Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Successful revenge against Everton

Successful revenge against Everton, Arsenal widened the gap with Man City to 5 points

Arsenal played sublime at the Emirates Stadium, thereby defeating Everton with a score of 4-0. This result helps the Gunners consolidate the top, they expand with Man City to 5 points.
Final: Arsenal 4-0 Everton

Goal: Arsenal:  Bukayo Saka (40'), Gabriel Martinelli (45+1', 80'), Martin Odegaard (71')

After a series of 4 matches without winning in all competitions, Arsenal have come back strongly with 2 consecutive victories in recent times. Gunners beat Aston Villa with a score of 4-2 and beat Leicester 1-0, both victories came away. Impressive results help Mikel Arteta's team reclaim the top of the table from Man City. Arsenal is currently 2 points ahead of the Blue Man and has played less than 1 game, they still hold certain advantages in the race to the Premier League title this season.

Arsenal will be playing at home against Everton in the round 7 match. The goal of the Emirates team is definitely 3 points, thereby widening the gap with Man City to 5 points. A victory also helps the Gunners pay their debt of losing 0-1 to Everton at Goodison Park in early February. The chance for the London team to win 3 points is very bright, because they always play well against Everton at home. According to statistics, Arsenal have won 8 of the last 9 meetings at Emirates Stadium on all fronts.

On the other side of the line, Everton have just lost 0-2 at home to Aston Villa. This defeat made them fall to 18th place in the rankings, 1 point behind the safety group. Being very thirsty for points to get out of the dangerous group, but being a guest on the field of Arsenal is too difficult a challenge for coach Sean Dyche's team. The opportunity for them to repeat the achievement like in the first leg is almost impossible, even leaving the Emirates Stadium with 1 point is already a great success for this team.

Entering the match against Everton, coach Mikel Arteta kept the same squad as he did in the 1-0 win at Leicester last weekend. Accordingly, in the 4-3-3 formation, Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli continued to stand side by side in attack. Belgian player - Trossard continues to take on the role of a virtual number 9. In midfield, Thomas Partey was back but only on the bench, Martin Odegaard, Jorginho and Granit Xhaka remained the midfield trio used from the start.

In defence, the quartet of Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Oleksandr Zinchenko played in front of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. On the bench, Arsenal have the return of Emile Smith-Rowe after a period of injury treatment, but Gabriel Jesus is still unable to return to play. In addition, Eddie Nketiah, Jakub Kiwior, Kieran Tierney or Fabio Vieira are also good options, which can be launched by Arteta when needed. 

On the other side of the line, Coach Dyche prioritized certainty. He used a 4-5-1 formation with Neal Maupay kicking first in attack. The visitors' two wingers are Alex Iwobi and Dwight McNeil, in the center of midfield he uses three powerhouses, Idrissa Gueye, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Amadou Onana. It is very clear the intention of the visitors, they will play fiercely in the middle to prevent Arsenal from sending the ball to Jordan Pickford's goal. Names playing in front of the English goalkeeper include Seamus Coleman, James Tarkowski, Michael Keane and Vitaliy Mykolenko. 

As expected, Arsenal took the initiative to play offensively from the start. In the 5th minute, the Gunners had the first shot. From the corner of Bukayo Saka, Jorginho had the opportunity to finish very quickly, but the ball went wide of Jordan Pickford's goal. Soon after, Everton had an answer with a shot on Neal Maupay's goal, but the ball hit the position of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. In the 8th minute, Jorginho lost the ball dangerously in the middle of the field to help the visitors counterattack quickly, but Maupay continued to be unable to beat Ramsdale in the final situation.


Arsenal played proactively but did not create clear opportunities

Arsenal are playing completely dominating, but it is not easy to penetrate the visitors' well-organized defense. The home team held the ball to 62% in the first 20 minutes, but there was not a single shot on target. Everton is doing a very good job of dividing the midfield and attack of the London team. The powerful trio of Idrissa Gueye, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Amadou Onana are working to their full potential, keeping the Gunners from creating a clear chance.

In the 28th minute, Arsenal lost the ball once more for Everton to counterattack quickly. Once again Neal Maupay had the opportunity to face Aaron Ramsdale, but Everton's top kicker handled it too slowly for Gabriel Magalhaes to close in time. 2 minutes later Arsenal had a pretty good ball. However, Granit Xhaka's annoying cross into the box for Gabriel Martinelli was blocked by James Tarkowski. 

