Arsenal 1 – Everton 0: Van Persie Stunner Nets Arsenal a Deserved Win

By: Homey | December 10th, 2011

SOCCER-ENGLAND/
With a remarkable strike from Robin van Persie, we’re back in the top four, at least for the moment. It was a deserved victory, as we dominated the chances and could have won by a few more. The win gives us 29 points from 15 played, and puts us one ahead of Chelsea, who host Man City on Monday. It was also fitting to get the win during the 125 year anniversary celebrations, with Henry in the audience, cheering on his former team.
Britain Soccer Premier League
In the first half, it seemed like we were trying to set a world record for most quality chances without scoring a goal. Wojo didn’t have a whole lot to do, as Everton failed to record a shot on goal. The highly-decorated Everton defenders were gashed on multiple occasions, but our final touch came up missing again and again. Baines in particular had a lot of trouble with both Gervinho and Walcott throughout the whole game. The first 12-14 minutes didn’t feature a lot of chances, but we got our first great chance in the 15th. Arteta started a counter-attack with a nice pass ahead to Theo, who was pretty much alone on Howard from an angle. Rather than shooting, he tried to put the ball in the path of the onrushing RvP and Gervinho. It seemed either of them could have tapped it in. But credit to Hibbert for hustling back, breaking up that pass, and then stuffing Gervinho’s attempt from a sharp angle after Howard took himself out of the picture. In the 20th, Gervinho was put through on a two-on-one, and his pass to RvP was whistled just offside. RvP was found just offside again in the 26th. In the 29th, Song served up a nice pass ahead to Ramsey, who could have tried to fire it at goal on his first touch. Instead, he circumnavigated a defender, but his lofted left-footed shot was just over the bar. A minute later, Gervinho broke free down the right flank, but his shot was pretty much right at Howard, who made the save. Theo had another chance to create something in the 36th, when he broke behind the defense and had the ball along the touchline, but he had no room to shoot or find an open man. Our last chance of the half was in the 41st, where van Persie crossed to Vermaelen after a corner, and his header may have touched some of the arm of Jagielka. But as the announcers said, it probably should have been a foul on TV5 in the first place, and the shout for hand ball was not particularly clear to me either, so I don’t think we were really cheated on that occasion.
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The second half started slowly, with our first decent chance coming in the 56th, when Walcott cut inside and fired a left-footed shot into orbit. A minute later, however, he beat Baines again and forced a really nice save from Howard. Two minutes after that, Vermaelen made a nice headed clearance away from trouble, which conceded a corner that amounted to nothing. As the game went past the hour mark, Wenger was getting ready to bring on Rosicky and Arshavin to try to add some spark to the attack. At the time, I frankly didn’t really know who should be taken off, since it seemed that the players on the field were doing well, but falling just short of scoring. But anyway, all of that was rendered moot in the 70th minute. Song delivered a nice lobbed ball over the defense, and RvP volleyed it with his first touch into the far corner. One of the goals of the season for sure. Lesser players might score like that once in a hundred chances. And even van Persie probably couldn’t hit it so sweetly again in ten chances. But fortunately for us, he found his moment of magic at the right time, leaving Howard no chance at all. After the goal, I don’t recall too many great chances for us. Vermaelen, who seemed to have been poked in the eye by Fellaini, went off in the 82nd minute for Miquel. And Rosicky came on for Gervinho as well. In the 89th, Theo (who seemed to run 100 miles today) headed to the bench for Frimpong. Everton had a decent chance from the edge of the box in the 90th, when youngster Conor McAleny tested Wojo, but his shot was a few feet wide. When the final whistle blew, Everton still didn’t have a shot on goal, despite 10 attempts.

The final stats, courtesy of ESPN.com:
Arsenal Everton
14(3) Shots (on Goal) 10(0)
7 Fouls 14
7 Corner Kicks 4
6 Offsides 9
61% Time of Possession 39%
2 Yellow Cards 2
0 Red Cards 0
0 Saves 2

On to the ratings:

