Good evening.
Just a couple of hours ago Arsenal booked a trip to Wembley, qualifying for the semi-finals in a glorious fashion.
Before the game, it was obvious we have to deliver. To put Stoke behind us and to set the tone for the upcoming tough games. The players also needed to restore their confidence. I would have taken any win, but such an emphatic demolishing of a good Everton side, coupled with our (probably) best performance all season is a dream come true.
Arsene made a slew of changes, with Ozil, Giroud and the Ox returning to the side, while Fabianski and Sanogo were given somewhat surprising starts. Vermaelen and Flamini replaced the injured Koscielny and Wilshere respectively. A dazzling seven changes, if you think of it.
Everton started brightly, but it were the hosts who took the lead in the 7th minute. Cazorla escaped his marker in midfield, fed Ozil and the German slotted a perfect shot into the bottom corner. A very welcome goal for Ozil and a much needed one.
Arsenal started to dominate. Sanogo and Oxlade-Chamberlain took it in turns to test Robles, but the keeper did well. Gibbs goalbound effort took a deflection and then Sagna's vicious cross was tipped onto the bar.
Everton replied with a number of counter-attacks and one of these paid off. Arteta's shot was blocked and Everton stormed up the pitch at lightning speed, Barkley's low cross found Mirallas, whose cutback found Lukaku. The Belgian prodded the ball into the empty net.
The equaliser came completely against the run of play, but not much changed after it. Arsenal pressed, Everton tried to break. Fourteen minutes after the goal, Clattenburg whistled for half-time with the teams level.
Everton returned from the dressing room a very different beast and could have gone ahead in the opening minutes, but, thankfully, Barkley's shot went over the bar, after Vermaelen's mistake provided the Toffees with a brilliant opportunity.
Cazorla nearly put the Gunners in front shortly after the incident, but Robles got down well to parry. The game was pretty even, though, and it was obvious something needed to change if we were gonna get that win.
Or, rather, someone. On the hour, Wenger gave Giroud the green light and the Frenchman replaced his compatriot, Sanogo. This brought about the desirable effect immediately, when Olivier got on the end of a dangerous cross and could have converted with his first touch, only for some bloke to, erm, block his shot. Shortly after, we went ahead nonetheless.
The Ox tore down the right flank, got into the box, rounded off Barry and the latter had no other option but to foul. Clattenburg pointed to the spot, Arteta stepped up and sent the ball into the bottom corner. Just as he was celebrating, the ref cancelled the goal, cause Giroud rushed into the box before the shot was taken. Arteta stepped up again and placed his effort into the top corner this time.
I gotta admit I admire the Spaniard's nerve. Scoring a penalty is hard, doing it twice (all the while with such aplomb) is nothing short of heroic. Man of the match to me.
Everton now needed to score, but came up short, although McGeady was brought on for the ineffectual Mirallas. Our change (Rosicky for the Ox) yielded better results.
Thomas fed Sagna on the right, the Frenchman found Giroud in the box and our striker dispatched the ball with ease to make it 3-1.
Olivier doubled his manning in the 85th minute. Cazorla robbed Deulofeu of possession in the defensive half, produced an inch-perfect pass to Rosicky, the Czech squared the ball for Ozil and the latter laid it off on a silver platter for Giroud. The Frenchman made no mistake. 4-1 and game over.
This is what Arsene said afterwards:
"We had a quality performance from the first to the last minute against a good side. The first half was all us and we were unlucky to be 1-1 at half time. The second half, Everton started well and had a good moment in the game where they had the chance with Barkley. We scored the second goal and then controlled the game well. We always looked like we could score more."
On Ozil:
"Of course it's important for him he took his chance because sometimes you want him to take the chance because he always looks for the good pass. I hope that will encourage him. What I liked with him is that physically he looked regenerated, having more power in his runs. As well I liked that he did a lot of dirty work for a player like him, that means he tracked back in the first half - especially on the counter attack he came back with long runs. When he behaves like that of course you have a better chance to win the game. "
I cannot express, how happy I am for Ozil. He was under a lot of pressure recently and to produce a performance of such a quality, well...it's amazing. Hope this game kick-starts his form and we'll see some more of the same against Bayern.
Overall, a brilliant game for the Gunners. We controlled it from start to finish, were ruthless in the final third, put in a quality performance and all of this against a very good Everton side. Just what was needed.
You have to give credit to Everton, though. They played some very good football and conceded two goals after they had to go all-in. The Toffess made an obvious step-up from last season and I sincerely hope they make at least the Europa League. Not at our expense, though.
So, a good day to be a Gunner. Enjoy the win and I'll get back to you with more thoughts on Monday.
