As mentioned in Ned’s excellent preview (it was so good I borrowed the photo from his piece above) this evening saw our first trip to Everton’s shiny new stadium. What did we make of it? We came, we saw, we conquered.
For various reasons, not least of which is the short turnaround in games before our Carabao Cup deja vu tie with Crystal Palace in the week, I have decided to do an old-fashioned quick match report of our trip to Everton and hope you will forgive any failings of my aging eyesight or creaking at the grammar or style joints as you wend your merry way through. The errors are all my own
It looked like a cold, cloudy evening on a noisy Merseyside as the teams emerged – the Arsenal XI was much as expected……
Raya
Timber Saliba Hincapié Calafiori
Zubi Øde Rice
Saka Viktor Leo
Bench: Kepa, MLS, Eze, Nørgaard, Nwaneri, Merino, Martinelli, Madueke, Jesús,
Although he traveled with the team, young Salmon was apparently off the menu. Perhaps midweek?
First Half
It was the usual scrappy stuff to start the game, we passed it around a little, I thought to be honest we seemed like a team searching for a bit of form but we did at least quieten the crowd. Everton then won a couple of corners around 10-15 minutes in and Raya had one of those moments when your keeper comes for it, doesn’t get close, and your heart makes a rapid journey to your mouth. Fortunately, the ball was cleared by I couldn’t see who (Hincapié maybe on the replay) and the danger passed eventually when they wastefully booted the 2nd corner straight out. We got a touch more purposeful after that, Zubi shot over, Viktor nodded an Øde cross just wide and then wanted a penalty for an O’Brien push that truthfully I thought he made the most of but instead just got a corner. But a corner is as good as a penalty for us right? An excellent Rice corner followed, and then in real time I thought Cala had just mistimed it and nodded wide of the Everton net but wait….. Yes, there on the replay was O’Brien jumping hands above his head to divert it away from the incoming Cala’s beautifully arranged bonce. Inexplicable really, perhaps he thought it was his day after getting away with the push but anyway it was a penalty, clear as day.
Everton 0 The Arsenal 1
Up stepped Viktor, my nerves jangled and I wished hard for him not to miss it, not the report I had any desire to write, but fortunately Viktor is a man of sterner nerve than I and blasted it straight down the middle while the irritating Pickford obligingly dived out of the way. After Viktor’s excellent penalty we set about passing Everton to death for about 10 minutes and though little of note was created, it did serve to draw any sting out of an Everton response to falling behind. Little of note that is unless of course you count the almost inevitable Tarkowski booking. Declan did shoot over and Viktor sniffed for a second but that was about it until just before the break when as we came forward Øde played a ball forward to Viktor on the right, it was just too wide but Viktor got a cross in that Saka nodded wide – we really needed that the other way round: Øde, Saka and then Viktor with the header at the time. Anyway, I nitpick and the referee then blew the half-time whistle for oranges. So far, so good. Everton had really not been a lot of threat, perhaps they were missing Calvert-Lewin who had already stuck two past Crystal Palace in the night’s other rearranged game
Second Half
No changes at half-time. The game kicked-off and as you’d expect after a mostly toothless first half Everton tried to push forward, snap into tackles more, claim ludicrous penalties, get the crowd more involved etc. To be fair I did hear The Arsenal fans singing soon after. The Everton attack soon petered out, for the time being… Viktor then tried to bulldoze through but was just foiled and then a Saka / Timber combo set up a decent shooting chance for Bukayo but he unfortunately and uncharacteristically hit the first defender. Everton came forward again then and the game was much open than probably a glowering Mikel on the sidelines wanted. Everton then appealed for yet another penalty as Saliba caught the bottom of Barry’s foot as he attempted to clear – I was a bit worried, I must admit, as I have certainly seen those given but perhaps Barry’s theatrical fall turned the judges against him.
