Arsenal scored two late goals as they came from behind in a gripping
encounter at Goodison Park to hold Everton to a 2-2 draw.
Seamus Coleman opened
the scoring in the 19th minute with a header from Gareth Barry’s pass and
Steven Naismith tucked away a second just before half-time following
great play by Romelu
Lukaku, although replays showed the goal should have been chalked off for
offside.
Everton continued to
look comfortable until deep in the second half, but then with seven minutes
remaining Aaron Ramsey tapped in from close range from Santi Cazorla’s cross.
Olivier Giroud, who
only came on at half-time for Alexis Sanchez, then headed in to salvage an
unlikely point for Arsenal in the 90th minute.
Arsenal had the better
of the opening 15 minutes, but it quickly became apparent they were lacking a
clinical edge.
Ramsey tried to carve
open the home defence with a series of cutting passes, and there were plenty of
fancy touches from Sanchez, who harassed the home defence with his pace, but
Tim Howard remained untested in the Everton goal.
The only chance
Arsenal mustered in the first half came when Coleman cleared straight to Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain. Luckily for the hosts, the England winger side-footed wide.
It took just a couple
of minutes for Coleman to get back into Roberto Martinez's good books.
The Republic of
Ireland full-back climbed high at the back post to nod Barry's delicate chip
past Wojciech Szczesny and give Everton the lead.
Lukaku played a part
in the goal, selflessly ducking to give Coleman a clear header, and Mesut Ozil
gave Everton a helping hand with some sloppy marking.
Arsenal was rattled,
and they almost went 2-0 down moments later.
Naismith looped a
header over Calum Chambers and straight into the path of Kevin Mirallas, but
his shot trickled inches wide.
Chambers then
carelessly clattered into Mirallas, giving Everton a free-kick on the edge of
the box.
Mirallas bent the
resulting free-kick up and over the wall, and the Everton fans rose to their
feet thinking the Belgian had scored, but the ball had instead rippled the
side-netting.
Arsenal manager Arsene
Wenger vented his anger at referee Kevin Friend for booking Per Mertesacker
after a foul on Naismith.
And the Frenchman's
mood darkened just before the break when Everton doubled their lead. Lukaku
shrugged off Mertesacker inside the Everton half and hurdled the sliding
challenge of Chambers
before sprinting at the Arsenal defence on the break. The Belgian cleverly cut
inside from the right flank and flicked the ball through to Naismith, who beat
Szczesny from close range.
It was a beautiful
goal, but one that should have been ruled out for offside, replays showed.
Wenger had seen enough
of Sanchez and replaced him with Giroud at half-time, but Arsenal's misery
continued.
Giroud managed to
blast a volley over from close range just 58 seconds after his introduction.
Jack Wilshere was
lucky to escape with a yellow card for a late sliding challenge on Barry.
Mathieu Debuchy followed him into the book with a petty challenge on Naismith
Arsenal dominated
possession, but they still did not look like scoring.
Howard made his first
save of the match in the 68th minute from Giroud, who rolled a weak shot into
the American's hands from 12 yards.
Wenger looked to
inject some life into his side by replacing Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain
with Cazorla and Joel Campbell.
Arsenal finally found
the net with seven minutes to go. Cazorla flashed a low ball across the box in
front of six Everton players, and Ramsey prodded home.
A cagey atmosphere
descended upon Goodison Park, and the home fans breathed a huge sigh of relief
as Giroud wasted a good chance to level with a free header.
The Frenchman had the
last laugh, though, stunning the home crowd into silence with a last-minute
header from Nacho Monreal's cross.
No comments:
Post a Comment