Roberto Martínez appeared on Goodison Park’s giant screen before the kick-off, filmed undergoing an ice bucket challenge at the Everton training ground. For most of the game it appeared his players were carrying out a nomination to douse Arsène Wenger in cold water, yet for a second week in succession Everton let a lead slip and had to be content with a draw that must have left Martínez feeling numb all over again.
Merseyside has not been a happy hunting ground for Wenger of late. The Arsenal manager was on the wrong end of an 8-1 aggregate scoreline after the visits to Anfield and Goodison last season. Though Arsenal secured Champions League qualification ahead of Everton and even picked up a couple of trophies on a winning streak since their 3-0 defeat here last April this was a return to their old failing of being beaten up on northern grounds, until late goals by Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud rescued a point in the most unpromising circumstances.
As Arsenal can point to tiredness after a trip to Turkey and an Everton goal that could have been disallowed for offside, this result must have felt like a victory after trailing for so long. The old script had a surprise new ending. Alexis Sánchez as a lone striker is an experiment that may not be repeated, but otherwise Arsenal fans went home happy. Their side had shown character and perseverance when the game appeared to have gone, and Wenger was quick to praise the resilience of his players. “At 2-0 you know it can go both ways,” he said. “At two goals down we gave a great response, we showed a complete desire to come back.”
It is not every week you hear an Arsenal manager saying that, or sending on a striker in Giroud to offer more of a physical threat than the ineffective Sánchez, but what Wenger did worked. Martínez suggested Everton had played an almost perfect game for 75 minutes, though in truth they were on the back foot for most of the second half, grateful for Giroud passing up several earlier chances before finding the net in the final minute. “Two goals should have been enough, but our energy levels dropped in the second half,” the Everton manager said. “We couldn’t keep the effort up for the whole game.”
Both sides tinkered with their expected formations. Everton moved Romelu Lukaku out to the right for his first home game as a permanent signing, Wenger left Giroud on the bench and deployed Sánchez as a notional front man.
Arsenal came up with the first attempt on goal worthy of the name when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was only narrowly wide with a snap shot after a reckless clearance by Seamus Coleman had presented him with an unexpected shooting chance, albeit from distance. The Everton full-back made amends almost immediately, heading Everton into an early lead from Gareth Barry’s diagonal cross after Leighton Baines had found the midfielder in space. The cross was probably intended for Lukaku, who could not quite reach it, but Everton had a spare man in the unmarked Coleman. Suddenly the home side were all over their opponents, and Kevin Mirallas could easily have made it two on their next attack, ghosting behind the Arsenal defence to latch on to Steven Naismith’s astute ball forward but poking his shot the wrong side of a post with only Wojciech Szczesny to beat.
Arsenal responded in the only way they know, with Ramsey, Mesut Özil, Jack Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain all involved in intricate passing patterns on the edge of the area, though there was no end product to bother Tim Howard apart from another long shot from Oxlade-Chamberlain that drifted wide. With James McCarthy in particular getting back to help his defence and clear up threatening situations Everton were taller and stronger in most challenges. Not for the first time, Arsenal appeared to shrink from the physical confrontation, although it is fair to point out that they had a demanding game in Europe in midweek while Everton were able to rest.
With Lukaku not making much impact on the right, Mirallas aon the left was Everton’s most effective outlet in the first half, producing some penetrating runs and a cross that fell just behind his fellow Belgian on the stroke of the interval.
Mirallas also went close with a shot from a free-kick that rippled Wojciech Szczesny’s side netting before Everton’s £28m acquisition from Chelsea showed his worth, highlighting some pretty unimpressive Arsenal defending in the process, in the closing seconds of the half. First, Lukaku had the strength to keep his feet in accepting a pass in his own half, resisting a challenge from Per Mertesacker in which the Arsenal captain sold himself far too easily. Leaving the big German on his backside, Lukaku knocked the ball into empty space as Calum Chambers vainly attempted to intercept on half way, and with only Mathieu Flamini left to cover the Arsenal penalty area it was a simple matter for Everton’s record signing to play in Naismith to beat Szczesny with a smart shot on the turn.
Arsenal protested with some justification that Naismith might have been fractionally offside when Lukaku released the ball, but it was a technicality missed by most people in the ground, including the officials. It would almost have been a travesty had the goal been chalked off, an undeserved reprieve for a defence who had demonstrably been torn to shreds.
On for the second half, however, Giroud almost scored with his first touch with a volley from Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross. Unlike Sánchez the French striker is at least accustomed to playing up front on his own, and he was involved in Arsenal’s next two chances, first pulling a shot wide from the edge of the area then forcing a save from Howard after the ball briefly broke to him in front of goal.
With Lukaku giving Mertesacker a torrid time, Everton had opportunities to increase their lead, though the Belgian himself was often guilty of wasteful indecision. After spending an eternity on the edge of their own area as the game moved into its final 10 minutes, the home side had only themselves to blame when Ramsey pulled a goal back from Santi Cazorla’s probing cross. It gave Arsenal fresh heart, and with Lukaku off the field and Everton no longer able to break out of their own half at will, there was an inevitability about Giroud’s last-minute equaliser after Nacho Monreal had centred from the left.
Everton had dominated the game, yet Giroud could easily have had a second-half hat-trick. Everton would really have been left kicking themselves had he found the target with his simplest chance, a free header from a corner five minutes from time. Had Giroud been on the field for the whole game, or even if he had found his range a little earlier than the 90th minute, Arsenal might have had all three points. They certainly had the chances, and though they took a battering in the first half, by the end it was Everton who looked the more fragile. That’s another thing you don’t tend to hear every week.
