Well it was certainly an eventful first half with Arsenal going all out to score the opening goal, and after the first 25 minutes the Gunners were well passed double figures for passes in the last third, while Everton had only had one.
The Gunners looked like they were totally dominant as Everton tried to outmuscle our midfield and failed miserably. Gabriel Martinelli scored an excellent goal in the 19th minute after being fed brilliantly by Vieira, but incredibly it was ruled out after a long, very long, VAR check.
It was judged that Nketiah (on the other side of the field) was offside, despite not interfering at all with the run of play, and the ball to Martinelli even came off an Everton player before reaching the Brazilian. Yet another incredible decision by the faceless twats behind the TV screens.
To make things worse, Martinelli was taken down and had to go off injured minutes later. Trossard replaced him and business resumed with Arsenal playing sweet football but not getting the ball in the net.
Everton finally got their first shot on target in the 42rd minute but otherwise we were totally in control, and will be disppointed to go into the break without a clear lead after having 77% of the possession…
Again in the second half it was all Arsenal in attack but Everton were beginning to increase in confidence, we had a scare when Gabriel got fallen upon and may have got a bang on the head. Immediately Arteta replaced Nketiah with Jesus, and Everton brought on Calvert-Lewin at the same time.
In the 68th minute Saka took Arsenal’s 8th penalty and when it came back to him down the line he pinpointed a pass to Trossard and we finally got the breakthrough. 1-0 to the Arsenal at last!
It was good to see Arsenal pushing forward trying to increase their lead, and 10 minutes later Odegaard and Saka broke through but our captain couldn’t get past Pickford, and when the ball broke to Vieira his shot was blocked desperately.
Havertz came on with ten minutes to go, which is only right.
The Gunners certainly look more likely to get another with Trossard working well since replacing Martinelli. But the game is never over to the whistle and Everton started pushing men forward to try and equalize, but Raya and the defence were looking good and solid.
He did make one little fumble in the 87th minute but he was being bundled under pressure, his first error I’ve seen in the game so far.
Calvert-Lewin gave us a little scare in the 89th minute, but nothing serious, but it was a relief to see only 4 minutes added on.
And the Gunners hang on grimly for our first win at Goodison Park in 5 years….
Bring on Tottenham next week!
JustArsenal Show – NEO discusses Arteta’s evolving tactics and discusses whether Kai Havertz should be considered a flop or not after his four games…
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