Shades Of Last Season? I Think Not
One of Arsenal's biggest victories in the premier league last season was when they taught Everton a serious footballing lesson at Goodison park and the Emirates by beating them on an aggregate of 10-3 scoring five at both venues.
That wasn't quite the case when Arsenal hosted Everton again on Sunday evening in the premier league of which Arsenal fans expected a similar performance to last season's fixture.That was not to be as the new look Everton side under new manager Marco Silva turned out to be quite resilient to Arsenal's advances and kept goalkeeper Petr Cech on his toes for majority of the 90 minutes.
In spite of having 62% of the ball Arsenal only managed five shots on target and scored two of them in what turned to be quite a low scoring affair at the Emirates as the gunners won the game 2-0 with both goalscorers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nabbing their second premier league goal of the season in a fixture which is known for the massive amount of goals scored between both teams over the years.
Even though the scoreline suggests otherwise, Everton were heavily involved in the game with Richarlison and co constantly harassing the Arsenal defenders and giving Cech a run for his money by shooting six times on target and playing some good counter attacking football.
In the end despite bagging 3 points, it was a lackluster Arsenal performance of sorts. It did have some positives though,
PETR CECH
Despite being the subject of constant criticism in recent weeks for being caught between his feet and not fulfilling manager Unai Emery's philosophy of playing out from the back, Cech looked quite okay with passing the ball from the back and made some excellent saves and even looked sharp aerially by picking out crosses and long balls from the Everton players perfectly and delivered a man of the match performance and kept his and the team's first clean sheet of the new season and prolonged the manager's faith in him.
ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE
With quite a clumsy performance in the first half, Lacazette changed the manager's mind when he scored a thunderous curler into the top corner few minutes into the second half just before he was about to get substituted. From then on there was no looking back for the French forward as he seemed more involved, even defensively and his hold up play was clearly evident as he drove more of his teammates forward and also made a through pass to Mesut Ozil which resulted in Arsenal's second goal.
LUCAS TORREIRA
Well it was finally time for Torreira as Arsenal's new defensive midfielder made his first start in the premier league and he instantly made his mark on the pitch by making a two footed slide tackle on Sigurdsson just fifteen minutes into the game and gave referee John Moss no choice but to book him for a yellow. It seemed the Arsenal fans loved that as there was a huge roar when he made the tackle. Something tells me the referees are going to spell out his name many times this season. Despite the early booking Torreira looked quite sharp and was quick in making several interceptions and covered our two center backs brilliantly. He looked quite jaded though in the second half as he gave away the ball loosely at times but still made some good forward passes so overall it was a very solid performance by the Uruguayan international.
MESUT OZIL
Not that dominant performance you'd generally associate with him, but the German looked quite solid in the second half when he switched towards his natural midfield position and also made a key pass when he squared the ball to Aaron Ramsey who in turn slipped but managed to guide it to Aubameyang who scored Arsenal's second. He controlled the midfield more in the second half as opposed to the first where he seemed non existent on the right wing and was sloppy with his touches and gave the ball away on many ocassions. It boards the question that why is Emery still insisting on placing him on the right wing when clearly his best position is in midfield.
ROB HOLDING.
A towering figure at 6 ft 2, Holding was summoned late in the first half on the back of a Sokratis injury and made his first premier league appearance of the season. It was quite a positive performance from the Englishman as he made some good clearances especially in the last 20 minutes of the match when Everton eagerly looked to get back in the game.
HECTOR BELLERIN
Well he's slowly turning into the Bellerin we once knew, who burst onto the scene in 2015. He had a good performance going forward, looked very sharp and what do you know even put crosses into the box on first touch and managed a shot on target which is something you don't normally see with him. He also kept Richarlison at bay for the majority of the 90 minutes and overall looked pretty decent.
NACHO MONREAL had a good game as usual.
The negatives for me were
AARON RAMSEY
Someone tell him the season has started because Ramsey despite being on the pitch looks absent. He doesn't look like he has much creativity in midfield and he cannot seem to carry a ball forward especially on the counter. This is the sixth game of the season where he has been disappointing and if he's not getting a move on Alex Iwobi I believe should start against Watford.
SHKODRAN MUSTAFI
His defensive frailties were yet again visible as he looked sloppy. Sokratis has covered for him in most matches this season, even in this game he took the fall for him. Mustafi needs to get a move on pretty soon.
GRANIT XHAKA
Not that he had a very bad game but Xhaka was still very casual yesterday in both halves. He gave the ball away pretty cheaply at times. However he still dictated the play well at times by spreading the ball around beautifully which was pleasing to see.
PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG
Can't really say a striker has had a bad game when he scored a goal albeit an offside one but Aubameyang has got to find a way to get closer to Lacazette on the pitch and get inside the box more often. Granted he is being played on the left wing but that doesn't mean he should stay on the left crossing the ball. At points it looked as if he and Monreal had switched roles as he stayed on the left and Monreal got inside the box which shouldn't be the case often.
We still aren't urgent enough in terms of our play and look complacent after we score a goal or two which has to change soon.
