From Cech to the officials: Winners and losers as Everton’s poor Arsenal record goes on

In an end-to-end contest, Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 at the Emirates.

It was a game of two halves, with the Gunners dominating the second period after the Toffees had started brighter. There were some big misses from both sides, but who were the winners and losers?

Winner: Alexandre Lacazette

Arsenal went over 50 minutes without scoring, and it did look as though it was going to be one of those days for the Gunners. But then Lucas Torreira won the ball quick well inside the Everton half and the ball fell to Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman fed it quickly to Alexandre Lacazette who took a touch and then absolutely leathered a beautiful shot in off the post.

It was a sublime finish, and then a minute later with was Lacazette’s quick footwork that set Mesut Ozil free and allowed him to create Arsenal’s second, effectively burying Everton. It was a fabulous five minutes of centre-forward play, the kind that this game (and the afternoon’s previous one, too) had been crying out for. A decisive bit of play at the sharp end, slicing through and making the difference.

Loser: Arsenal’s defence

That said, Arsenal were very lucky to be able to win 2-0 as their defence was about as effective as a screen door on a submarine. Time and time again Everton sliced them open with comical ease. Let’s be real; the Toffees weren’t rocking some kind of Barcelona-esque style of play, dominating the ball and owning the Gunners. They were just sort of… there.

Yet Arsenal seemed to have no answer for Everton’s attack. It was really quite miraculous to see as the Toffees in their spectacular away kit looked like Real Madrid, playing one or two passes and just cutting Arsenal apart. It’s hard to tell if the injury to Sokratis, forcing him to be replaced by Rob Holding, will be helpful. In terms of this game it gave the Gunners a modicum of stability where before they had none; but going forward will they miss the Greek’s experience?

Obviously Arsenal got the win and kept their first clean-sheet of the season, but their defence was so wide-open that they can only be considered losers because a better side than Everton would have gutted them like a fish.

Winner: Petr Cech

One of the major reasons Arsenal were still at 0-0 was the phenomenal performance of Petr Cech. Considering his advanced age (he’s only 36 but the way people talk about him you’d think he was 72) he was quite spry. This is a goalkeeper who, last season, looked like broken pieces of a human being held together by a protective skull cap.

But now not only is he passing the ball out from the back with a surprising level of assurance but he’s also zooming off his line to absolutely shut down the 1v1’s that Everton managed to create thanks to Arsenal’s dumpster fire of a defence. Cech made Richarlison pay for his hesitation, walled up Walcott and even palmed Keane’s header aside as though it were nothing.

In addition to all of that, Cech was claiming crosses and dominating his area with an undeniable air of authority. Arsenal’s medium-money new goalkeeping signing Bernd Leno couldn’t even keep a clean sheet against Vorskla, but Petr Cech is out here blanking Everton? There’s no school like the old-school!

Loser: Theo Walcott

Of course whilst we must also pay homage to Petr Cech’s enduring excellence, there’s no escaping the fact that Everton made it easy for him. Obviously Richarlison’s miss was just as bad, but Theo Walcott has to be the ultimate loser of the Everton front-line given his history.

Walcott is still the only player to have played at the Emirates Stadium in every season since it was constructed. Obviously most of those were as an Arsenal player, but now he’s a Toffee he would have been desperate to have a good performance and inflict a home defeat on the Gunners. Yet Walcott couldn’t muster anything of note, stabbing his one great chance low at Cech instead of lifting it over the diving veteran.

He also got popped in the eye and spent the last half of his performance with it swelling up like a prize fighter.

Winner: Aaron Ramsey

Aaron Ramsey is in an interesting position under Unai Emery as he’s technically not as good as any of the players vying for his position yet because of his all-around skill-set he just might be the best fit for the Spaniard’s system. Ramsey is a ball of energy and whilst he’s nowhere near the playmaker Mesut Ozil is, his movement puts him in so many great positions and he managed to create both goals.

Alright, the first assist was a fairly simple forward pass that Lacazette rocketed in. And sure, the second assist was a total fluke as he made a mess controlling the ball but having it still fall to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who tapped home. This sort of encapsulates Ramsey under Emery; moving well, being positionally savvy and then finding a way to get it done.

Loser: Premier League officials

Speaking of that second goal, where Aaron Ramsey’s hilariously comedic Bambi-on-ice impression ended up scuffing the ball to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and allowing the Gabonese striker to make it 2-0, there was one issue. Aubameyang was a figurative mile offside and it’s honestly perplexing how the officials didn’t spot it.

Of course, they wouldn’t have had to spot it if the Premier League had done the sensible thing and brought VAR through. The World Cup showed us just how effective VAR can be at eliminating these sort of mistakes, and with goal-line technology already being implemented in the Premier League it’s a real headscratcher as to why VAR isn’t there.

Everton would surely have appreciated it today.

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