ARSENAL 2 (Denilson 27, Rosicky 90+1) - EVERTON 2 (Osman 11, Pienaar 80)
Played in a freezing wind and swirling snow this was by some distance Everton’s best performance of the season, it will give the squad a massive shot of that most precious of sporting commodities, confidence. As predicted Landon Donovan made his debut in a blue shirt; playing in a wide-right midfield position he was a revelation, until substituted on 67 minutes, cramped and exhausted by the pace of the world‘s premier league. He tackled, harried, worked back to assist Phil Neville, and carried a considerable offensive threat with pace and intelligence. Everton deserved all three points, ahead twice, they were only denied by a deflected Rosicky equalizer in added time, indeed minutes earlier James Vaughan missed an opportunity to grab a third and put the game out of sight.
David Moyes pushed Phil Neville to right back in place of the injured Hibbert, Osman came into midfield, Donovan replaced Bilyaletdinov on the right and a fit again Saha started for Vaughan. Arsenal played their usual fluid 4-3-3 formation with the gifted trio of Nasri, Eduardo and Arshavin up front.
From the start Everton looked comfortable on the ball. Whenever Arsenal had possession they were immediately pressured by a blue shirt and new boy Landon Donovan set the tone with a superb sliding tackle on Traore, while up front Louis Saha looked lively and was clearly worrying Gallas with his pace. On 11 minutes the Toffees went ahead. Donovan floated over an enticing corner from the right which Leon Osman, sprinting in, met with a powerful header and beat the keeper from about 12 yards out. Everton held the lead until the 27th minute when Denilson latched onto an Eduardo pass and from about 20 yards shot for goal, Howard had the ball covered but a heavy deflection by Osman put it into the net. Significantly the Toffees were not disheartened, sticking to their game plan they continued to disrupt the Gunners, pressing high up the pitch, never letting them settle and winning free kick after free kick. Fellaini, maintaining his recent excellent form stifled Ramsey, the much vaunted Arsenal man effectively being played off the park, while at the back Neville, Neill and our man of the match Johnny Heitinga were superb, marshalling the ‘little assassin’ Andrei Arshavin so well he barely got a touch until late in the game.
The ever improving Steven Pienaar looked to have won it on eighty minutes when he was played through superbly by Tim Cahill; breaking from the centre circle he advanced until one-on-one with Almunia who he coolly chipped. Now Arsenal cranked up the pressure, pushing the Blues back, but with only a couple of minutes left James Vaughan was presented with an opportunity which the young forward will think he should have done better with. Again it was Cahill who played a wonderful through-ball but Vaughan, unlike Pienaar minutes earlier, chose power rather than subtlety and saw his shot cannon off Almunia. A minute into added time the pressure finally told; Rosicky found space on the left after neat touches by Arshavin and Nasri and his deflected shot beat Howard.
In his post-match comments Arsene Wenger admitted it was one point saved, rather than two lost, and was very complimentary saying “Everton played well, credit to them, they looked a good team, defended well, attacked well”. For us this match marks an inflection point in our season, as we finally start to rediscover our form. We may not make a European qualification spot in the league, but we are still involved in two cup competitions, and our long-term injured are on the way back. Savour this: to the squad that played so well in this match add; Anichebe, Arteta, Distin, Gosling, Hibbert, Jagielka, Rodwell, Yakubu and Yobo.
EVERTON (4-4-1-1): Howard; Neville ©, Neill, Heitinga, Baines; Fellaini, Osman, Donovan (Bilyaletdinov 67), Pienaar; Cahill; Saha (Vaughan 73)
Subs not used: Nash, Coleman, Duffy, Baxter, Mustafi
ARSENAL (4-3-3): Almunia ©; Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Traore; Denilson (Merida 84), Diaby, Ramsey (Rosicky 64); Nasri, Eduardo (Vela 73), Arshavin
Subs not used: Fabianski, Silvestre, Eastmond, Emmanuel-Thomas
Ref: Peter Walton Gate: 60,053
