Arsenal 2 – 2 Everton: One point gained
Add comment January 9th, 2010
Arsenal 2 – 2 Everton (Osman 12, Denilson 28, Pienaar 81, Rosicky 90+2)
Highlights @ 101greatgoals.com | Arsene’s reaction
On a day when our subs bench looked incredibly weak, it was a replacement who spared our blushes with an injury time winner. Tomas Rosicky, whose misplaced pass had started the Everton move that saw us 2-1 down, finished with a deflected shot off the outside of his right foot that prevented defeat and moved us to within three points of Chelsea.
The cancellation of the leaders’ fixture at Hull meant that this was unexpectedly our game in hand. Whilst there will doubtless be those who say failing to win represents a missed opportunity, in the circumstances a draw was a fair and valuable result.
This Everton side were very different from the one who were thrashed 6-1 at Goodison on the opening day of the season. They plunged in to every tackle with vigour, pressuring us high up the pitch and often leaving the holding Denilson badly outnumbered.
Their fast start caught us off guard, and it wasn’t hugely surprising when they look the lead – a floated corner from the right was met by the run from deep of Leon Osman. One of the smallest players on the pitch beat the likes of Diaby, Vermaelen and Sagna to the ball and found the far corner, with the man on he post only able to head the ball in to the top of the net.
We looked bereft of ideas, and without Fabregas a little lacking in character. We needed a slice of luck to get us back in to the game, and it arrived with our equaliser after half an hour. The crowd were about to groan when Eduardo passed up an opportunity to shoot to lay the ball back to Denilson, but the Brazilian midfielder’s shot took a ricochet off Osman and left Tim Howard helpless.
The second half saw a slight improvement from us. Samir Nasri was moved in to a central role and immediately became more involved in instigating our play. Soon after, Tomas Rosicky was introduced for the off-colour Ramsey, and the tide turned yet further in our favour.
There were several nearly moments, most of which came from dangerous crosses swung in to the box that had Eduardo and Arshavin stretching to look for a crucial winning goal.
Then, in a moment of naivety, we were caught. A quick break from Everton stranded all of our men in their half. When Tim Cahill’s neat throughball found Pienaar running from deep, he was a) onside and b) completely clear. His impudent finish over the stranded Almunia, coming with just nine minutes remaining, looked to have condemned us to our fifth league defeat of the season.
However, Everton’s time-wasting (along with a worrying rib injury to Denilson), had left the provision for five minutes stoppage time. As the snow came down, a bit of magic on the edge of the area from Diaby suddenly opened up some space to his left. Rosicky rushed on to his pass and blasted his effort off Lucas Neill and in to the net.
Although this draw doesn’t apply the pressure at the top of the table we hoped for, it was still a vital result. Aside from any points lost, a defeat would have been demoralising. As it is we maintain some semblance of momentum. The returns of the likes of Cesc, Clichy, and Bendtner in the coming weeks will only increase that.
The real tests, as we all know, will come at the end of January. Will we require new signings by then? If Denilson’s injury is long-term, then perhaps a replacement for Song will be on the agenda. On separate occasions both Gallas and Vermaelen required treatment from the physio, underlining our need for a back-up centre-back (I occasionally forget that Johan Djourou even plays for the club, so long has he been out injured). And upfront, Andrey Arshavin struggled to make an impact in a position he’s clearly not purpose-built for. It’s becoming a shame not to see Arshavin attacking from deep, where he’s at his best. Our most skillful player with the ball barely gets it.
Arsene now has a week without a fixture in which to go fishing on the market. Let’s see if he catches anything.
