Everton 2-2 Arsenal: character

Good evening folks.

Ah, the joys of a working Internet connection. I didn't have that luxury in Greece, even at the airport. I arrived there in time for the kick-off and was buoyed that Wi-Fi was free, but my happiness was short-lived. The connection worked like friendzone. It was there, but it wasn't functioning properly.

And so I had to make do with live text updates and ramble on Twitter. Both ways of following the game proved to be pretty effective, to my immense surprise and relief. I got a very clear picture of what was happening on the pitch and today's extended highlights were just an icing on the cake. However, let's start at the beginning.

The set-up

When I saw the squad over on Arseblog (where I got the updates from) I began to drool. Ozil, Mertesacker and Oxlade all started, while Alexis played in a central striker position. The ineffective Cazorla and, to a lesser extent, Giroud, were dropped. Podolski was omitted altogether and I don't like it.

Of the three Germans Poldi was involved the least (during the World Cup) and still hasn't even made the bench. Looks like he's on the brink of leaving Arsenal and I'll be both sad and worried if he does. The Twitter expert is a clinical finisher, had a brilliant goals-per-minute ratio last season despite not playing much and is also a mood-lifter/setter. Rumour has it we are willing to let Poldi go in order to replace him with Reus and, while I'm more than just fine with such a switch, I'll still miss Poldi's presence if he really does go.

Back to the squad, however and Alexis wasn't the only surprise in his newly-found role. Ozil started on the left with Oxlade on the right, but the defense looked even more intriguing, as Mert was paired up not with Koscielny, but rather Chambers. On paper, this set-up looked mouthwatering.

First half

It looked less so on the pitch. Oxlade was really the only one with opportunities to score, but his finishing and (sometimes) decision-making were off.

In defense, Arsenal were even less convincing. From what I can gather both Debuchy and Monreal were repeatedly caught out of position and Ozil didn't help much. The German just wasn't willing to track runners and we paid for it in the 19th minute. Barry put in a cross, no one cared enough to mark Coleman and so he headed home from close range. While our defending wasn't up to scratch, the goal is debatable, in my view.

Thing is, when Barry crossed, Lukaku was offside. He didn't touch the ball, but he surely held back some of our defenders, creating space for Coleman. The goal stood, however, and the matters deteriorated quickly enough for Everton to be 2-0 up at half-time.

Now, the second goal is a clear blunder from at least two referees: the main and the linesman. Lukaku fouled Mertesacker in the build-up and then put Naismaith clean through, only for Naismith to be offside.

You noticed how I didn't say "Naismith was flagged offside"? That's because he wasn't. He received the ball and slotted it home and the board showed 2-0 and the ref pointed to the centre. What makes this goal even more frustrating is the fact that offside wasn't coincidental. Debuchy and Flamini purposefully created an offside trap, only for the ref to suddenly become blind. And so Arsenal was two goals down at half-time.

Second half

During the break Arsene made a substitution: Alexis gave way to Giroud and at first it seemed like it was not going to be the Frenchman's day. He missed three chances some other clinical striker would have probably buried, but then Giroud's appearance magnificently paid off.

First things first, though. Again Arsenal struggled to find a breakthrough, however Giroud's presence up front lifted the spirit and we slowly started to dominate and create chances. Wilshere looked sharper with Giroud on and then Arsene introduced Campbell and Cazorla.

The Spaniard became the hero in the 83rd minute. Our little magician can be brilliant on his day and this was definitely his day. Santi combined with Ozil on the left and then put in a low cross in the box. Ramsey was on hand to poke home and give us a lifeline.

Which we held on to. In the 90th minute Ramsey seemed to have overhit his cross to Monreal, but before Everton fans finished their gleeful "waaaaay" cry, Monreal's cross into the box found Giroud. And Giroud's header found the net. 2-2 and it's a draw that feels like a win.

The win was somewhat darkened by Giroud's injury, which he sustained late in the game. The Frenchman seemed to have strained his ankle when blocking a shot and was limping badly for the remaining couple of minutes. Arsene later stated that the sprained ankle doesn't look too good, however, Giroud himself has gone on record today and said he hopes to recover in time for our crucial midweek game. I sincerely hope he will, we cannot afford to lose him.

The aftermath

In short, we showed great spirit and resilience to earn a point. The game wasn't going our way for several reasons (atrocious refereeing not being the last), but we kept at it, which is hugely encouraging. This is what Arsene said:

"We got a strong point but a deserved one if you look at all the chances we had through the game. I think especially in the second half we had plenty of chances and we came back very late but our spirit maybe got us that point".

 And this is important from a purely psychological point of view. We now know that even when things are bad we can dig in and get a result. And earning points in unfavourable circumstances is a sign of true champions. It's very early to say it, I know, but I also know big teams will drop points at Goodison. So our point at this stage of the season may actually become a point gained.

That's it for today. Back with fresh news as soon as they find their way to me. Or the other way around.

Until later

Follow me on Twitter @AlexBaguzin