Arsenal smash Everton in six-goal thriller but miss out on CL

Arsenal have smashed Everton by the 5-1 scoreline to end their season in style, but it just wasn’t enough to secure Champions League football.

The Gunners went into today trailing Spurs by two points, knowing that they needed a minor miracle to leapfrog their rivals and steal fourth spot in the final fixture, and unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

While we were given a penalty to open the scoring just after 20 minutes of play when Alex Iwobi was spotted by VAR to have blocked Gabriel Martinelli’s strike with his arm. The Brazilian sent the keeper the wrong way, but unfortunately Tottenham had already opened the scoring in their outing.

Around five minutes later we doubled our lead when Bukayo Saka’s corner was headed on into the path of Eddie Nketiah in front of goal to guide it home, and around two minutes later Spurs had equalled our lead also.

Just as things looked to be going plain-sailing, we were rocked by some slack defending where Rob Holding seemingly left the ball to cross him in the box, and Donny Van De Beek was left with a tap-in from close range just on the cusp of half-time.

Thankfully we didn’t allow the late goal to shake us, as we came out with focus in the second-half to get back right back on track. We were putting our rivals under pressure, and we reaped the rewards from another corner. This time Saka was part of one straight off the training pitch when Cedric hid at the back of the box before running around towards the penalty spot to meet Saka’s pass, and the Portuguese smashed it home to regain our two-goal lead.

Just moments later it was 4-1, yet again after a corner, although the initial ball in was cleared, only for Soares to lay it forward into defender Gabriel Magalhaes who scored a neat goal with his feet for a change.

Martin Odegaard completed the rout with the sixth of the game and final goal of the of the season, while knowing that Tottenham had already won their game early on, meaning that we will settle for fifth place despite our efforts today.

One could say it was too-little too-late, but there is a lot of reason to be positive about the future, and what more can come from this side next season.

Patrick

Tags Everton

159 Comments

  1. awesome finish. just wish we could have won last week. anyway great finish and.back in europe

    1. In a game where Everton had nothing to play for. Yes it was fantastic. We saw what happened earlier in the season against Everton when there WAS something to play for..

      1. Useless fallacy, there is absolutely no evidence to prove that we won bcos Everton had nothing to play for. Man u and Chelsea had something to play for despite the pressure we won.

        1. Yet Arsenal could not even achieve draws, let alone wins against Ctystal Palace, Brighton, Southampton, Tottenham and Newcastle United on run home with so much to play for.

  2. Disappointing season. Fun facts of the season:

    – we have now finished below rivals Tottenham for 5-6 years in a row..?

    – 4 points ahead at 4th with 3 games to go and bottled it

    – our goal difference was about 60 worse than City’s

    – finished 24 points behind title winners

    – we had 7th best defense despite signing 100 million worth of defensive players last summer. We paid 50 million for Ben White

    – Danny Welbeck scored more goals this season than any of our strikers

    – Spurs 2 January signings scored 5 and assisted 12 goals in these 5 months (MA signed no one)

    – Conte achieved in 6 months what Arteta hasn’t in 2,5 years (despite the fact that MA has been able to spend 250 million)

    – we actually paid 50 million for Ben White (yes I said it twice)

    Hmm what else.. I’m sure there’s other disheartening Arsenal facts from this pathetic season..

          1. Well well I don’t see this season as pathetic as some on here seem to believe. It is unfortunate though that Arsenal failed to secure 4th spot but all in all it an improvement on the last two seasons and I can only see more progress next season.

        1. Your perception of reality?I guess………,………..the truth is we see what we want to see.There are more than enough reasons for classify this season as either success or failure.focus shifted to plans for next season.

