Everton (0) 0 Arsenal (0) 1
Premier League
Goodison Park, Goodison Road, Liverpool L4 4EL
Sunday, 17th September 2023. Kick-off time: 4.30pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, Fábio Vieira; Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, Jakob Kiwior, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Leandro Trossard, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Reiss Nelson, Kai Havertz
Scorers: Leandro Trossard (69 mins)
Yellow Cards: Gabriel
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 74%
Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistant Referees: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long
Fourth Official: Anthony Taylor
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Stuart Attwell; AVAR Nick Greenhalgh
Attendance: 39,414
For this afternoon’s match against Everton at Goodison Park, it is to be noted that the club had sixteen players away on international duty during the past week or so, and every one of them have returned with no injuries reported, for which we can breathe a large sigh of relief about. However, Thomas Partey has an ongoing groin injury, and David Raya makes his Premiership debut in goal for us today.
After a respectful minute’s silence for the victims of the Moroccan earthquake and the Libyan flood disasters, we kicked off today’s encounter with the Toffeemen in a controlled and patient manner, in a noisy atmosphere. The early exchanges were dominated by ourselves, placing lots of pressure onto the home side’s defence. Eddie Nketiah flicked the ball nicely into the penalty area with the back of his heel but Jarrad Branthwaite read the danger well and easily tapped the ball back to goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Dwight McNeil was caught hesitating on the ball and our captain tried to slot the ball into the path of Bukayo Saka, but Jarrad Branthwaite was again on hand to kick the ball behind for a corner. Bukayo Saka sent the ball deep into the Everton penalty area and the ball was knocked behind again for our third corner of the match so far, which was wasted, sadly, when Fábio Vieira carelessly blasted it into the crowd. After just twenty-one minutes, Gabriel Martinelli scored a goal which was controversially disallowed by VAR for Eddie Nketiah being offside, and ironically, a few minutes afterwards, our disallowed goalscorer was replaced by Leandro Trossard as it appeared that he had pulled up with a muscle injury. William Saliba classily picked the pocket of Beto in our penalty area, and as the ball came back into our penalty area, Abdoulaye Doucouré tried to turn William Saliba, but fell down thus claiming a penalty of course, which was denied by referee Simon Hooper, thankfully. Bukayo Saka was caught by a late challenge, but it looked like it wasn’t serious, and he was able to continue playing. Damian Rice, Martin Ødegaard and Ben White combined nicely with some clever and quick footwork, which culminated in the latter whacking a strong left-footed shot toward the Everton goal which was stopped by Jordan Pickford. As half-time approached, it was clear that although we are playing some wonderful possession football, we cannot break through the Everton defence to take a decent shot on goal. In the four minutes’ injury time, Ashley Young was deservedly booked for sliding in on the back of Leandro Trossard, and despite some great football by ourselves, we finished the first half honours even, with one solitary shot on the Everton goal, courtesy of Ben White, of course.
Everton commenced second half matters, and we immediately sprang into action taking the game to Everton. Declan Rice touched the ball on for our captain inside the penalty area, and he hit an effort that Jordan Pickford pushed away. Gabriel was booked by referee Simon Hooper for blocking Beto’s run into our penalty area which was a ridiculous decision, and then Leandro Trossard crossed the ball into the Everton penalty area, but Jordan Pickford pushed it away for an Arsenal throw-in. We won the ball high up the pitch and Martin Ødegaard slipped a lovely ball into the path of Eddie Nketiah inside the penalty area; he went for the shot but James Tarkowski slid in and made a crucial block. Then, several of our players were demanding a penalty as an Oleksandr Zinchenko shot struck James Tarkowski on the arm, but the VAR check came back quickly and nothing was given, which was disappointing to say the least. Gabriel Jesus replaced Eddie Nketiah after sixty-five minutes, and four minutes later, we took a well-deserved lead from a well-practiced short corner as we finally unravelled the Everton defence with some quick, one-touch passing to tee up Leandro Trossard for a fine finish. Five minutes later, Ben White delivered a deep cross to Fábio Vieira at the other side of the penalty area; he stretched in order to connect but it looked awkward and the ball went wide of the Everton post. With ten minutes of the game remaining, Kai Havertz and Takehiro Tomiyasu replaced Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fábio Vieira; with fresh legs on the pitch, we managed to control the match as it went into its final stages, despite some counter attacking from the home side. Although there were four minutes injury time, Everton never really threatened us in this period, and we ran out worthy winners on a ground that has not been too lucky for us in recent years.
A good result on a tough ground, which means that we are now in fourth place in the Premiership. Overall, we controlled matters extremely well right from the initial kick-off, and although Everton had their moments, they never really did too much to threaten us in any department. The atmosphere at Goodison Park is always febrile, and our chaps managed to do two difficult things, namely impose their own game on the home side, and silence the home crowd, both of which showed great spirit and fortitude. Well done everyone!
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates on Wednesday, 20th September at 8.00pm (Champions League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 