FULL TIME: Arsenal 2-1 Everton
And that’s that! My word, Arsenal made a meal out of that, but they were the deserved victors nonetheless, and their fourth league win in a row takes them to the top of the Premier League table. A proper title challenge is developing here. They look down on the rest of the division for the first time since February 2014 - and they’re a full 14 places above the champions Chelsea. Everton, meanwhile, remain wedged in mid-table, and their two-decade wait for a win at Arsenal goes on.
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RED CARD! Barry (90 min +4)
A late clatter into Gibbs, who skedaddles down the left, and that’s a second yellow for Barry. He doesn’t wait to see the referee flourish it.
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90 min +3: Cazorla and Ozil exchange crisp passes on the edge of the Everton box. Howard is off his line, and the ball’s knocked around him. But neither Arsenal man can walk it into the net, as is their wont. It’s nearly costly, as well, as Lukaku bombs up the other end, only to be denied a shooting opportunity by Gabriel’s excellent challenge.
90 min +2: Arsenal tap the free kick and faff around in the time-management style.
90 min +1: There will be four added minutes. The first sees Gibbs make off down the left, only to step on the ball as he attempts to hold it up by the corner flag. But Mirallas comes lumbering in to make sure he falls, and that’s a free kick.
90 min: Ozil picks up possession to the right of the Everton D. He’s got his back to goal but turns smoothly and creams a shot towards the bottom right. If it’s on target, it’s in, but it hits the outside of the right-hand post with Howard beaten.
89 min: Both teams make a change. Kone comes on for Coleman, while Sanchez is replaced by Gibbs.
88 min: Barry slides a pass down the inside-right channel for Mirallas, who spins on the edge of the area and gets away a shot. His daisycutter, aimed for the bottom left, is gathered easily enough by Cech.
87 min: So having said that, Flamini first flashes a header from a Sanchez right-wing cross straight at Howard, when it was easier to score from ten yards. Then Everton fly up the other end, Deulofeu dispatching a shot towards the bottom right from 12 yards, only to see Cech get down to parry clear brilliantly. Everton yet again close to an equaliser.
85 min: Flamini has a whack from distance, but no, not really. His presence seems to have steadied Arsenal a bit, though. Everton haven’t done much in attack since he’s come on to shore things up.
84 min: Some komik kutz in the Everton area, as Cazorla cuts in from the left and sees his shot-cum-cross deflected into the air. Giroud doesn’t quite know where the ball is as it drops. Howard makes an awful meal of claiming, and eventually Stones creams it clear.
82 min: Bellerin dribbles into the Everton box from the right wing. Everything nearly opens up for him, but he trips over his own feet and loses control. A half-arsed shout for a penalty, but nobody really believes it. Cazorla wants a corner, though, having latched onto the loose ball only for Funes Mori to prod it out. But he’s not getting it.
81 min: Arsenal have been the better side tonight, and yet Everton were inches away from equalising there. And they’ve been causing bother in the last few minutes. With this in mind, Arsenal replace Oxlade-Chamberlain with Flamini, and take their sweet time making the substitution too. Professional clock management of the highest order.
79 min: ... the ball is worked to Barkley in space on the wing. He crosses accurately, finding Lukaku in acres, eight yards from goal. Lukaku rises and sends a header towards the top left. For a second it looks like going in, but it’s an inch or two too high and grazes the top of the crossbar instead. So unfortunate!
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78 min: Deulofeu threatens to burst clear down the right, and is clattered from behind by Monreal. The full back should be booked, but it’s just a free kick, in a very dangerous position to the right of the Arsenal box. Barkley’s delivery is half cleared to Mirallas on the left. Mirallas’s shot is deflected out for a corner on the left, from which ...
76 min: McCarthy is beginning to get himself involved after an unusually quiet match. He slips a ball down the left flank to release Mirallas into space, but the winger was a bit over-excitable there, and the flag goes up for offside.
75 min: Virgin Trains, though. What an absolute shower.
74 min: McCarthy makes some space for himself down the right, and loops a stunning cross to the far post. It’s taken out Cech and Bellerin, but Galloway heads wide left from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. That’s an awful miss, a wonderful chance to equalise spurned.
