Arsenal break the Goodison Park curse
As the whistle blew for kick-off on Sunday afternoon, you could cut the tension with a knife. Arsenal fans were nervous, making the 4-hour trip up north to Liverpool to face off Everton at Goodison Park. Having not won there in 6 years, Sunday’s game was the time for Arteta and his team to prove how far they’d come in the last 12 months.
Arteta, who played at Everton for six years himself, and who had never won with Arsenal at Goodison Park, was clearly eager to change that. Making three changes from the win against Manchester United, Arteta looked to have a plan of attack.
Starting the game off strong, Arsenal was holding possession heavily, dominating the play and pushing Everton right into their own half for most of the game.
With Declan Rice and Odegaard controlling the midfield and stretching the play wide, Arsenal began to really push forward to try get that first goal.
In the 19th minute, Martinelli looked to catch Everton asleep, slipping through their defence and burying the ball in the bottom right-hand corner of the net but was (not so) quickly overruled by VAR as offside.
Goodison Park can be a very hostile place to go but the crowd around the stadium seemed awfully quiet and tense, with Arsenal happy to move the ball back and forward patiently, waiting for the right opening. In the second half we came out firing on all cylinders, with two shots saved by Jordan Pickford in quick succession, we looked to had set the tone of the rest of the game.
Everton whose defence were strong the entire game, playing a low block and pressing the ball hard when out of possession, looked impossible to break, but after 69 minutes we finally broke through.
Starting from a set piece short corner, we worked it well around the box, making short fast passes until the ball ended up at the feet of Leandro Trossard, who fired a rocket into the back of the net to put us in the lead for the first time at Goodison Park since 2017.
The game ended 1-0 and Arsenal walked away after a well fought win, ending the ‘Goodison curse’ finally. Not an easy win, with Everton defending well all game, but with clear instructions from Arteta which saw us playing fast, beautiful football and a fantastic finish from Trossard, Arsenal leave Goodison Park with all three points and looking like fierce contenders from this year’s Premier League trophy.
What’s your thoughts on the game Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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Yes it must have been like many moons ago, When John champion stated “you can feel the relief around the Britannia ”
From Stokes one of the team that gave us a warm time under the legendary Frenchman.