EMBARASSING!
Arsenal crumble away from home yet again as top-four pressure tells
SOMEHOW, after lengthy dialogue with Marco Silva, Unai Emery found a smile. For good measure, as he concluded matters with the man who masterminded Arsenal’s downfall, there was a hug for Everton’s head coach, too.
If this was an exercise in not letting your guard down in public, Emery succeeded. The shutters were also up when he faced the media. Inside, the Arsenal boss must have been boiling as his consistently inconsistent team faltered yet again under pressure.
One goal separated Everton and Arsenal, but really the difference between them was night and day. Those in blue had heart and desire, a ferocious work rate and operated to a clear game plan. Those in red had none of the above and were left embarrassed.
Embarrassed is not overstating it. How can Arsenal, the only side in the top four divisions this season without an away clean sheet, qualify for the Champions League playing like this? Everton looked more like the team with the potential to rejoin Europe’s elite.
‘We were the best team on the pitch,’ said Silva, a man not prone to making bold statements. ‘Everything we did, we deserved the three points.’
The difference between the sides was highlighted in the 18th minute. A ball was ushered back to Bernd Leno but the Arsenal keeper ambled to meet it and allowed Dominic Calvert-Lewin to thunder in and make a block. These are the moments Goodison Park loves.
By this point, Everton were in front. It was a goal Arsenal could legitimately complain about — Lucas Digne’s foot crossed the line as he took a long throw — but their defending was abysmal and Jagielka had a simple task from five yards after Calvert-Lewin’s knockdown arrived at his feet.
Jagielka should not even have started. He was only summoned when Michael Keane fell ill in the warm-up but the club captain enjoyed his moment, his first goal since April 2017.
It was the 11th time this season Arsenal conceded first. A side chasing an objective as important as the Champions League should have rolled with that punch, but, frankly, they were abysmal.
So many of their players spent time rolling on the floor following the slightest contact that there was a chance Arsenal’s physio ended up with the highest running stats given how often he was called on, especially in the first 45 minutes.
Compare that with Everton. They tackled and they ran, they chased and they passed with clarity. Andre Gomes, such a calming presence in one of the midfield anchor roles, was excellent; Digne fizzed up and down the left, and Bernard’s impudence demanded you watch him.
The only criticism of Everton was that they never took the game away from Arsenal. Other than a shot from Gylfi Sigurdsson that Leno palmed away and a poor decision from Idrissa Gueye when well placed, they couldn’t find a way through.
‘With more goals, it would have been more fair,’ Silva correctly observed.
Emery dashed back to the dressing room as soon as the half-time whistle went. Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were summoned for duty, replacing Sead Kolasinac and Mohamed Elneny.
Immediately there was a difference. Ramsey was hungry and busy — why have Arsenal allowed such a good player to leave for nothing? Aubameyang gave Alexander Lacazette the support he had lacked. Ramsey should have equalised in the 48th minute after Aubameyang played him in.
The tempo was better but it wasn’t perfect. Everton rode out the storm and then created chances of their own but Richarlison slashed a glorious opening wide, Bernard fired at Leno after substitute Theo Walcott sent him through and Sigurdsson did likewise after Richarlison wriggled into the area.
Shkodran Mustafi was fortunate
not to see red for a cynical trip on Calvert-Lewin that incensed silva so much he and his assistant Joao Pedro squared up to Emery.
silva wanted this success and so did his players, who have rattled off three consecutive triumphs without conceding a goal and look upwardly mobile.
arsenal, by contrast, continue to look vulnerable and it is remarkable they are still in the top four conversation.
Much more of this — and there are still trips to watford, wolves and Leicester — and the conversation will stop. Beneath the smile, you suspect Emery knows that better than anyone.