        2. We don’t score anywhere enough goals to be considered a top team. 61 goals with 5 coming in the last game. This needs to be at least 75 to 80 plus to be competitive for 3rd place. 90 plus to compete for the top place. So even a top striker will not make the difference. The management needs a more attacking approach. Teams need to fear what’s coming at them. Like City and Pool. To do this we need not only a top striker but a mid field with a couple of beasts that can dominate teams. Dominate but also play forward balls. Get rid of Xhaka and buy a beast. No buy two in case of an injury. Odergaard will continue to improve especially with a couple of “beast” midfielders. They don’t have to be big. Look at Kante. But midfielders who can win turnover ball and play in Saka and Martinelli and our new top striker. Then we might start competing for the top three.

        1. Excessive fan negativity.
          This is clearly a team/squad that his been in transition. With the right signings the future looks good for Arsenal.

          1. Which right signings are you talking about? How many signings has Arteta not done? Oh! I forgot. Those are left signings.

          2. In transition for the last decade.
            I am surprised to find someone still rolling that old chestnut out..

            1. Hahaha! It’s perpetual transitioning Leon don’t you know!;). Once Kroenke has gone we will finally exit this transition phase (and maybe enter into a new one dependent on who and what the new owner is)

          3. David, can all you Arteta boys make up your mind for once and tell us when should we expect that future? You guys have been saying same thing since Arteta has been at the club.

      1. David, nothing negative about that statement mate. Just telling it like it is.

        1. God that was funny
          Declan is the sort of name you would give to someone with down syndrome – funnily enough…

          1. That is a cringeworthy and disgusting remark. Clearly you don’t feel embarrassed by it

          2. That is a cringeworthy and disgusting remark. Clearly you don’t feel embarrassed by – but you should

          3. What a cringeworthy and disgusting remark. Clearly you don’t feel embarrassed by it but you should

          4. Leon, I am disappointed in you gor making such a comment, on both a person’s name and a medical condition. You should be ashamed.

    1. @Dajuhi
      Let it all out mate.. It not always healthy to keep things bubbling up insides oneself. Release all the negative energy..
      Breath In and Out…
      😊

    2. It was 13players (Tottenham squad plus referee, Paul Tierney and VAR Mike Dean) against Arsenal 10 players.

      Burney, we’re as well rubbed for Tottenham (8 additional minutes and a soft penalty).

      FA played their politics into this.

      1. Agreed guys – too little too late. But as NYG said, at least our last game for a while was a good one.

        1. But that game right there was meaningless and the fact we show up when it doesn’t matter and when the opposition are on holiday already is indicative of what we have become under Kroenke.

          Arsenal have a deep routed and seated underbelly, poor recruitment and personnel responsible for it, a L plate manager , some really average players in key positions and poor squad depth.

          This club rewards footballing failure since the top dog is getting a good return and passive income from his sports franchises.

          Whilst he remains and continues to make/not make the correct decisions based on gaining footballing success (and not financial) on the field we will always be also rans, mid table, mediocre, potentially good and in transition (perpetually)!

          The bar has well and truly been lowered.

  3. Arteta and the team have done their best. It’s a learning process. Some teams spent fortunes, and yet couldnt qualify for Europa. Weldone, guys.

    1. Yes they have.
      It looked as if they really tried their hardest against Newcastle the other day. And against Spurs. And Brighton. And Southampton etc. etc. etc.
      I am glad its now going to be three months of not watching them doing their best.
      But we do have a summer of listening to player signings we failed in because we don’t have the money.
      Happy days…

    2. Yeah and Arsenal has been those team who have spent big in last 5 season specially last summer but did not make top 4. So now EL is the standard instead of CL. How the mighty have fallen.

  4. Yup too little too late, and next season gonna be more tough… lets hope for the best.
    COYG!
    OT- We got an almost as dramatic of a title fight as in 2012. Awesome last day!

    1. Gundogan hasn’t quite got the same ring as Aguerooooooo!! Same score though – what a crazy day, Sid!

      1. Yeah would have been perfect if we had got a result in Newcastle, but I guess we wont get everything in life.

        1. Missing out by 2 points really is a kick in the teeth. I’m glad it’s all over – my heart (& dog) can relax!!

  5. Southampton game killed us how did we loose dat game, still khayon Edwards if given the chance will b a arsenal great

    1. Ask myself the same question, the ball just would not going the net.

      It was at that match I sense we had got our mojo back

    2. League tables don’t lie.
      Palace Brighton 2 points from 6.
      Burnley home.
      Etc.
      5th is a result for us.