As we reached the hour mark I think most of us were probably thinking about subs, however, we had finally started to get a bit of control and after some slick passing, Rice played in Leo on the left, I must admit I thought he had stuck it away but it hit the post and bounced away. Given the season he is having I really thought he was going to score that one and settle the nerves nicely for the remaining half-hour. Jesús replaced Gyökeres, I will resist the Christmas pun, and then another scare, this time an injury one as Saka went down. He was ok though (I’m watching you Grealish you oaf) and so were Everton after Zubi hit the same post as Leo. Another chance arrived but unfortunately a Timber / Saka mix-up led to one taking the shot off the toe of the other and on we went with our slender one-nil lead. As the half-way point of the half arrived normal control had been resumed and we were managing the Everton challenge far better, Gabi M came on to join Gabi J on 80 minutes as Leo went off and my thoughts wandered unpleasantly to the last 10-15 against Wolves. Would we be as passive again? Actually, no as it turned out and it seems that lesson has thankfully been learned for now. Certainly, Everton huffed and puffed but we never really gave them a clear-cut chance as we saw things through with a noticeably more assertive final 10 minutes, we looked the more likely to score. A last-minute minor scare was cleared by Hincapié, who I thought played well, and that was that. Moyes berated the referee for his penalty shortcomings I suppose (the Saliba / Barry one at a guess) and The Arsenal and Mikel waved happily to the equally happy-looking travelling faithful.
Overall, a very welcome three points for The Gunners and another Christmas No 1. The plaudits must go to the whole team this time as we ground this one out. However, while One-Nil to The Arsenal is always welcome, I don’t think anyone would reasonably argue that it wasn’t a fully deserved three points on the night. Well, I would usually wish you all a Merry Christmas on that note but we have one more wafer-thin mint to be forced down before tucking into our turkey. Yes, next up is the Carabao Cup so see you soon!
Cheers Matt and that is the game I saw. Thanks for not reposting Ned’s vertigo inducing link of the Everton stadium tour. Three delicious points could be even better than turkey
Matt,
Thankyou for an express report which captures the essence of a pretty tense game very well. We are not at our fluent best and most of our first half displays look like we are plating at 33 rpm rather than 78 – remember them?
We defended soundly, controlled the midfield against a feisty Everton but I’m afraid Gyokeres doesn’t facilitate easy control. He will never be a target man because he never wins any duels but he does run the channels but we prefer to create overloads out wide so don’t generally acknowledge the runs he makes. Despite my rapidly increasing reservations about the pedigree of the lad he smashed in the penalty very well. As ever Saka, Rice, and Timber were excellent and I thought Hincapie did a fine job but we aren’t the greatest of watches at the moment .
We are Christmas number one with Kylie and ex Gunner Karen Carney has won the Glitterball. And Palace are running on fumes with Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie to come
A very fine review, Matt, particularly given that was another 5 a.m. start for you. (3 a.m. for me which meant I was sensible and waited for your report rather than getting up). Not the most exciting or entertaining of games by the sound of things, but going in I would have taken any scoreline that resulted in leaving Liverpool with all three points. The clean sheet, Gyokores penalty and WATOTL at Christmas are all very nice bonuses.
@Ned, just caught upon your preview. Enjoyable and entertaining as always.
Thanks for an appropriately impressionistic review of the game, Matt. It was a tough watch, but lost in that is the fact that Raya had very little to do in terms of shot stopping and was excellent from their corners, turning them into opportunities for our attacks quite superbly. Everton are what you would expect any Moyes team to be – aggressive, direct and committed. Or dirty, long ball merchants resolved to fall over at any given opportunity and whine relentlessly. Take your pick. Barry going down holding his head when Saliba had kicked up into his studs was the exemplar. When I played, many, many years ago, it was far more painful to kick someone’s studs with the unprotected top of your foot on a freezing cold December day than to be the recipient of said kick. How times have changed.
The VAR check for the penalty still took far too long. It was almost as though the referee was rather more looking for a reason not to give a penalty, which couldn’t have been more blatant. For those that didn’t see it, O’Brien essentially tried to reprise Christopher Reeve’s 1978 rendering of Superman by jumping with both hands above his head at the ball. Unable to leap buildings with a single bound and, unfortunately, confined by earth’s gravitational field, he only managed to take the ball off Calafiori’s head in the process. How, I imagine, he wishes he could have reversed time.