Wojo – 6.5. As already mentioned, he didn’t have to make any saves. He did punch out a few crosses, however. Overall, I think almost all Arsenal fans are a lot more at ease with him between the sticks than with Flaps or our other options.
Djourou – 7. I was pretty impressed with how well he did at RB, particularly after dealing with some back trouble for most of the game. I was worried he would have to go off in the first half, and we really didn’t have a lot of options either. So hopefully he’ll stay healthy at least until some other guys return to action.
Mertesacker – 6.5. Our center backs didn’t have whole lot to do today, as Everton failed to really test our back line.
Koscielny – 7. He was also good today, and snuffed out whatever chances Everton sent his way. But still, not a whole lot of action either.
Vermaelen – 7.5. For a guy playing left back for one of the first times this season, he was quite good, I thought. He dealt with the Everton attacks, but also made a few nice passes and runs forward. Hopefully he’s ok after suffering both ankle and eye problems in this one.
Song – 8.5. MOTM. This might be a controversial pick for man of the match, but I think he deserves it for his play throughout the game. He helped set up Ramsey for a nice first half chance, and then delivered the assist on RvP’s winner. Overall, I think he’s doing well at picking spots to move forward, but also in covering for the back line. World class.
Arteta – 6.5. I liked his energy and effort in his first action against his former club, and Walcott could have done better with the assist that Arteta provided in the 15th minute. He had a few errant passes, however, so I’ll deduct a point for that.
Ramsey – 7. He wasn’t quite able to finish anything today, but I’m really enjoying seeing his progress. Within a few years, I think we’ll have an elite central midfielder on our hands. It will be interesting to see who ends up having a better career between him and Wilshere. But I’ve been quite impressed by his deft touch on the ball and increased willingness to drive forward and create havoc.
Walcott – 7.5. Regarding the opportunity in the 15th minute, it’s easy to look back in hindsight and scream at him for not taking a shot on goal. But Howard was well-positioned to take on Walcott from an angle, and if the pass could have simply met a foot in the middle, it was a tap in goal. So I have a hard time blaming his unselfishness there. Beyond that, he repeatedly gave Baines and the other defenders fits, and he was denied a goal in the 57th on a nice shot. It’s too bad he didn’t factor in any goals today.
Gervinho – 6.5. As with Walcott, his pace and running gave Everton problems all day. He didn’t create quite as many chances, and he could have done better on a shot from an angle in the 30th minute.
RvP – 7.5. Before the wondergoal, I was thinking about what a stinker of a game he was having. His touch seemed a bit off, and he never was really the threat that our wingers were. He was headed for a rating of no better than five from me. But then magic happened in the 70th minute, as he scored one of our goals of the season for sure. After that, he went back to missing again, shooting well wide in the 90th after a feed from Rosicky. Anyway, all we needed in this one was that one moment, and as with any world class striker, he was able to give us that one moment we needed. If he remains healthy, there’s no telling what sort of scoring records he could set this season.

Subs:
Rosicky – No rating. He came on in the 82nd to kill off the game, and he was fine. He had a nice combo with RvP at the end, but not much else of note.
Miquel – No rating. He seemed fine in limited action in place of Vermaelen at left back. I think he’s developing into a player we can eventually trust in the rotation somewhere.
Frimpong – No rating. He came on with just minutes remaining, and didn’t do anything too noteworthy.

It was good to get back to winning ways after a struggle in our last two. The league standings seem to be making a little more sense now, with the pre-season “big six” now occupying the top six spots. Newcastle, despite their great start, now find themselves in 7th after a loss today.

Going forward, my biggest concern is our back line. We got nice efforts from Djourou and Vermaelen today, but any injuries there would force the insertion of the likes of Miquel and Squillaci. Hopefully everyone can stay healthy at least until Gibbs and maybe Jenkinson return, so we’ll see. In addition, we’re back to relying on the same six players in the front positions that we’ve been using all season. I’m not sure what injuries would do to us in those spots either, but hopefully we won’t have to find out.

Anyway, no need to worry about things that haven’t happened yet, especially on a day when we got three points from a traditionally solid opponent. Have a great weekend.

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For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Psalm 1:6.

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Category: Everton, Match Review, Premiership

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Skyrim Steam key

Arsenal is my favorite one all of its players are dedicated to the football from the depth of their heart they deserve the win and they got it I would only say God bless Arsenal.
SJGgumby

Santos out 3 months.

Edit: As Gigi already noted.
Gigi_man

wow, it's been a while since this happened: we got 3 players in the yahoo sports team of the week. Guess who? (clues: Batman, Scwarzenegger, Canción)
Gigi_man

yikes...Santos out for 3 months.
just when I thought we were healthy they pull us back in the OR.
Tonyger

