Everton 2-2 Arsenal: Late Gunners comeback denies Toffees

adamhigginsuk
Aug 23, 2014
4 min read

Saviour: Giroud rescued the Gunners with a late equaliser as the Toffees were left to rue two points dropped (Picture by Getty Images)

ARSENAL staged a stirring comeback from two goals down late on to deny Everton their first win of the season. Olivier Giroud headed a dramatic 90th minute equaliser from Nacho Monreal's left-wing cross to salvage an unlikely point. Aaron Ramsey's close-range finish had thrown the Gunners a lifeline with seven minutes to go. Goals from Seamus Coleman and Steven Naismith had put Everton in control in the first half. The Toffees eased to a dominant 3-0 win in the corresponding fixture in April and appeared to be heading for another victory over the Gunners, who finished seven points above them last season to clinch fourth place. But Roberto Martinez's side had to settle for a second successive 2-2 draw after sharing the points with newly-promoted Leicester on the opening weekend.

The visitors from north London - unconvincing in their last-gasp win over Crystal Palace last weekend - were second best for large periods at Goodison Park. However, their persistence to fight to the dying stages and maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign will please Arsene Wenger ahead of their midweek return leg in the Champions League play-off against Besiktas.

After their midweek European excursions in Istanbul, Wenger rang the changes with World Cup winners Per Mertesacker and Mesut Ozil returning from their extended breaks in place of Laurent Koscielny and Santi Cazorla.

Mathieu Flamini deputised for Mikel Arteta, who missed out through injury against his former club, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came in for Olivier Giroud, allowing £35 million signing Alexis Sanchez to spearhead the attack.

Everton welcomed back Seamus Coleman after injury while Kevin Mirallas was preferred to Aiden McGeady, who dropped to the bench along with John Stones.

The Toffees lost Steven Pienaar to a calf problem inside the opening 10 minutes, Leon Osman his replacement.

Following a low-key start, the first opportunity fell to the Gunners when Oxlade-Chamberlain fired wide of the post from 15 yards after latching onto a rushed Phil Jagielka clearance.

The hosts had struggled to click into their stride but, against the balance of play, found the lead on 18 minutes as Arsenal switched off at the back.

A quickly-taken free-kick found Gareth Barry, who was given ample time to bend a cross to the far post where Coleman peeled away from Ozil unnoticed to power his header over the outstretched arm of Woijech Szczesny.

The disjointed Gunners were almost further behind two minutes later when Mirallas raced through the middle but, falling over as he shot, contrived to screw his effort wide.

It was a let-off for the visitors, who struggled to pose any kind of threat to an untroubled Everton defence despite retaining possession for sustained spells.

Mirallas curled a free-kick inches wide of the target from 20 yards before Everton cashed in on Arsenal's defensive vulnerability once again to double their lead on the stroke of half-time.

Romelu Lukaku, the Gunners' chief tormentor in blue last season, escaped the attentions of Mertesacker on the halfway line to race clear.

The Belgian surged away from Calum Chambers before slipping in Naismith, who slotted home his second in as many games from a suspiciously offside position.

With a mountain to climb, Wenger acted at half-time with a bold change as Giroud took over from former Barcelona forward Sanchez to spearhead the frontline.

The Frenchman was presented with a gilt-edged opening within 60 seconds of the restart, blazing a wild volley over the crossbar from Ramsey's inviting cross at the back post.

Giroud brought an extra edge to the Gunners attack and posed a danger to the Everton rearguard which had been missing for much of the game.

After dragging a low shot wide of the post, he forced a sprawling Tim Howard into his first meaningful save midway through the second half at the end of an intricate passing move.

Arsenal handed Costa Rican striker Joel Campbell his Premier League debut and Cazorla was also introduced with 15 minutes to go to inject more firepower and creativity.

Although trying to break forward at pace, Martinez's side lost their grip and subconsciously dropped deeper as a unit.

And the Gunners were given a semblance of hope on 83 minutes when Cazorla's exquisite delivery was bundled in from five yards by Ramsey for his second Premier League goal of the season.

The visitors had seized full control and poured forward in search of a leveller with Giroud nodding wide from Mathieu Debuchy's centre - but his and Arsenal's perseverence was rewarded in the final minute of regulation time.

Nacho Monreal kept an overhit cross from Ramsey in play and tossed the ball back into the box for Giroud, who got in front of Sylvain Distin at the front post to direct a header beyond Howard's reach.

Arsenal have not beaten Everton in five Premier League meetings but it almost felt like a win at full-time for the Gunners, who will be desperate to improve on their return of six points against the top five last term.

Having surrendered a commanding position in the closing stages, frustration will be the overriding feeling for the Toffees, whose tough start to the season continues at home to title favourites Chelsea next Saturday.