3 points, 2 ahead of the unsurprisingly-to-anyone-still-yet-to-be-sanctioned-130-rule-breaking City, will do for now.
For a moment I wondered why the number of drinks had been reduced in this preview post…
Cheers Matt!
Another relatively dull game, but better than last week, and this time, no worry about conceding a goal. I mean, some ‘theoretical’ worry when the score is still only 1-0, but Everton didn’t even threaten to threaten, so practically I was confident all along.
Thanks, Matt, for a swift, accurate and entertaining report of a match that did nothing for my blood pressure though your report was therapeutic. We could and should have scored a couple more goals and, had Trossard’s curler curled just a little more, we would have had a very different perspective of this game and that move would have been a candidate for goal of the season. Everton away is a very hard fixture from which to gather points, even now it’s been transplanted to the docks, and while we weren’t the silky smooth operator to which we aspire, the job was done. I thought it was jolly decent of O’Brien to ensure that we were awarded the penalty that his shove into Gyökeres back to deny a goal scoring opportunity should, if the officials had been competent, have delivered. Catholic guilt is a wonderful thing and I am sure that his priest will absolve him now that he has made restitution.
TTG has summed up nicely why Gyökeres is struggling to look like the centre forward of our dreams. I wonder if greater mutual familiarity will amend this. I do hope so but at the moment the return of a fit and firing Havertz cannot come soon enough. Three points were our demand and three points were delivered and no-one on the field shirked the need for exertion and commitment but we look a long way off a PL winning team at the moment. Nevertheless, they do say winning ugly is a characteristic of champions.
Cheers OM. Excellent report, just what that match ordered.
I had family stuff to do last night so I ended up watching the recorded game at 1am, obivious to the score. Not the easiest watch but that’s mainly because we have been far less defensively secure since the Saliba and Gabriel injuries. Three months ago and a 1-0 scoreline looked almost impregnable! Things change fast.
We need to improve our play and score more goals. Odegaard has had a few games to get his eye in and now I want to see more from him. He’s a lovely player who pops up everywhere and links our whole game together – which he’s been doing nicely. Now we need him to keep going forward and spend more time in and around the opposition box. Assists and, dare I say it, goals must be added back into his game. He’s perfectly capable.
I expect City to get a good run going in the second half of the season, and I see no reason why we can’t do the same. After a disjointed first half of the season, a second half when we gain fluency (and returning players) looks like the kind of of season management we’ve been learning for the last three years. Let’s hope we’ve learned enough.
I’ll be keen to see if the Club Wank Cup affects City the longer the season goes on too. And I won’t be surprised if they drop points in a way that they pretty much never did when compiling points totals in the high 90s. Anyway, we’ll see. Good result, and on to Brighton, which, happily, I will be in the stadium for.
CER comparing O’Brien to Superman also worth a mention – I enjoyed it very much
I’m not surprised with what we are seeing from Gyokeres. Surely it’s pretty much what we should have expected? On the other hand, neither will it surprise me if he kicks on a bit and ends the season with 12-15 league goals, which is fine. He has a good attitude, a singular focus on scoring goals which I think is something this team needs, and as an option alongside Havertz and Jesus (and Merino) I think he’s got value.
Some people seemed to expect him to be our Haaland, which I don’t think was realistic. If we take that idea out of the equation then he’s just a striker who doesn’t really suit our game style (but might be valuable for exactly that reason) and is a bit low on confidence. If he scores a few more before the end of January then his confidence will rise and he’ll be back on track for the business end of things. I think he’ll get more joy if he’s on the pitch at the same time as Havertz, whose movement is stellar (and who wins headers and duels!).
I don’t expect Gyokeres’ ceiling to rise much. He looks 100% like the player I thought we were buying. We haven’t got our own Haaland, Isak or Mbappe. But we aren’t a team that needs one. We’ve got many other good qualities and if Gyokeres gives us something a bit different then I think it will look much better when it’s the clear plan B (or plan C) instead of an underwhelming plan A. We need Havertz back! Jesus is also looking good and I hope like anything he has a good few months. Three very different players, all with their roles to play.
