Soccer News Soccer Match Reports, Football News 
Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video
A superb second half finish from Leandro Trossard was enough to end Arsenal’s six year wait for a win at Goodison Park – with the Gunners deserved winners over a pretty awful looking Everton.
The big news before kick-off was the fact that David Raya was selected over Aaron Ramsdale. The England international had done nothing to lose his place, but afterwards Mikel Arteta was at pains to insist he views goalkeeper like any other position. More on that anon. Eddie Nketiah kept his place up front, while Fabio Vieira started for the first time this season in place of Kai Havertz.
While the focus of discussion was very much on the keeper, I think the Vieira selection was an interesting one. In his pre-match press conference on Friday, the manager played down the idea that Everton were just about physicality, but there is always going to be an element of studs and elbows when you face a Sean Dyche side. Arsenal’s plan was to combat that by having the ball, and we did it really well.
We ended with 74% possession, completing 595 passes to Everton’s 158. At a ground where a moment can get the crowd going, we never let them have it. It was controlled, if a little sterile at times, but it felt designed to grind them down. Ultimately, that’s what you have to do with a team who sit deep and stay organised, as Everton did defensively.
It looked like we’d gone ahead in the first half when the ball broke to Fabio Vieira, who played a lovely pass to Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian’s finish was superb, but a VAR check revealed it was offside. There’s not much to discuss, the rules are the rules, and by the letter of the law the ball coming off Beto was not deemed deliberate, and the lines ruled Nketiah offside before he touched it back for Vieira. Unfortunately, Martinelli picked up a hamstring strain in that passage of play, and had to be replaced by Trossard.
That change cost us some first-half…
Source link : https://arseblog.com/2023/09/everton-0-1-arsenal-trossards-cracker-sinks-toothless-toffees/
Author : arseblog
Publish date : 2023-09-18 06:10:22
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
