone tell me why Podolski wasn’t on the bench? I seriously hope we are not gonna be selling him..
Also, a large centre forward appears to be an absolute-must for our squad at the moment, the first half looked too much like we had five attacking midfielders.
this result should give the squad and fans belief that we can get results away from home against the top 5.
Atrocious 1st half.
Please don’t make us watch again a midfield trio of Ramsey,Wilshere,Flamini
Please play Ozil at the center, he simply can’t mark or tackle
What he can so easily do is pass, when the whole team couldn’t pass for shit.
Giroud thank you, you’re a true worker, you always give your 200%.
But is it enough?
Alexis should reconsider the way he plays and work double time in order to be on the same wavelengt with his teamates
First we need to beat Besiktas, then buy those 3 players we surely need.
What was Wenger saying during the half time ? You don’t deserve …
The draw will paper over some obvious cracks. Lots of things to say. We’re still too easily outmuscled, and we still lack threat and invention going forward. I hate to whine, but it frustrates me to no end when we play against opposition like Everton who simply show that (for the majority of the game) they are better than us. They shouldn’t be allowed to be better than us at our game – passing and moving and counter-attacking. We really need more risk and invention in our play – some of the runs from Alexis during the game were brilliant… Read more »
I agree with you, it hurt to see that Everton were far superior for 80 minutes.
But we are not a good counter attacking team, we are much to slow going forward.
A pile of steaming shit that got dipped in 24kt gold right at the end…..thank goodness.
My word. That’s an excellent description.
We remained unbeaten after 4 games into the season (including shield and CL), and yet so many “wenger out” comments going on in the internet..lol
well we played really bad and made Everton looked like friggin bayern but if you think about it their second goal was offside.
i can’t help but feel this team is something special wenger just needs to sort out his starting 11
I felt the same. We made the Tofees look like world beaters. I can tell you the team selection was made keeping Besiktas in mind. But the only thing that was odd was keeping Ozil on for the entire game. He will be important on Wednesday. A decent result given the current shape of the squad.
That ref reminded me of Howard Webb – so easily influenced by crowd noise. You see this a lot in the NBA; the home team has an amazing advantage due to the crowd noise influencing the ref. You don’t usually see this as much in football, but today the ref was so easily conned all over the place by Everton players and fans. I think the fouls were 18-7 for Arsenal; kind of ridiculous in an even game.
We played to the final whistle and never gave up. CL qualification next please!!!
Gonna smoke a doob to calm my shit down after that… COYFG, let’s send those Turks home crying.
A very good draw. But we all saw why Gibbs is our first choice left back. Naismith and ref, not were cunts. Ramsey was not good, but showed his quality with the goal. Ozil has to be better.
Agreed, Naismith was (is) a cunt. Ozil has to be better.