72 min: Lukaku bursts down the right and whips a cross into the middle. Mirallas prepares to connect but Oxlade-Chamberlain races in to hoof high into the stand behind for a corner. Cech rises to claim the set piece. A big cheer, though not as big as the one which greets the announcement of the cancellation of the last train back to Liverpool tonight.
70 min: Lennon is replaced by Mirallas.
69 min: Ozil turns down the inside-right channel, springing himself into space, and sliding a pass to his right for Giroud. The striker takes a touch inside and curls a powerful shot towards the top left. Howard is beaten totally, but the ball clangs off the crossbar and away to safety. So unfortunate! Adding insult to injury, when play stops next, Giroud is booked (quite correctly) for a rare old clatter into Barkley’s back.
68 min: Monreal gifts the ball to Deulofeu down the Everton right. Deulofeu glides in from the wing and offloads to Barkley, who swings a first-time shot towards the bottomr-right corner. Cech reads well and is behind it all the way.
67 min: Barry goes in the book, though, for grabbing a fistful of Ozil’s shirt. He can’t really complain, but you know how footballers are, and does anyway.
66 min: Coquelin drops a shoulder to ghost past Barkley and into a pocket of space in the Everton half. Barkley sticks out a cynical arm and is very fortunate not to go into the book.
63 min: Ozil has a whack from distance, but it’s easily gathered by Howard.
61 min: Space for Barkley on the edge of the Arsenal box, but he can’t get a shot away. Some rare danger for Arsenal there.
59 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain turns on the jets down the right. He fizzes a low ball straight through the Everton six-yard box. Giroud, sticking out a telescopic leg, is millimetres away from poking home. A real sense that a third Arsenal goal is only a matter of time.
58 min: Sanchez scuttles in from the left and exchanges passes with Cazorla. Stones clears in the nick of time. Ozil, in space on the right-hand corner of the Everton box, balloons a cross high and wide left, with team-mates gasping in the middle. Everton can’t get out at all.
56 min: Arsenal are totally on the front foot right now. Nearly half of the play since the restart, give or take a couple of percent, has been in the Everton final third. Giroud has a slapshot from a tight angle on the right, latching onto a dinked header from Oxlade-Chamberlain down the channel. Howard tips round for a corner, which is cleared easily enough by the visitors. But Everton are on the ropes.
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53 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain, having just done some damage to the centre of Everton’s defence by accidentally crocking Jagielka, does some more by running at its surviving members very quickly. He slips the ball to the left for Sanchez, who enters the area and tries to dink home, but Howard smothers. The resulting corner comes to nothing.
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52 min: In fact Jagielka can’t continue, and he’s replaced by the new boy Funes Mori. Howard is awarded the captain’s armband.
51 min: Coleman has a blooter from the best part of 30 yards, but Cech is behind it all the way.
50 min: Ozil, Sanchez and Oxlade-Chamberlain cause Everton all sorts of bother as they probe all across the front of the away team’s area. Eventually Oxlade-Chamberlain tries to burst through down the right, but only succeeds in clattering into Jagielka. The big defender’s taken a whack on his knee there, but looks as though he’ll be fine to continue. He’s having to do a fair bit of rubbing, grimacing and hopping first, though.
47 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain, from a deep position down the inside right, rolls a diagonal ball to Sanchez down the other channel. Coleman should cut it out, but lets it run through towards Howard and nearly allows Sanchez to nip in and score. Sanchez’s improvised poke is turned round the post by Howard, and the corner is cleared. Coleman has made several uncharacteristically dozy errors tonight.
46 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain embarks on an immediate skitter down the right, but is bundled out of it just before he reaches the Everton area. Arsenal are obviously of a mind to add to their tally in double-quick time.
And we're off again!
Arsenal get the ball rolling. No changes. And just in case you thought I was lying to you on 24 minutes, re the dude with the budgie smugglers, here’s some pictorial proof. He’s been seen waving a half-and-half scarf, too. He’s our kind of guy.