“I never complain about referees’ decisions – I have not done it in 30 years of management, never. But today, I’m afraid, he got some badly wrong.”
That was Harry Redknapp, manager of Tottenham, on 11 December 2011.
But a two minute search of the internet reveals hundreds of events in which he has significantly attacked refs over their decisions.
Before I get to the list however we might remember him being fined by the FA and warned over his future conduct by the Football Association after admitting a charge of using abusive and/or insulting words towards a match official in March 2007. But that’s just a detail of course.
The charge related to Portsmouth’s match with Manchester City on February 10 when Redknapp was sent to the stands by referee Mike Dean.
To repeat all of Mr Redknapp’s attacks on refs would be boring but here are a few…
On 29 December 2008 Mr Redknapp got angry with Steve Tanner (referee).    He called the ref ‘scary’ and said he was not good enough for the Premier League having failed to spot a push on Michael Dawson as Roman Bednar scored.   And he claimed there were too many wrong decisions overall, saying, “I could not even put into words what I thought of his performance. I walked into the referee’s room before the game, saw who was reffing and knew what was coming. I expected that sort of performance. It didn’t surprise me. I’ve had him before many times and know what he’s like. He’s not good enough. He’s a poor referee. I’ve seen him make a mess of so many games. I saw him in the Championship and I thought ‘Where has he come from?’ It’s my honest opinion and I don’t complain about referees. I don’t do that. But this guy was scary. He’s not up to the Premier League. Why did Dawson fly through the air when he has headed every ball? Everyone saw it but the referee. Yet it was a sending-off. Benoit turned his back and put his foot in, so I can see why the referee sent him off.”
In the same month Mr Redknapp attacked the ref in the game against Sporting Braga. Portsmouth had four players booked. He said, “I got frustrated with the whole game to be honest. Right from the start I thought the referee had no idea whatsoever.   It’s frightening, they were diving all over the place and nearly every decision seemed to be a booking. A few weeks ago we had a great Turkish referee in Guimaraes near here and it was a good game. This time I thought it was very poor. Where is the referee from? Slovenia? I’m sure they have a big league there and plenty of top matches.
On November 1 2010 Harry Redknapp threatened to never do a post match interview again if he were to be charged by the FA for his verbal attack on referee Mark Clattenburg.   He said, “Don’t expect me to come out on the TV anymore – ever – and speak to the press after a game.   He [the ref] made a right mess of it all, and that was my answer. And I stand by that 100%. I never questioned the integrity of the referee. What I said is that when they get in their room – and I’ve said it before – they would always make sure that they sing from the same hymn sheet. Anyone that thinks that doesn’t happen, they shouldn’t be in football, or involved in the game. Because I’ve been in it long enough. They always come up with the same. The linesman isn’t going to say ‘I told him it was handball and he should have disallowed it.’ They’ll all come up with the same. There’ll be an answer. Even though Mark Clattenburg in private has said to somebody that I know for a fact, that he made a mess, really. He should have blown up and given the free-kick. The whole thing was a mess.”In fact far from never criticising refs, Harry Redknapp has been charged with using abusive and/or insulting words towards a match official by the Football Association following a Portsmouth 2-1 win over Manchester City in March 2006.I could go on but it is getting boring. The point is, not that he does criticise referees but why does he deny it. Here are the possible reasons.1. He has the media in his pocket and he knows they will only report what he wants them to report.2. He has genuinely forgotten all these hundreds of incidents – in which case dementia is a likely cause.3. The FA have told the press that Mr Redknapp is sacred and must not be criticised.4. The media and FA all support Tottenham.5. He is a lying turnip who knows what he is doing and thinks he can just get away with it.Of course Tottenham supporters may be tempted to say that “all managers do this”, and yes it is true, that many do, but the absolute statement, “I never complain about referees’ decisions – I have not done it in 30 years of management, never. But today, I’m afraid, he got some badly wrong,” really does seem a bit over the top.But, hey ho, its Mr Redknapp, and he can do what he likes. As when in November 2010 he told an interviewer to “fuck off” live on Sky Sports.
Will

Stupid of him to make that statement, but I don't blame him for overall conduct. I don't particularly like 'Arry but refs can be so, so frustrating.
Rico

Really enjoyed the Stoke and Spuds game :)
A excellent weekend for an Arsenal fan. Newcastle drop further and Spud's are halted. Am torn between who I want to win the Chelsea and Man City game. If Chelsea win they go forth again but I don't want Man City to go unbeaten.
Perry S.

The answer is you want a draw.
TJUGA

I'll take a win for Man City, no one's catching them. I want them beat to everybody because we can catch every one, except them.
FredJacob

well do they lost and ManU is only 2 points behind them, so they are catch-able and when we beat them on Sunday ManU might be on top
Casimir

And Stoke beat Spuds!!
Brenton Walters

Arsenal win, Mourinho and Ronaldo lose, and Spurs lose!
Will

Rather Mourinho than the Dandy Divers Pep and Pals, to be honest, but I'm glad Chelsea beat City today. No one's getting near that Invincibles record!
FredJacob

except us again
Tomisin

This match was also the first in a long time i watched without any anxiety whatsoever, i just knew we would come good, and that is a strange phenomenon to me. I have begun to trust these guys. Thank God cesc left.
FredJacob

hmm, am sure you heart skipped a beat when the new kid shot came close in the 92nd minute
Tomisin

Song was immense yesterday, but i cant get over how effective Van Persie has become in an unnatural position. He is now a typical target man, he puts the ball at the back of the net, while he may have some unspectacular games, he does what the boss asks of him. Clinical. Nobody converts a player better than Arsene,he did it with Henry as well and if Walcott has any chance of ever becoming a true Number 9, Arsene is the one that can pull it off
brenton

I disagree with Song as MotM, but I understand why some people might agree with it. But can we be honest for a bit about his forward passing? Other than the assist (which was excellent), his forward passing was pretty dreadful today.

