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Three-o for Arsenal as Walcott leads comeback charge

Saturday, 18 October 08, 12:35 PM

by Joel Abraham from Block 13 of the Emirates Stadium

Arsenal 3 : 1 Everton

'A game of two halves' might be a cliche, but you'll forgive me for employing it this afternoon.

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Arsenal climbed to third place and Everton dropped to 16th, as both teams reverted to type in an entertaining battle in North London.

Everton had the better of the first half; Moyes promised his team would attack, and he was true to his word as Leon Osman gave them an early lead. His neat one-two with Steven Pienaar opened up the makeshift Arsenal defence, with Denilson losing his man and allowing Osman to score.

The visitors' five-man midfield denied Arsenal and in particular Cesc Fabregas space to play in. The midfield was frequently bypassed as a result, as many long balls were aimed towards Adebayor with little success. Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka dealt well with the aerial threat, restricting the hosts to a single first-half shot on target. Robin van Persie squandered Arsenal's best chance of the first half, firing straight at Tim Howard.

Everton played energetically and aggressively, winning most of the 50/50 balls and creating several good chances. Their main tactic were long balls towards Yakubu and Marouane Fellaini, whose knockdowns in particular caused Arsenal problems in midfield. Osman should have doubled their lead after being fed by Yakubu, who skipped past another half-hearted Denilson challenge. Silvestre improved as the game continued, intercepting several dangerous passes, making some crucial clearances and keeping Yakubu quiet. However, large gaps were appearing between Toure and Song that Everton should have capitalised upon.

Arsenal began to focus their attacks down the left-hand side, with the impressive Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri getting in behind Tony Hibbert and putting in several decent crosses that Adebayor and van Persie ought to have done better with. Arsenal were running out of ideas, and the half-time whistle forced a tactical reshuffle from Arsene Wenger.

The introduction of Theo Walcott at half time for Kolo Toure galvanised Arsenal, providing them with the attacking outlet they were lacking. Eboue moved to right-back and Song into central defence, giving Arsenal some genuine width. Walcott's runs raised the tempo and injected some much-needed urgency into their play, as he and Eboue doubled up well on Leighton Baines. Everton were on the back foot, and Arsenal began to dominate.

The visitors were camped inside their own penalty area for much of the second-half, and any attempts to counter were mopped up well by Denilson, who maintained the hosts' attacking momentum. As the sun broke through the clouds overhead, the volume inside the stadium grew and a goal seemed inevitable. Nasri lashed in an equaliser through a crowded penalty area and van Persie nodded in a rebound from Fabregas' saved shot.

Arsenal continued attacking, and Walcott sealed the win with an angled strike through Howard's legs. The visitors were simply unable to cope with the speed and movement of Arsenal's second-half performance, and will be left ruing their failure to extend their early lead when they had the chance.

Everton fans will be left pondering another squandered lead, whilst Arsenal will be wondering why it took them 45 minutes to start playing.

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