Thank you Matt for a good and speedy report. How you and other far flung do it, I have no idea. Do you (collectively) stay up until 3am, or go to bed early then get up? I couldn’t do it. I spend a lot of time on motorways but find that far easier than getting up in the middle of the night. I need my sleep.
As to the game, although it was a very tough watch, I am inclined to think more and more positively of the game as the hours pass. Our defence did their job. Everton created only 0.2XG. We made three excellent chances, hit the bar twice and had it kicked off the line once. My biggest beef last night was the lack of clinical finishing, especially from Trossard who had half the goal to pass the ball into.
I truly believe that when we have Kai and big Gabi back, which I read should be sometime between Villa on the 30th and Liverpool on the 8th, we will again look the team we looked in the early part of the season. We have had our rough patch and are top of the league.
COYG.
https://x.com/adamkeys_/status/2002635396211986648?s=12
Cheers Matt – a fine job in the dead of night, here anyway. Can I just express my heartfelt sympathy for all of you living in strange time zones, in your lovely exotic climes while I struggle on here in the semi, nay dammit, total gloom of 3.00pm on the shortest, darkest day of the year. We are reportedly experiencing a period of anti cyclonic gloom – unremitting grey miserableness to the unfamiliar – which is forecast to last beyond Christmas 🎄 🎄🎄
Anyhoo – in case Brendan and Co couldn’t resist dropping in out of their evening gloomier, Irish, anti cyclonic fate – a word on Viktor Gyokeres –
I think this is very tricky. We have a team that plays close passing football and a main striker who wants long balls played early into space he can run into. Due to injuries there’s been almost no time to try to integrate the two styles. Seems to have made everyone a bit uncertain as to what to do at any given moment. The football is not flowing as a result. The players all seem like bright lads though so hopefully an injury free run will sort the situation out. If it doesn’t, he’s going to find playing time a bit scarce if we have a fit Kai, a fit Jesus and a very able Merino champing at the bit.
It’s tight at the top but, amidst all the warnings in the meedja that C130y are about to go on a run and condemn us to second place again, worth remembering, as CER points out, that the sheiks of Abbly Dabbly ( BtM ) are still awaiting sentencing for their hundreds of financial misdemeanours. If cheats are really not to prosper, a decision surely must be announced and punishment applied before the season is up.
So long has this circus run that I thought about asking Ned to do a history piece on it but I doubt even his monks would be able to find enough time.
No help from Manure but at least Neville is unhappy. Villa are as dependent on Rogers as C130y are on Haaland. It’s time the Injury Gods looked away from the Arsenal and took a close interest in those two.
Thanks for an excellent summary of a game I wasn’t able to see, OM. The highlights suggested Everton did not offer much, and that we should have scored at least a couple more. Still, three points, away win, clean sheet, top of the league, etc.
Thanks, too, to those who offered kind words on the preview.
Trev@13: It would be summoning up the enthusiasm that would be the difficult part…
Cheers Matt, your review is much more entertaining than the match itself. The performance was sufficient to get the very necessary 3 points – job done.
We appear to be identifying The Gyok’s weaknesses without being able to unlock his strengths. For a relatively well built lad he loses a lot of the one on one duels and he does not appear to have a fast accelerator button. Let’s hope MA and his team can improve these failings over the course of the season and equally important the team has to improve the service to him in providing better opportunities for him to utilise the cannonball of a shot he possesses.
Se now have 2 interesting matches at home to follow – time for the team to maintain our fortress at the NHOF and give all gooners a very happy Christmas.
Thanks all, the night games are now 5pm kick-offs for me anyway, which means I can sleep right through the ancient lauds 🙂
I find it so much easier when we win……….
Several good points @9 by GSD. Having more options will help a lot
for VG. A lot of games still to come and we need that help.
But the next three in a row at home helps too.
@17 I meant 5am not 5pm. Too much Xmas cheer last night
If I lived on the other side of the international date line, Matt, I have a feeling I might not be able tell if it were am or pm either. Just saying but maybe it will make you feel a bit better. Cheers!
Mike’s take…
https://gunnerstown.com/arsenal/2025/12/22/a-game-about-yesterday-positives-needs-hopes-eve-0-1-ars/
>>>>>>>