VAR? No Problem For Everton.
It's not surprising to say that Everton are in crisis with the news of their director of football leaving his position as well as a planned fan protest during the game not to mention that Everton has been winless in 8 games. It has been a turbulent moment for Rafa Benitez as he is struggling to win the fans over with 6 losses coming from 8 games. They hosted Arsenal who has managed to steady their ship except for the defeats against Liverpool and Manchester United.
The notable difference to Arsenal's lineup was Aubameyang, who hasn't been having the best of times in front of the goal, especially in away games and Lacazette came in to replace him as the captain of the night and also his position up front.
Arsenal got the lead despite not being at their best through Martin Odegaard before Richarlison drew his side level after being denied by VAR twice before then. Gray did the damage to Arsenal in the 92nd minute with 4 minutes left on the clock. Everton held on and got their victory to ease the pressure a bit.
Gray did everything right in the 13th minute except his finishing. Despite running the length of the field and getting to the edge of the box, he couldn't keep his shot down and it flew over the bar when he had options. Everton showed promise and they had another chance in the 25th minute which fell to Doucoure inside the box but he couldn't get a clean strike despite his turn.
Arsenal seemed to struggle a bit as Everton took control of the game. Everton bombarded Arsenal especially in the 35th minute of the game but they still couldn't get a goal. They were a bit sloppy and couldn't get the needed extra touch to get the ball across the line.
Everton thought they got the lead in the 44th minute after Townsend's lovely freekick delivery was met by a lovely looping header by Richarlison as the ball found the back of the net. After the VAR check, the goal was ruled out for offside. It took Arsenal 3 minutes after that to get ahead of Everton despite Everton dominating the game. Kieran Tierney ran down the left side of the pitch and delivered a lovely cross into the box with Martin Odegaard on hand to guide the ball into the back of the net with precision and accuracy. Everton felt hard done by but football is a result business.
Richarlison felt hard done by yet again with another offside call after Doucoure found him with a sublime pass and he blasted his effort into the back of the net. Another VAR check picked him out for offside and how frustrated he was in the 58th minute. Shortly after, Martinelli missed the chance to pick out Lacazette in the box after trying to round up Pickford and from a tight angle, his effort dropped on the net.
Richarlison got 3rd time lucky in the 80th minute after Andre Gomes who came in to replace Andro Townsend went all the way before the ball came to Gray. Gray's lovely strike struck the crossbar and Richarlison was there to head home another looping header which wasn't chalked off this time around to draw Everton level, 1-1.
Nketiah missed a huge opportunity to give Arsenal the lead for the second time in the game in the 84th minute after he was found inside the box with a perfect cross. His header ricocheted off the post before going off him for a goal kick. He should have buried that chance.
Everton scored the second goal late into the game after Gray brilliantly drift in to unleash a lovely strike that came off the post to beat Ramsdale for pace and accuracy. Gray got his 5th Everton's goal and also Rafa got his 5th Everton's win after coming from behind to beat Arsenal by 2 goals to 1.
Alex Nwobi should have scored against his former side after Richarlison brilliantly set him up just inside the box but Ramsdale closed him down quickly and got a touch to block the effort. Aubameyang came on for Lacazette earlier and with the last kick of the game, he was found inside the box and in what sums up his form recently, he blasted his effort wide and off-target when he should have buried that to give his side at least a point.
The pressure eased up on Rafa Benitez as he got a valuable 3 points to put a stop to a run of bad results in the last 8 games.
Thank you for your time.
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Thank you.
This match was just crazy, Arsenal deserved to lose, the only annoying part is that they made me lose in fantasy.
Hahaha they surely deserved to lose. Everton played from start to finish. I am glad I don't have any of their player in Fantasy o. Sorry dear.
I was so happy with the goal canceling but I got tired in the end.
Yes, it was a one sided game.
Annoying Arsenal people.
😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣 glad they didn't leapfrog us further on the table though.
That was a win for us.
I am happy...we should keep climbing sha
Hopefully we do.
☺️☺️☺️
This game in specific was such a wake-up call for me as a Gooner. We have no players to make a top 4 possible. People are trying to put it on Arteta but I have watched all the compilations he tried, and it is definitely on certain players.
Nice review.
Thank you so much. Absolutely... Arsenal would have a lot of work to do if they are to make top 4. Aubameyang is off form too. He could have gotten a draw for Arsenal.
I love these recaps you do and a little analysis. They're not overd-worded like I see on other sites. Just straight up to the point.
Keep them coming, please.
Thank you so much. This means a lot.
It was a deserved victory for Everton as Arsenal were a shadow of themselves.
They failed to take the warning from Richarlison damn, three times. I wonder what these players think.
I just feel these players are not up to snuff.
Hahahaha Richarlison was frustrated and he kept at it and finally got rewarded. Arsenal were too sloppy.
It would have been very unfair to him had he not gotten a goal that counted. You could see what the goal meant to him in the end. Saw a picture of him posing with the ball and a caption that read "hat-trick" 😂
Hat-trick 🤣🤣😂😂😂😂 he is a funny guy. I love his resilient spirit and fight.
Expecting a post from you regarding Barca's UCL exit.
I was taken by surprise, really. I was hoping they would at least get a draw but then... EUROPA league...