So, not a commanding Arsenal performance as you'd expect being a home game, this is one that fans will still cherish for quite some time as this was our first clean sheet of the new season and four wins out of four well looks like the club is heading in the right direction.
That wasn't quite the case when Arsenal hosted Everton again on Sunday evening in the premier league of which Arsenal fans expected a similar performance to last season's fixture.That was not to be as the new look Everton side under new manager Marco Silva turned out to be quite resilient to Arsenal's advances and kept goalkeeper Petr Cech on his toes for majority of the 90 minutes.
In spite of having 62% of the ball Arsenal only managed five shots on target and scored two of them in what turned to be quite a low scoring affair at the Emirates as the gunners won the game 2-0 with both goalscorers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nabbing their second premier league goal of the season in a fixture which is known for the massive amount of goals scored between both teams over the years.
Even though the scoreline suggests otherwise, Everton were heavily involved in the game with Richarlison and co constantly harassing the Arsenal defenders and giving Cech a run for his money by shooting six times on target and playing some good counter attacking football.
In the end despite bagging 3 points, it was a lackluster Arsenal performance of sorts. It did have some positives though,
PETR CECH
Despite being the subject of constant criticism in recent weeks for being caught between his feet and not fulfilling manager Unai Emery's philosophy of playing out from the back, Cech looked quite okay with passing the ball from the back and made some excellent saves and even looked sharp aerially by picking out crosses and long balls from the Everton players perfectly and delivered a man of the match performance and kept his and the team's first clean sheet of the new season and prolonged the manager's faith in him.
ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE
With quite a clumsy performance in the first half, Lacazette changed the manager's mind when he scored a thunderous curler into the top corner few minutes into the second half just before he was about to get substituted. From then on there was no looking back for the French forward as he seemed more involved, even defensively and his hold up play was clearly evident as he drove more of his teammates forward and also made a through pass to Mesut Ozil which resulted in Arsenal's second goal.
LUCAS TORREIRA
Well it was finally time for Torreira as Arsenal's new defensive midfielder made his first start in the premier league and he instantly made his mark on the pitch by making a two footed slide tackle on Sigurdsson just fifteen minutes into the game and gave referee John Moss no choice but to book him for a yellow. It seemed the Arsenal fans loved that as there was a huge roar when he made the tackle. Something tells me the referees are going to spell out his name many times this season. Despite the early booking Torreira looked quite sharp and was quick in making several interceptions and covered our two center backs brilliantly. He looked quite jaded though in the second half as he gave away the ball loosely at times but still made some good forward passes so overall it was a very solid performance by the Uruguayan international.
MESUT OZIL
Not that dominant performance you'd generally associate with him, but the German looked quite solid in the second half when he switched towards his natural midfield position and also made a key pass when he squared the ball to Aaron Ramsey who in turn slipped but managed to guide it to Aubameyang who scored Arsenal's second. He controlled the midfield more in the second half as opposed to the first where he seemed non existent on the right wing and was sloppy with his touches and gave the ball away on many ocassions. It boards the question that why is Emery still insisting on placing him on the right wing when clearly his best position is in midfield.
ROB HOLDING.
A towering figure at 6 ft 2, Holding was summoned late in the first half on the back of a Sokratis injury and made his first premier league appearance of the season. It was quite a positive performance from the Englishman as he made some good clearances especially in the last 20 minutes of the match when Everton eagerly looked to get back in the game.
HECTOR BELLERIN
Well he's slowly turning into the Bellerin we once knew, who burst onto the scene in 2015. He had a good performance going forward, looked very sharp and what do you know even put crosses into the box on first touch and managed a shot on target which is something you don't normally see with him. He also kept Richarlison at bay for the majority of the 90 minutes and overall looked pretty decent.
NACHO MONREAL had a good game as usual.
The negatives for me were
AARON RAMSEY
Someone tell him the season has started because Ramsey despite being on the pitch looks absent. He doesn't look like he has much creativity in midfield and he cannot seem to carry a ball forward especially on the counter. This is the sixth game of the season where he has been disappointing and if he's not getting a move on Alex Iwobi I believe should start against Watford.
SHKODRAN MUSTAFI
His defensive frailties were yet again visible as he looked sloppy. Sokratis has covered for him in most matches this season, even in this game he took the fall for him. Mustafi needs to get a move on pretty soon.
GRANIT XHAKA
Not that he had a very bad game but Xhaka was still very casual yesterday in both halves. He gave the ball away pretty cheaply at times. However he still dictated the play well at times by spreading the ball around beautifully which was pleasing to see.
PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG
Can't really say a striker has had a bad game when he scored a goal albeit an offside one but Aubameyang has got to find a way to get closer to Lacazette on the pitch and get inside the box more often. Granted he is being played on the left wing but that doesn't mean he should stay on the left crossing the ball. At points it looked as if he and Monreal had switched roles as he stayed on the left and Monreal got inside the box which shouldn't be the case often.
We still aren't urgent enough in terms of our play and look complacent after we score a goal or two which has to change soon.
So, not a commanding Arsenal performance as you'd expect being a home game, this is one that fans will still cherish for quite some time as this was our first clean sheet of the new season and four wins out of four well looks like the club is heading in the right direction.
😂👍
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