Half-time entertainment: In lieu of no more daft action for the next 15 minutes, here’s some equally frantic stuff from a League Cup semi-final between the two sides in 1988, George Graham’s side wresting the baton of Best Side In Country With Possible Exception Of Liverpool (kids, ask granny or gramps) from Colin Harvey’s men.
HALF TIME: Arsenal 2-1 Everton
Deulofeu, to wild boos, whips a ball in from the right. Cech makes an awful mess of gathering a simple bouncing ball, overrunning it, mishandling it, and letting it bounce out of play to the right of goal. He’s lucky that wasn’t on target, or the scores would be level. Slapstick nonsense in the rain. Everton can’t make anything count from the resulting corner, and that’s that for the first half. What wonderful entertainment. You’ll not be going anywhere, right?
45 min +1: Deulofeu goes after another long Everton ball, taking it down the centre and nudging it to his right, past Monreal. He goes down under not much contact, then bounces up in high dudgeon. His shirt had been lightly tugged, but the referee wasn’t buying the subsequent crash to the ground.
45 min: Well that came out of nothing. Seconds before, Oxlade-Chamberlain was trying to manufacture enough space for a shot on the edge of the Everton box, but couldn’t quite manage it. For a second, a 3-0 scoreline looked on the cards. But now look!
GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Everton (Barkley 44)
But all of a sudden the visitors are back in this! Barkley chases what looks like a lost cause down the inside-left channel. A long hoof. He runs towards the Arsenal area, and chances his arm with a low drive towards the bottom right. It’s not particularly good, but Gabriel sticks out a leg and deflects it into the top left!
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43 min: A rare old atmosphere at the Emirates despite the weather. Arsenal’s fans are in full celebratory mode right now. And no wonder, because their team are looking very impressive.
42 min: Deulofeu has looked lively down the right, but for all his twisting and turning he can’t open Arsenal up. Monreal stays strong and runs him out of play for a goal kick. “How did that guy in Speedos get into the ground?” wonders Julian Le Saux. “I mean, did he turn up in them? Or did he strip down to them once the rain started? Has he tucked his trousers and jumper under his seat? Is he going to put them back on again before he goes home? Come on, somebody go and ask him! I need answers!”
40 min: Galloway tries to manufacture something for Everton with a lively run down the left, but he loses control upon entering the area. Adding insult to injury, Gabriel sends a clearing hoof straight into the young man’s coupon.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Everton (Koscielny 38)
Cazorla curls one high into the Everton box from the left wing. Koscielny rises highest, almost unchallenged on the edge of the six-yard box, and nuts home with purpose and power. Arsenal had been winning plenty of headers in the Everton area, and look what’s happening now they’ve started getting them on target!
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37 min: Arsenal have their tails up. Sanchez skitters down the left and is stopped in his tracks by Coleman. Free kick. From which ...
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Everton (Giroud 36)
Ozil is afforded ludicrous amounts of space and time down the right. He magic-wands a delicious high cross into the box, where Giroud rises above Jagielka to glance a delicate header over Howard and into the top left. Simple but lovely.
Photograph: Adam Davy/PA
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35 min: Deulofeu embarks on a Gazza-style skitter down the inside-right channel, drifting into the middle and considering a shot as he reaches the Arsenal box. He’s bundled over from behind by Gabriel, but he’s not getting a free kick, which looks a fairly tight decision by the referee.
33 min: Arsenal had fallen quiet for a while there, but suddenly they’ve sprung back into life. Sanchez latches onto a weak Coleman flick down the Everton right, and sends a screeching first-time shot inches over the bar. It’s a very entertaining game, this one.
32 min: Lennon steps across Sanchez as the Arsenal man dribbles down the middle of the park. Free kick. Ozil sends a gentle 9-iron of a free kick into the Everton box. Koscielny, rising near the left-hand post, can’t quite connect.
30 min: Lukaku makes a nuisance of himself 30 yards from the Arsenal goal, and sweeps a ball wide left for Galloway, who is unlucky not to win a corner, but must settle for a throw off the flagstick. From the throw, Barkley battles inside the Arsenal box, but in a clumsy fashion, and that’s a free kick that takes the pressure off the hosts. But Everton are finally baring some teeth after being on the receiving end for the majority of the opening exchanges.