    3. Not sure it was the Saints game Mick – there’s a long list of matches this season when we fell apart.
      Totally agree on KE – the lad has been superb this season. For me he’s a way more exciting prospect than Patino.

  6. Well…the season have ended, we need to sort out our players contracts, Saka mainly and get our targets as early as possible for all the pre season rituals, so we blend in completely before august.

    We played no European football, won no trophy and still missed top 4.

    It’s a thump down season for me but ….but a slight improvement in our play and our set pieces defending seems to have improved.

    See you all next season gunners.

    Chacha

  7. 6th placed offence
    8th placed defence
    17th in big chance creation
    Basically level placings 8th 8th 5th
    Same with goals scored and conceded last 3 years.

    Showed up big against a relegation battler with nothing to play for.

    Where was this energy last week?
    That is right, nowhere!

    We will not get that kind of time on the ball against top teams.

    Stand by my assertion:
    6 players needed, including a top mid and cf and a couple more back ups or forget about it.

    1. We need a proper manager.. If that’s not clear then I don’t know what is. Too bad we’re stuck with him for the time to come

  8. Lucky for us every other team that is fighting for a European spot was worse than us.
    13 losses but finishing 5th says it all.
    All we had to do was not lose to the spuds but unfortunately our manager hasnt got a clue.

    1. Loss to Southampton and Brighton was the main difference for not qualifying for CL. And why did we loose those two games ! Because the boss didn’t want to play Elenny and wanted to stick to players he bought. Imagine if Saliba was in defense. With so many injuries happening in later part of the season and that is naturally expected, backups were not there. The boss doesn’t want to try new players. Tavares should have scored two goals today, but for no coaching as on to how to keep the ball within the sticks. I somehow the present boss has biases in team selection and that is bad for the future of the club

  9. An ohhh what could have been season overall. Moments of real quality punctuated by moments of mediocrity.

    Will be interesting to see what this window brings. Thanks Leno and Lacazette, you were both good servants to the club. Goodbye Pepe, the less said probably the better. Eddie, please stick around.

  10. Holy Sh**, now I get the “process”, can’t believe it took me to the last game of the season to realize what was on offer…all we need now is to get rid of Xhaka, acquire 4 world class players and have MA go to Turkey and get a testicle replacement

      1. because we’ll never win anything so long as he’s wearing the pants in the dressing room

  11. Decent finish to a turbulent season. Better players and tactics needed for next season.

  12. Season comes to an end, 5th better than 8th. Serious issues with our weak mentality and delivering when pressure is on.

    Hopefully next year we see some real competition for starts.

    Saliba gets legitimate chance to displace White or Gabriel, a new DM and B2B gets to challenge Xhaka and Partey, and a striker that can score more goals than our 2 young wingers.

    Be nice to see direct attacking football instilled back into Arsenal next year, but won’t hold my breath.

    Next year just want to see real competition for starts, and 100% effort EVERY game. Until that changes, don’t expect us to push on from our 5th to 8th place finishes.

    1. Our 5th place finish this season is the same as Wenger’s second place when liecester won the league.. Next season you’ll see how awful our team is and that there is no progress at all and that we actually regressed

  13. As I said before,I don’t care how people want to spin it.for me this season was a missed opportunity to get CL football, considering we had only the league to play for and everything else happening at various clubs.the same way AW was blamed when Leicester won the title for not reinforcing the squad in January,MA should too be blamed for weakening the squad in January among other things.

      1. especially from a recruitment standpoint Sue…I have a feeling that as soon as the Spuds went two up our management team threw the first page or two of our supposed target list straight into the bin

        1. And start scouring the lower leagues for the ‘next big thing’ 🙄

          Their (spuds) January signings combining to deliver CL was a kick in the teeth! Not bringing anyone in was a terrible decision

          1. Perhaps sign Ben White’s twin brother for £90 million just to hide the embarrassment of paying 50 million for Ben White..

