Arsenal 1-1 Everton: 4 Facts & Stats From The Game

Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon. Here, Gunner333 gives us his thoughts on four facts following the game.

As the title race approaches the all important mid-point, two of the league’s in-form teams locked horns at the Emirates. Martinez kept the same  line-up that undone United in mid-week, whilst Arsenal recalled a number of players including Kieran Gibbs, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Olivier Giroud. Only optimistic football lovers would have expected a goal-fest in this game, with the last four meetings between these two producing the same number of goals.

Everton looked in control very early on and held the ball comfortably. The Gunners were being out-played in the early period of the game, Everton leading on possession, pass completion and  passes made. However, Wenger’s men did cause some panic to the Toffees towards the end of the first half when Howard was called up to make vital stops off his line, firstly against Giroud and then Ramsey repeating the chance.

After a first-half of Everton dominance, the home side came out with something to prove.  Some divine link-up play starting with Mesut Özil and resulting in Cazorla attempting to nod home Wilshere’s volleyed pull-back came, but with no avail. A sentiment of real intent arose from the Arsenal camp in the form of a triple change and one of the on-coming three, Matthieu Flamini, drove an effort across goal. The Frenchman looking to add to his goal against Cardiff City a few weeks back.

In a tense atmosphere the opener finally did come. Walcott knocking a header across goal which eluded Giroud but was well put away by Özil. Pure ecstasy for the Gunners who looked to have grabbed all three points in a tricky encounter.

Everton desperately looked to spoil the party though and did so with immediate effect. A moment of individual greatness from Gerard Deulofeu leaving Szczesny stunned as the Spaniards effort dipped and curled into the far corner.

With the clock ticking down and one goal for Wenger’s men being the difference between a five point and seven point lead at the top, the pressure was at its utmost. Step forward Olivier Giroud, who awaited the ball to sit up before unleashing an absolute screamer towards the Everton goal. The Emirates was at a stand-still, but the bar was rattled and the game ended at 1-1.

Here I give you four statistics and how they reflect our performance in this game.

1) Dealing With Physicality – Everton Had a 93% Tackle Success Rate

Considering this incredible statistic, we did very well to match this Everton side today. The away side were greatly dominant in possession for most of the game and pressed us whenever we looked to hold the ball. The pressure they induced on our back-line would have almost certainly caused a few passing frailties and perhaps this is a tactic we should adopt for ourselves in future.

2) Firing Frequently – Scored in 14 of Our 15 Games this Season

Wenger gave Olivier a rest in mid-week which looks as though it paid dividends. The French forward may have lacked the goal to conclude his killer game against the Toffees but he looked sharp for the whole ninety and supplied our attacking midfielders with a few close chances. Ten goals have now risen directly (goals and assists) from our midfield maestro Özil, who added to his collection with a well-places finish in this game. We have goal-scorers all over the pitch and it’s making us a very difficult side to stop scoring with only Man Utd managing it so far this season.

3) Gradually Using Aerial Ability – Gunners Hit more Crosses than Everton

In this match we sent in a phenomenal 21 crosses to Everton’s  19, it may be close but it is still rather strange if you take into account that we are not commonly known for our crossing ability. I said in midweek we need to get more balls into the box and we certainly did that today, with the goal coming from a Tomas Rosicky cross.

4) Wenger Has Favourites – Solid spine to the team

We now have an extremely strong spine right through the team, namely; Wojciech Szczesny, Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud. They have all played in virtually every game they have been available for this season and a settled spine is certainly paying dividends on the pitch.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below.