28 min: Deulofeu curls a cross into the Arsenal box from the right. Bellerin’s clearing header is a nonsense. Barry attempts to shoot from 30 yards, but shanks it. Galloway tries again, and his deflected effort goes out for a corner on the left. From the set piece, Lennon scampers into space on the left, and whips a low cross into the six-yard box. Cech fumbles into the path of Stones, who from 12 yards must at least get a shot on target, and if we’re being honest probably should score. But he shins it wide right and high. What a chance for Everton.
25 min: The habitually reckless Coquelin slides in on Galloway. It’s a pointless challenge, in the middle of the park with Everton posing no danger to Arsenal, and it’s out of control as well. His studs are showing, and he’s got both feet off the ground. He can have no complaints at going in the book.
24 min: The rain is coming down in sheets. One chap in the stand - and I’m not making this up - is in Speedos, swimming cap and goggles. And nowt else. Marvellous.
23 min: Bellerin sprays a pass down the right for Ozil, who checks inside and sliderules a disguised pass down the channel for Sanchez. For a second, it looks like Sanchez is free in the box, and will be able to get a shot away, but in the end he settles for a corner, from which Gabriel wafts a weak header wide left of goal. But Arsenal are repeatedly winning headers in the Everton box from set pieces. The next stage is getting one on target.
20 min: Ozil and Giroud play a crisp one-two on the edge of the Everton box, but Ozil doesn’t respond to Giroud’s two. Everton were a little flat-footed at the back there.
18 min: Now Everton are penalised for bugger all in attack, Lennon going shoulder to shoulder in contesting a bouncing ball down the inside-left channel. Gabriel gets the decision, for nowt.
17 min: It’s tipping down in north London. Lashing. [MBM hack flicks through Big Book of Tired Old Clichés] It should benefit Arsenal’s passing game.
15 min: Arsenal go route one. A long ball down the middle. Giroud rises, wins the header, and lays waste to Stones and Jagielka. Ozil, latching onto the knockdown, is free on goal, but squirts it wide. Think the second half of the World Cup semi-final between Germany and Brazil. The Germans would have scored ten if it wasn’t for Ozil’s profligacy. Anyway, Ozil’s embarrassment is saved as the flag goes up for a foul by Giroud, which is preposterous really. A fine old-school forward’s challenge, the defenders having just come off second best. But here we all are.
14 min: The ludicrously impressive Bellerin finds yet more space down the right, and his whipped ball inside is hacked out of play by Stones for a corner. Everton eventually deal with the resulting set piece, but only after Bellerin and Ozil nearly open them up with some neat triangulation down the right. Everton’s offside trap with some fine work there. Arsenal fans who remember the 1980s will appreciate that, and allow themselves a wry smile.
12 min: Galloway appears to be a target for Arsenal down the right. The home side attacking again and again down this wing. Oxlade-Chamberlain very nearly nips past him, but this time the young full back stays strong and wins a goal kick.
10 min: Bellerin goes off at pace down the right again, and wins another corner for Arsenal. Cazorla takes, and finds the head of Gabriel with an outswinger. Gabriel, on the edge of the six-yard box, should do better than wafting a header over the crossbar. Everton have given up a couple of early chances here, but Arsenal haven’t got anything on target yet.
7 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain latches on to a poor Barry ball down the Everton left, bursts back up the wing, and wins a corner off Galloway down the Arsenal right. The set piece is whipped to the near post, where Giroud rises and heads carelessly wide right from close range. A real chance spurned there.
6 min: A bit of space for Coleman down by Arsenal’s right-hand corner flag. He shovels a cross to the far post, but there’s nobody there in blue. Both teams have come out tonight with a positive mindset.
4 min: Bellerin scampers after a ball he should never reach, and keeps it in by the right-hand corner flag. Pulling it back, he finds Coquelin, who loops to the far post for Sanchez. Too much height on the cross does for Sanchez, though he very nearly kept it in anyway. Arsenal pinging it around with understandable confidence, having just seen off Bayern Munich.
2 min: Deulofeu drops a shoulder and nearly makes it past Monreal down the right. Upon reaching the byline he tries to earn a corner off the full back with a flick inside, but the trick doesn’t come off and that’s a goal kick. But a positive enough start by Everton, for whom history is no pal this evening.