      2. I know people will say that CL football was not our target at the start of the season but still,I can’t help it.how would sum up this season Sue?

        1. Disappointing, Siamois, very disappointing.
          And I agree with everything you’ve said 👍

          1. I would suspect that they will now push hard to keep Eddie and Xhaka will be wearing the armband again, even though he clearly plays that role regardless of the optics…can’t say I’m overly optimistic about our recruitment possibilities with only Europa on deck

    1. I wholeheartedly agree with you Siamois. Wenger blunder cost us the league that year, arteta blunder cost us top 4 this year.

    2. @Siamois
      RealTalk. With only one match a week for the longest of time, we should have came 3rd at least. I think shipping out players on loan, who could have helped us, as well as lack of proper squad rotation and utilisation, killed the season…IJS

    3. I’m not one for stat comparisons as they are always tailored to meet an agenda, but spot on that we missed a trick in January. We weren’t expected to succeed this season, so bought nobody. Spuds bought 2 players we were watching – Kulusevski and Bentancur, both great investments, and they went to the next level. Without Partey we had zero creativity or ambition in CM. He got injured and in all honesty that ended the good football and any realistic chance to get top 4. We held on by luck because we were generally poor until the final hurdle. Have to hang that on Arteta.

  14. Arsenal has not made me happy, but my man Olivier Giroud has. Man has now won:

    The French league
    The World cup
    The Europa league
    Multiple FA cups
    The Community shield
    And now the Scudetto

    What an incredible professional.

    1. So happy for Giroud. Say what we want about the guy but he is a winner. A true and top class professional.

      1. 👍 Arsenal should look at Giacomakis from Glasgow Celtic; top scorer in Eriedivisie with relegated team then SPL in last 2 seasons.

    2. @Goonerboy
      But many on here, as well as pundits(Henry) included, claimed “you’ll never win anything with Olivier as your front man”. How wrong they were…IJS

    3. Most here used to abuse / call Giroud names and blamed him for our teams problems in top of blaming him for Özil’s incompetence too.
      😊

  15. Nice win but terribly disappointing season and back in the dreaded Europa League, Thursday – Sunday all over again, now the club will have to smash the transfer record to buy elite forward but in reality we’ll probably sign Ayoze Perez. Well take care fellow Gooners and have safe summer.

  16. Kori,

    I love Giroud so much! Like you said he is a top-class professional that is overly underrated. Congrats to him!

  17. For me it’s not only drawing with Burnley losing to Southampton and Brighton but also the fact that as pointed out above that spurs 2 January signings scored 5 and assisted 12 goals. Those goals would have been massive for us.

    Poor shortsighted management of a situation we should’ve clearly taken advantage of but of course we didn’t.

    Our defence is not as good as everyone seems to think

    Our midfield is atrocious and horrendously slow in getting back and transitioning to attack

    Hopefully we have a very good summer and our signings are very clever and shrewd it’s going to be a very big season for MA he has no more excuses left to hide behind

    Come on you gunners I will always support the team we have finished better than last season but the fact is that we bottled it and blew it by not signing anyone in January and then by the players being so poor in a lot of games

  18. I was pleased for Holding today. He will never be a show stopper but he turned in a typical Holding performance after his multiple brain farts against Spurs. I was worried the crowd might turn on him as well but credit to them as well. Happy for him to stay as a fourth choice CB.

  19. Now get the players we need in the summer as quick as possible..
    We need a striker and another ball playing Central Midfielder as the main priority in the summer.

    Don’t mess around and get our business done as fast as you can. Very underwhelming season..

  20. Oliver Giroud has been superb for AC Milan. He has won serie A.
    Congrats Giroud.

    Arsenal has to buy players in the summer.
    We don’t need players with potentials. We need established players with big mentality.

    Bring back Saliba.