He was 55 for 71 overall, but if you look at the map of his passing, more than half the balls he tried to put forward to attack were intercepted or just bad. 13 of his 16 bad passes were from the right side going forward. He was particularly poor in the second half, completing just 30 of 41 passes.
Homey_Mills

Well I just couldn't give it to RvP either, because he was so bad for most of the match. And Song did have a very nice assist to Ramsey too. Anyway, maybe I was off, but that was my impression of the match without looking at the statistics.
Modi

Homey, In this case, I agree with your choice. No one in the game had a perfectly excellent performance. But Song did enough in his office (defending) and then went further to create two excellent scoring opportunities, one of which gave us the 3 points. I think this was enough to overtake RvP for the MoM ...........IMO.
Darren_V

What about Theo, who was the most dangerous player imo?
I don't think Song was a terrible choice though, as he was excellent breaking up the play, and that type of work isnt always noted.
brenton

Though I did also see that he only won 1 or 5 tackles. I really wonder at how they determine those stats.
brenton

I don't like just using stats, but sometimes they're indicative. 4 interceptions for Song, good work by him.
caligunner

I really hope the finishing of our wings gets better over the course of the season. I think that their overall play is excellent. They both get behind defenders and create lots of chances. If they can improve their finishing, this Arsenal side could really challenge the elite. That is of course, assuming that RVP, Song, Kos and Verm can stay healthy.
Perry S.

4th place and rising.
Darren_V

It's interesting that Wenger is leaving his substitutions for much later in the game. In previous years it was at the 60th minute like clockwork. Now he seems to be waiting 70th min plus. I wonder if it has to do with personnel or more to do with the GPS and the 'red zone' information we hear so much about now.
I'm curious Homey, what was it that made you rate Kos higher than Mert?
caligunner

I thought Kos was gigantic today, winning balls in the air and generally keeping Cahill very quiet. His performance today, combined with his efforts against Aguero and Torres, make me think that Arsenal has a defender that can mark key strikers out of games entirely.

Mert was also pretty good, although I thought he had a few moments of indecision that almost allowed chances.
Homey_Mills

I dunno about the ratings... I started to rate them the same, but it seemed Kos was more involved overall.
As for the subs... my view is that if Wenger thought there were players on the bench of roughly the same quality as those on the field, he'd sub earlier for freshness sake. But my guess is he sees the guys on the bench as clearly inferior, so he wants to get as much use out of the starters as possible.
Darren_V

I found overall they played pretty equal, as Brenton alluded to, so I was merely curious what made you think Kos has the better game, thats all.
brenton

Koscielny added a little more offensively, but Mertesacker's passing out of the back is very good.
Gigi_man

Thx for the recap. Didnt see the game today but at times, 5 mins here 5 there, so couldnt really have an opinion.
The score though, at 0-0 was worrying me. And then I switched to see Norwich Newcastle and the commentator went : gooooool!°!!!!! Van Persie otra vez para los Gunners!!! I missed it but waited til the end to see the definition.
Priceless.
Wordless.
The pass from Song was outstanding, and the fiish was just superbe.

Oh and the final scene of the recap was Wojo kissing RvP's foot.

Priceless again.
Will

Nice use of "net" in the title. I've heard of netting goals countless times but never of netting games. Didn't get to watch anything other than a low-quality clip of the very high-quality goal (gonna have to wait for FredJacob), so thanks for the good write-up! Walcott has really been excellent recently but it doesn't really show in assists and even less so in goals.. hopefully it's not long before he and Gerv find that magic final touch.
Tfyoung

Disagree about Ramsey. I thought he was poor today and hasn't really had a decent game since the Chelsea game. Arteta wasn't great either!
brenton

Ramsey's longer passing was not that great today. Almost every time the ball was too far, too fast, or too late. His short passing was still fine.
eijner

Disagree with that. I thought our midfields did really well today - it was just that Song played better!
Tfyoung

Defensively they were fine. However there was very little linkup/interplay between Ramsey Arteta and the front three on the edge of the Everton box which is where we want Ramsey to play.I suspect he is the one who loses out if Wiltshire returns in anything like last year's form