And we're off!
Everton get the ball rolling, and they’re kicking away from the old clock. The ball’s lost within 20 seconds, Jagielka’s pass forward not up to much. Arsenal take up possession and try to spring down the right. But Oxlade-Chamberlain’s ball inside for Ozil isn’t all that either. The only way for these two teams is up!
The teams are out! A fine atmosphere greets the players, Arsenal in their famous red shirts and white sleeves, Everton in their illustrious blue. It’s a classic aesthetic, but then these are two of the oldest and grandest clubs in the land. Hands are currently being shaken, coins are revolving in the air for the purposes of minor decision-making. We’ll be off in a minute!
Roberto Martinez has also been on the talk! “Last weekend was a real disappointing result and performance, but we are looking to get rid of that feeling. We are ready to face a team that is in a Good Moment ... ” [ah, there we are!] “ ... and we expect them to be very tough opposition. This game will involve a lot of pace and one-on-one situations, and having Aaron Lennon and Gerard Deulofeu on the pitch will help. We draw encouragement from our own standards. We need to find a good start to the game, because after midweek Arsenal’s confidence and momentum will be high.”
Arsene Wenger speaks! “We have to be cautious with Theo Walcott, who has had a little recovery problem. Olivier Giroud is fresh. Aaron Ramsey’s injury is an opportunity for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, though I consider him a first-team player anyway. Per Mertesacker is in bed, sick. We have to show hunger and humility today, after the big game against Bayern Munich on Tuesday. Sometimes you subconsciously think it will be easier, but it will be harder because it is the Premier League. We need to keep the same level of urgency and desire.” The big man seems relaxed enough. No wonder, given the run Arsenal are currently on. In the modern parlance, they’re in a Great Moment.
Tonight’s half-and-half scarf: Another satisfied customer, and another one in the eye for passive-aggressive traditionalists and reactionary bores desperate to be seen as Proper Supporters. Hooray!
Tonight’s team news. Pretty much as expected, really. Olivier Giroud gets the nod up front for Arsenal; Theo Walcott has to make do with a place on the bench. Tom Cleverley, a martyr to his ankle, doesn’t get in the Everton starting XI but he is one of their named substitutes.
The stars
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud.
Subs: Debuchy, Gibbs, Walcott, Flamini, Chambers, Campbell, Macey.
Everton: Howard, Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Galloway, McCarthy, Barry, Lennon, Barkley, Deulofeu, Lukaku.
Subs: Robles, Kone, Mirallas, Naismith, Cleverley, Osman, Funes Mori.
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
It’s difficult to know what to make of Everton this season. They’ve battered Chelsea and Southampton. They launched a spectacular comeback to win at West Brom. They’ve toyed with League Cup defeats at Barnsley and Reading. They’ve been battered at home by Manchester United, and failed to put away a Liverpool side helplessly flailing under Brendan Rodgers. It’s been the very definition of the mixed bag.
Things are unlikely to become too much clearer this evening, for Everton have an appalling record away at Arsenal. They haven’t won this particular fixture since 1996, when Graham Stuart and Andrei Kanchelskis roamed the earth in blue shirts. That’s a winless run of 21 league and cup games. A whopping 17 of those have been defeats, including three 4-1s, a 4-0 and a 7-0. As a result, Arsenal are strong favourites this evening, so if they do what is expected of them, it’ll not tell us too much about where Everton are at.
It might teach us a few things about Arsenal, though. They’re looking strong this season and, a slapstick performance against Olympiakos in Europe apart, are on quite a run: five wins in the last six, a sequence which has seen them dispatch tricky foes in Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Bayern Munich, and slap down Leicester City and Watford with professional ease. Another assured performance tonight - they’ve scored 17 in the last six - and the title gauntlet will be thrown down with some feeling.
Everton are unbeaten away this season, mind. And when Roberto Martinez’s side click, they really do click: just ask Jose Mourinho and Ronald Koeman. So there’s always hope. And a run like this has got to end sometime. Here we go, then, as two of the biggest clubs in the land get it on.
Kick off: 5.30pm.
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