    Out

    Lacazette
    Torrera
    Holding
    Cedric
    AMN
    Xhaka
    Reis Nelson
    Saliba

    IN

    Nkunku/Haller
    Bissuoma
    Neves
    Djed Spence

    Our defence for next season

    Central Defence

    Gabriel
    Saliba
    White
    Mavropanus

    Full back

    Tierney(this guy hardly stays fit)
    Tomiyasu
    Tavares
    Spence

    Defensive And Central Midfield

    Bissouma
    Neves
    Partey
    Lokonga
    Elneny

    Attacking midfield/Wingers

    Saka
    ESR
    Odegaard
    Pepe

    Central Forward

    Nketiah
    Nkunku/Haller
    Martinelli(He should play as a 9)

    1. Yes NY. lol
      I like to build castles in the sky.
      But honestly, we need a complete midfield overhaul
      A midfield of Bissuoma and Neves is high energy and intensity. We need a midfield that can move forward more. Stamina is key in midfield.

      I’m looking at a 3412 formation.

      A front 2 of Nketiah and Nkunku.

      Nketiah Nkunku

      Odegaard

      Tierney Neves Bissouma Saka

      Gabriel Saliba Tomiyasu

      Nkunku: 60m pounds
      Bissouma: 45m pounds
      Neves: 45m pounds
      Spence: 25m pounds

      That is 170m pounds to be spent.
      If we can’t get Nkunku, then Haller(40m pounds or less)

      A back 3 brings stability to the team.

  21. What a massive anti climax today. I was that bothered, i decided the garden deserved more attention today. So so predictable when the team we are playing are on the beach because they did their job last week. Still we now have the summer to look forwards too, some nice weather and do it all again next season. Cant say i am that excited, i see only more of the same. Yes i know i will be called negative but i call it realism.

      1. We messed up NY, or someone did, 3 players we got rid of this season have all helped their teams to get CL, from positions they were not in before they joined. Saliba, Gouendouzi and Auba have all got their respective teams in the CL, massive mistakes keep being made every turn.

        1. @Reggie
          I saw on Eurosport Saliba said he wants to go back to Marseilles. Can’t blame him to be honest. He found a home there…IJS

          1. Let him go if he doesn’t want to play for arsenal has a big ego for a 2 Bob player sell and move on!

            1. Difference between “not wanting to” and “not being given the opportunity” to play for Arsenal!
              Saliba is on contract to Arsenal for the next 2 seasons, so time will tell.

              1. He said wants to stay and play champions league football so that means he wants to leave french league is very poor standard hence why he looks a million dollars bet he would look very average in prem league guess we’re never find out!

    1. That could have been me writing Reggie. I was gardening all day, and am pleased the pain is over for a while. Of course we’ll all be back next time around, but I’m not sure even the new signings will enthuse me this time. Too many false dawns, I’m all battered and bruised…

  22. In reality, at the beginning of the season the 4th
    Place was kind of a dream, we had a good run until things got screwy when our CAPTAIN abuyeng bum lost his marbles. You can blame MA, but in this case he did’t start the fire.
    No replacement, goals started drying up, morale dropped. Regardless today’s, game was a joy to watch.

  23. what an incredibly crucial couple of months coming up…this paper tiger of an organization can’t afford to get this off-season wrong, especially considering what transpired in the final 10 games of the season…speaking of which, I wonder if the same individuals who attempted to wrap up our second half of last season in glory, will approach their respective evaluations of this year with the same sort of statistical vigor…I highly doubt it…furthermore, what we witnessed today, from a tactical perspective, should have been on display on a fairly regular basis considering that this is what one might normally expect during the developmental phase of the “process”

    1. Always love reading your comments always true and too the point.

      Which players would you bring in?