The game was deadlocked but Arsenal unexpectedly opened the scoring in the 40th minute. Defender Oleksandr Zinchenko dropped the ball delicately to let Bukayo Saka escape before facing Jordan Pickford. The kick in the corner of the player wearing the number 7 shirt made the Everton goalkeeper have no chance to save. This is Saka's third right-footed goal in the Premier League this season, more importantly he has put the home team ahead. Bukayo Saka has become the sixth youngest player in Premier League history to reach 50 goals. wins + assists in this competition, behind Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Robbie Fowler, Cesc Fabregas and Chris Sutton. 

In the injury time of the first half, Arsenal also hit Jordan Pickford again. Idrissa Gueye handled the ball subjectively, letting Bukayo Saka steal the ball right in front of the visitors' penalty area, before passing the ball to Gabriel Martinelli to hit Jordan Pickford's net at close range. The referee initially disallowed the goal, but after VAR was in play, the goal was awarded to the home team. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have both scored their 10th Premier League goals this season, Arsenal being the only team in the league with two players scoring double digits. 2-0 is also the final score after the first 45 minutes.


Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli give Arsenal a 2-0 lead after the first 45 minutes

With the results after the first 45 minutes, surely the second half will be much more attractive because Everton will have to rise up to find an equalizer. With the lead goal, Arsenal took the initiative to slow down. That made the match not as exciting as the first minutes of the first half. 52 minutes, the first shot in the second half belonged to Neal Maupay, a very tight kick from the away team player sent the ball away. cross the crossbar. 

In the 57th minute, Arsenal had a very good opportunity to raise the score to 2-0 but could not take advantage. Ben White crosses the ball as if to let Leandro Trossard finish from close range, but the Belgian's kick does not hit the center of the ball. His kick hit the ground before going over the bar. Coach Mikel Arteta strengthened the midfield when he brought in Thomas Partey to replace Jorginho.

Coach Dyche made two changes to help Everton's attack better. Accordingly, Ben Godfrey and Demarai Gray were brought on to replace Seamus Coleman and Neal Maupay. As soon as they made the change, Everton had the clearest chance from the start. In the 62nd minute, Dwight McNeil made a quick shot right in front of the home team's penalty area, but goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale made an excellent save. 

Arsenal almost got the third goal. Saka clicked the ball for Martinelli to head from close range, but the Brazilian player missed the header to let the opportunity pass. In the 71st minute, Arsenal finally had a third goal. Leandro Trossard escaped down the border before a favorable cross for Martin Odegaard to cushion the ball at close range to bring home the third goal. Victory was firmly in the hands of the London team.


Martin Odegaard scores Arsenal's third

74 minutes, Arsenal almost got the fourth goal. Gabriel Martinelli stretched uncomfortable into the penalty area, but Jordan Pickford was able to successfully block. Four minutes later Arsenal missed another chance. Thomas Partey sent the ball delicately for Eddie Nketiah to face Pickford keeper, but the substitute who had just come on was unable to beat the English keeper. The ball bounces off and Fabio Vieira kicks back but the ball goes over the crossbar. 

In the 80th minute, Arsenal had a goal to increase the score to 4-0 . Eddie Nketiah had a chance to finish from a tight angle, but he passed it to Gabriel Martinelli to complete the double and bring Arsenal's fourth goal. A bold victory for the home team. In the 85th minute, Fabio Vieira and Smith Rowe respectively had the opportunity to score more goals for Arsenal, but they both shot out from very close range. In the remaining minutes, the two teams had a few more opportunities but could not capitalize. The match ended with a score of 4-0 in favor of the home team. 

With a strong victory over Everton, Arsenal have consolidated their leading position in the table. They are now 5 points ahead of Man City and the two teams play the same number of matches. Meanwhile, Everton continues to stomp in 18th place, surely coach Dyche still has a lot of work to do if he wants to help this team successfully stay relegated. 


Squad

Arsenal (4-3-3): Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Oleksandr Zinchenko (Tierney, 82'); Martin Odegaard, Jorginho (Thomas Partey, 46'), Granit Xhaka (Fabio Vieira, 72'); Bukayo Saka (Smith Rowe, 82'), Leandro Trossard (Nketiah, 72'), Gabriel Martinelli

Everton (4-5-1): Jordan Pickford; Seamus Coleman ( Godfrey, 61'), James Tarkowski, Michael Keane, Vitaliy Mykolenko; Dwight McNeil, Idrissa Gueye (Holgate, 46'), Abdoulaye Doucoure, Amadou Onana, Alex Iwobi; Neal Maupay (Gray, 61')

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