….well not until todays games have completed anyway…I am a bit of stickler for the Top of The League shouting, like in Tennis where a player gets a break of serve, its not really a break of serve until he holds his next service game, the same goes for being top of the League, we are not really top of the league until everyone has finished their games this weekend…by 4pm today hopefully we are top of the league. Ok Doomer bit over…..and back to yesterday’s game.

This was never going to be an easy task, with the “could go top” match previews hanging over the head of the Arsenal players coupled with the after effects of the midweek Bayern performance, the media were surely sharpening their keyboards to write once again that when put in a position of pressure we failed. Well that may have been what the media wanted, but thankfully the players and manager didn’t give them the ammunition.

We started brightly enough, pressing Everton in their third of the pitch and not allowing Howard, Jagielka or Stones time on the ball to pick out Lukaku and build from there, or play through their midfield, this meant we were winning back possession regularly enough and dominating the game. The team looked up for it, Giroud leading the pressing from the front but also helping to move the ball around the attacking midfielders giving a good platform to build on. In fact Giroud did a very good job of re igniting the Theo v Giroud debate which Theo looked like he had settled in recent weeks.

As the half wore on we were not really creating much in front of goal, and although Giroud was giving us that platform there were times where it appeared that Ozil, Santi and Alexis couldn’t perhaps find the pass they would have had Theo been leading the line.

We created a few opportunities but not really any clear cut chances, that was until Ozil found himself in time and space, Giroud made a good run having initially laid the ball off and pointed to where he wanted it, Ozil didn’t need asking twice and put the ball perfectly into the box, tempting Howard off his line and giving Ollie the simple task of helping it on in to the open net.

Within 16 seconds of the restart (as shown on MotD) Arsenal pressed Everton back in to their own half and after good work from Ollie, Alexis got fouled and we had a free kick in a dangerous area. Santi delivered an even better cross than his one against Bayern on Tuesday night and Koscielny found himself with a simple header into an again empty net because Howard had again vacated his line. I am not sure there are many players like Santi in the English Premier League, on Tuesday he delivered a bending cross from deep with his left foot, and yesterday he provided the same with his right foot. We are very lucky to have him. The fans responded in full voice and the Emirates sounded like a fun place to be.

Unfortunately as is often the Arsenal way we managed to conspire to make the game difficult for ourselves, with a few minutes of the first half remaining Ox found himself with the ball on the edge of Everton’s area, Hector available to his right and players closing, if he had managed to get a shot off first time then we would not have been chasing back towards our own goal five seconds later, instead Ox chose to shoot after a couple of touches in to a mass of Everton bodies when there were better options on, the ball broke to Delofeu who managed remarkably to stay on his feet for twenty or so yards before releasing Barkley, Koscielny had been dragged wide by Lukaku and Ox and Hector were in hot pursuit, they both probably had a chance to take the booking but allowed Barkley to continue, he took a speculative shot which would not have troubled Cech until it took a big deflection off of Gabriel and drifted into the gaping net. Some have drawn comparisons between the two incidents, saying that Barkley’s attempt was the same as Ox’s but because his resulted in a goal he was applauded whilst Ox was criticised, the difference in my opinion was the options, Barkley really had no other options and most of his team mates were safely behind him, therefore he bought a ticket to the lottery and won, Ox had options, plenty of them and at 2-0 up there was no need to try and force a third before half time.

This gave Everton a lift and made the game closer than it needed to be for the second half, Arsenal continued to play their football, as did Everton which made for a really enjoyable game of football, in truth either team could have scored the next goal, and both had opportunities to do so, Grioud denied by the bar, Ozil by the post and Lukaku by the post, Delofeu was was also denied by a good block by Cech with Kozzer and Nacho in close attendance.

The game ended with Arsenal fans cheering every tackle and interception to the rafters and the final whistle was greeted with a mixture of celebration and relief.

Given the recent run of games, the opponent and the energy expended on Tuesday night, this was a very good result, if we are top of the league by the end of today does not impact that, its more fuel to the fire of belief spreading around the Emirates and the Arsenal blogosphere and fandom, lets hope it continues to roll on.

Man of the match is tricky one for me, Coquelin, Ozil, Giroud and Santi all in with a good shout. For me Giroud edged it, by way of explanation i liked his workrate and his distribution and his finishing, in the face of the criticism he has faced since the start of the season I think he deserves recognition.

Gooner in Exile

Morning all,

I very rarely worry about what other clubs do or don’t do as I always feel that the governing bodies will step in and keep them all in-line. Just recently I have been unimpressed with how these so called governing bodies have handled Chelsea football club’s Manager and his rantings about referees and their assistants.

Jose Mourinho has made statements about how he feels that the FA has a vendetta against Chelsea fc. He has openly suggested that referees have banded together especially to foil Chelsea’s progress. After a recent bad loss, in an after match interview, Mourinho went on non stop for seven minutes ranting about referee incompetence and how the referee had it in for them. He felt that the referee hadn’t ruled in favour of what he considered a blatant penalty for his team.

Now I feel its only fair to explain, that Chelsea’s start to the season has been the worst they have had in the Abramovitch era.  The amount of money that has been injected into the club to build Chelsea into a fighting force to be reckoned with is disgustingly huge. Many managers have come and gone, not many have been allowed to stay if they don’t bring in the expected results that their very rich owner expects.

Mr Abramovitch, has characteristics similar to our own Mr Stan Kroenke, where he seems silent to the media, almost as though they are mute. I am sure both these owners are anything but inside their clubs, but on the field of play they both have their appointed spokesman for their respected clubs, speaking on behalf of their views. Abramovitch has not so far condemned Mourinho.

Reports I have read suggest that fining a manager like Mourinho, who is a multi millionaire, is pointless as the amount of a fine means very little to a man who feels he is above all of them anyway. He has so far been handed a £50,000 fine and a one match suspended ban for his conduct whereas I remember during a match against Man U, Arsene Wenger was sent to the stands and was made to stand amongst opposition supporters which caused him great embarrassment.

A few seasons ago during a Champion’s League match Arsene Wenger upset the referee with words in the tunnel at half time, not in front of the media, down the tunnel out of view. This resulted in Mr Wenger being banned for the next 3 games from the dugout. Mr Wenger followed the instructions but was seen in the stands to be giving instructions on his phone, now that of course could have been a non related phone call, but was seen as coaching from the stands which was not allowed, so he was administered another games ban. Arsenal was knocked out of the competition, before the ban was over, but was still in force for the next seasons completely different competition, so he still had to see his first game relegated to the stands.

Bringing the game into disrepute needs to be dealt with, although I agreed with Wenger’s discontent at the time. It is understood that to show dissent to officials, even out of the glare of the public eye should still be punished. So why is Mourinho who has ranted in full view of the public and even after calming down he still rants that officials are incompetent and not worthy of officiating a Chelsea game given such light treatment by the FA?

The rules of football are clear. Managers whoever they are, rich or poor, should be treated equal but that appears not to be happening and I am furious that this is going away without punishment. Mourinho is struggling, of that there is no doubt, he blames medics, players, supporters, the FA, you name it he blames them and its time the cretin looked at himself. He needs to be brought in line and to stop trying to divert attention away from himself by blaming others and naming the perceived faults of Arsene Wenger.

He needs to take some responsibility for his own actions and the actions of his players and stop hiding behind his ‘special one’ status, for he is really just an arrogant man. Will it happen?

Written by Steve Palmer