Until then
Just a couple of hours ago Arsenal booked a trip to Wembley, qualifying for the semi-finals in a glorious fashion.
Before the game, it was obvious we have to deliver. To put Stoke behind us and to set the tone for the upcoming tough games. The players also needed to restore their confidence. I would have taken any win, but such an emphatic demolishing of a good Everton side, coupled with our (probably) best performance all season is a dream come true.
Arsene made a slew of changes, with Ozil, Giroud and the Ox returning to the side, while Fabianski and Sanogo were given somewhat surprising starts. Vermaelen and Flamini replaced the injured Koscielny and Wilshere respectively. A dazzling seven changes, if you think of it.
Everton started brightly, but it were the hosts who took the lead in the 7th minute. Cazorla escaped his marker in midfield, fed Ozil and the German slotted a perfect shot into the bottom corner. A very welcome goal for Ozil and a much needed one.
Arsenal started to dominate. Sanogo and Oxlade-Chamberlain took it in turns to test Robles, but the keeper did well. Gibbs goalbound effort took a deflection and then Sagna's vicious cross was tipped onto the bar.
Everton replied with a number of counter-attacks and one of these paid off. Arteta's shot was blocked and Everton stormed up the pitch at lightning speed, Barkley's low cross found Mirallas, whose cutback found Lukaku. The Belgian prodded the ball into the empty net.
The equaliser came completely against the run of play, but not much changed after it. Arsenal pressed, Everton tried to break. Fourteen minutes after the goal, Clattenburg whistled for half-time with the teams level.
Everton returned from the dressing room a very different beast and could have gone ahead in the opening minutes, but, thankfully, Barkley's shot went over the bar, after Vermaelen's mistake provided the Toffees with a brilliant opportunity.
Cazorla nearly put the Gunners in front shortly after the incident, but Robles got down well to parry. The game was pretty even, though, and it was obvious something needed to change if we were gonna get that win.
Or, rather, someone. On the hour, Wenger gave Giroud the green light and the Frenchman replaced his compatriot, Sanogo. This brought about the desirable effect immediately, when Olivier got on the end of a dangerous cross and could have converted with his first touch, only for some bloke to, erm, block his shot. Shortly after, we went ahead nonetheless.
The Ox tore down the right flank, got into the box, rounded off Barry and the latter had no other option but to foul. Clattenburg pointed to the spot, Arteta stepped up and sent the ball into the bottom corner. Just as he was celebrating, the ref cancelled the goal, cause Giroud rushed into the box before the shot was taken. Arteta stepped up again and placed his effort into the top corner this time.
I gotta admit I admire the Spaniard's nerve. Scoring a penalty is hard, doing it twice (all the while with such aplomb) is nothing short of heroic. Man of the match to me.
Everton now needed to score, but came up short, although McGeady was brought on for the ineffectual Mirallas. Our change (Rosicky for the Ox) yielded better results.
Thomas fed Sagna on the right, the Frenchman found Giroud in the box and our striker dispatched the ball with ease to make it 3-1.
Olivier doubled his manning in the 85th minute. Cazorla robbed Deulofeu of possession in the defensive half, produced an inch-perfect pass to Rosicky, the Czech squared the ball for Ozil and the latter laid it off on a silver platter for Giroud. The Frenchman made no mistake. 4-1 and game over.
This is what Arsene said afterwards:
"We had a quality performance from the first to the last minute against a good side. The first half was all us and we were unlucky to be 1-1 at half time. The second half, Everton started well and had a good moment in the game where they had the chance with Barkley. We scored the second goal and then controlled the game well. We always looked like we could score more."
On Ozil:
"Of course it's important for him he took his chance because sometimes you want him to take the chance because he always looks for the good pass. I hope that will encourage him. What I liked with him is that physically he looked regenerated, having more power in his runs. As well I liked that he did a lot of dirty work for a player like him, that means he tracked back in the first half - especially on the counter attack he came back with long runs. When he behaves like that of course you have a better chance to win the game. "
I cannot express, how happy I am for Ozil. He was under a lot of pressure recently and to produce a performance of such a quality, well...it's amazing. Hope this game kick-starts his form and we'll see some more of the same against Bayern.
Overall, a brilliant game for the Gunners. We controlled it from start to finish, were ruthless in the final third, put in a quality performance and all of this against a very good Everton side. Just what was needed.
You have to give credit to Everton, though. They played some very good football and conceded two goals after they had to go all-in. The Toffess made an obvious step-up from last season and I sincerely hope they make at least the Europa League. Not at our expense, though.
So, a good day to be a Gunner. Enjoy the win and I'll get back to you with more thoughts on Monday.
Until then