      1. Cheers…I’ve mentioned a plethora of players in the past, much like when I pushed for us to go after Diaz after his stellar Copa performance, but I’m not exactly sure what our real tactical pursuits are moving forward, which is incredibly pertinent when it comes to recruitment…if things stay the same, which I dearly hope isn’t the case, we need to get a somewhat steely DM, who can distribute, like Bissouma, so that Partey could pursue more advanced positions, and a Striker with some considerable height, like Oshimen, Tammy or even Schick, so that we can bomb forward in wide positions and have a real target man in the box for crosses…of course, I want us to incorporate some much-needed directness in our attack, but that would require some major tactical flexibility on MA’s part, which doesn’t seem to be in his toolbox…albeit, if this were the case, and our endgame was a 4-3-3 base formation, some of my recruitment choices would invariably change

    2. Yes TRVL, some of us tried to tell them the season is not from Jan to May and you have too perform for more than just a few hand picked games. But they knew best😆

      1. Cheers Reggie…like I’ve expressed on countless occasions, it’s nearly impossible to develop players and win every game by whatever means necessary, as they’re counter-intuitive…when you try to do both, you usually do neither

  24. It’s being reported that Elneny has now signed a one-year contract extension, with the option of another year.

    1. the Elneny deal, if true, can only be justified if our Swiss miss, 3-wheeked shopping cart of a DM is finally heading out the door, otherwise it’s another glaring display of our utter lack of intent

      1. Our CM is absolutely atrocious so slow sideways and gutless.

        Totally agree Xhaka has to go.

        John Mcginn Fabian Ruiz would all do a better job than Xhaka

        1. unfortunately the list of far better options is infinitely longer than that, considering what’s presently on offer P17…the bigger question is will our management team finally recognize what has been glaringly obvious for most in the outside world

          1. Couldn’t agree more I really hope we sign top draw CM. 37 year old Steven davia at rangers would have done a better job than Xhaka

        1. why would he unless we forced the issue…where else will he get the silver platter treatment, where he plays regardless of the circumstances and isn’t required to take any accountability for his actions whatsoever…it’s like a bull in a china shop wet dream

    2. Elneny has been an excellent squad player, loyal and dependable and thud deserves an extension. The upgrade is awaited.

  25. A season to forget .. no titles just some good games and big disappointments ..

    No CL again and no clear formation with lacking of consistency from game to another ..

    Looking forward for the next season ..

    Always ARSENAL !

      1. I still reckon Xhaka stays too, Reggie, so god help us. Even in a resounding win today our CM pair both played like crabs on valium.

  26. I wanted arteta gone last year for his obvious limitations … had us down for 6th at start of season so we did better on that score .. had us down for 4th at start of calendar year given the obviously limitations of competitors for that position so underperformed on that score .. either metric I want arteta gone for same reason as last year .. however if we get 3 top quality players (of the Frankie de jong quality) and a couple of backups we might contest top 4 even with arteta … Cedric xhaka elneny nketiah balogun Nelson bellerin Pepe can all be comfortably let go … time will tell I guess

    1. And then be the whipping boys of the Champions League? A major upgrade is required and then it is up to the manager, Mikel Arteta。

  27. Enjoyed the win for what it was, a training romp but it gave me little to take away for next season. Cedric, Elneny, Xhaka, Nketian and even Odegaard looked classy against a relegation quality team. However, we’ve seen it all before. Odegaard aside we should know by now that these guys only have a limited use by date.

    1. True Joe. God help us if they are still the nucleus of our squad next season, but I’m not holding my breath.

  28. If we ha won some of the “easiest” games this season, we could have ended 3rd. I am sure there would still be fans complaining, for not finishing 2nd or even won the league

  29. 13 bloody defeats. No signings in the January Window! We won’t win anything if we give Elneny and Nketia new contracts. Delusion is the the biggest enemy of a manager and owners. If they have it at the same time we are in trouble. Look at Man City and Liverpool, they rarely make transfer mistakes. If we do spend on 4/5 quality players then we may stop imploding so often. 13 defeats will win us Nothin (as the Townes Van Zandt tune goes). 13 bloody defeats!?!?.

  30. A good performance to end the season, but disappointed we missed the CL by just 2 points. Anyway, lets take the positives and look forward to a good summer and a successful next season.

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