Another away day draw

Everton 1-1 Arsenal

Arsene Wenger’s side produced another disjointed performance last night against a committed Everton side who completely dominated the midfield battle.

The Gunners got off to the perfect start, with Theo Walcott’s deflected strike giving the away side the lead within the first 52 seconds of the game. The Englishman drifted across the pitch from right to left, exchanged passes with Aaron Ramsey on the edge of the box before aiming a shot towards the top corner. The ensuing deflection helped the ball to evade Tim Howard and sail into the back of the net. It was Walcott’s tenth goal of a season in which he is truly becoming indispensable to this side.

Arsenal should have built on the early goal and used it as a platform from which to control the match. Had they been able to keep the game tight, restricting Everton from creating chances, the home crowd would have become frustrated which in turn would have affected their side’s play. Yet the Gunners were not able to assert any such control on proceedings. Their passing, a fundamental element of each and every one of Wenger’s Arsenal sides in the past, was absolutely abysmal. The away side struggled to pass the ball forward with any real fluency as Everton continually pressed and harried those in possession.

There was no real width to Arsenal’s play either, as their poor ball retention essentially restricted both Sagna and Gibbs from supporting the attack, with the Gunners forward play once again becoming increasingly predictable and easy to read. It was no surprise therefore to see the home side gradually coming back into the game. Leighton Baines saw his cross pushed out by Szczesny before Fellaini’s header from Baines’ corner was gathered by the Arsenal goalkeeper. Everton seemed hungrier for the ball as they hunted in packs, forcing their opponents to make mistakes and relinquish possession to the delight of the home crowd. One such instance in the 28^th minute directly resulted in Fellaini restoring parity with an excellent strike.

Steven Pienaar’s strong tackle saw the ball squirm away from Arteta and land at the feet of Sagna. However with Everton’s players quickly advancing on him, restricting any time or space afforded to the Frenchman, Sagna’s rushed clearance fell straight to Fellaini and the Belgian international duly curled an excellent shot round Vermaelen and into the bottom corner to make the score 1-1.

The home side were now in the ascendency and should have taken the lead just before half time. Fellaini flicked the ball on, into the path of Jelavic, who in turn flicked it past Mertesacker. Yet having done the hard work, the Everton striker could not get his shot on target and saw his effort fly harmlessly over the bar.

The Gunners just could not get into the game. Their midfield had been swamped and they simply were not able to gain a foothold in this area of the field. On the few occasions Arsenal were able to play the ball up to Giroud, there was largely no support for him and so inevitably the ball came back towards the Arsenal box. On occasions such as these Arsenal fans must surely yearn for an out and out defensive midfielder to be deployed at the base of the midfield to provide a destructive element to their play. With the absence of such a player within the Gunners starting eleven, Fellaini was essentially allowed to dominate the game with his immense strength and intimidating presence.

The second half began as the first had ended, Kieran Gibbs this time denying Steven Naismith with an excellent sliding tackle in the six yard box, before Szczesny was twice called into action in quick succession. The Poland international first saved Pienaar’s near post effort and then parried Sylvan Distin’s powerful header over the bar. Everton should have also been awarded a penalty when Pienaar was hauled to the ground by a clumsy tackle from Arteta inside the box which the referee somehow failed to see.

Yet the away side also had opportunities to snatch all three points. Walcott’s cross was flicked just wide by Giroud, before Ramsey’s innocuous pass inside the box almost ended up in the back of the net following a mix up between Howard and Jagielka. But the Gunners best chance came with only eight minutes left. Having managed to catch Everton on the break, Giroud’s cross was just a fraction too high for Gervinho with the goal at the Ivorian’s mercy.

At the end of the game, Wenger declared himself content with the point his side had gained from a tough away fixture, especially when considering the Gunners had played in a North London derby, followed by a Champions League game as well as two tough away matches, all in quick succession. But surely the Frenchman must be concerned with the sterile forward play his side has been displaying of late. For opposition teams, it has seemingly become far too easy to play against an Arsenal side which appears to have great difficulty in quickly completing the transition from defence to attack. The Gunners may enjoy the lion’s share of possession in the majority of their games but it’s how effective you are in possession that really counts; something which Arsenal must improve upon.