Coming off an impressive win against Bayern Munich on Tuesday, Arsenal had an opportunity to, at least temporarily, vault themselves into first place with a victory over Everton. With the big French striker Olivier Giroud in the starting lineup over Theo Walcott, it was Arsenal’s aerial attack that would prove decisive in their victory.
It was an evenly matched game early on, but Arsenal broke the ice in the 36th minute as a beautiful cross from Mesut Ozil scrapped off the top of the head of Olivier Giroud to give Arsenal the 1-0 lead.
Just two minutes later Arsenal was able to add to their tally as Santi Cazorla whipped in a hard free kick that found the head of Laurent Koscielny who easily directed it into the back of the net. Two fantastic crosses put Arsenal in a commanding 2-0 lead.
It looked like Arsenal may run away with it, but a Ross Barkley goal at the end of the first half was able to get Everton back into the game. Barkley took a shot that took an unfortunate deflection off the leg of Gabriel and found its way into the back of the net to trim the Arsenal lead to 2-1.
Everton made a push to equalize at the end of the game. In the 75th minute Everton had a great chance when James McCarthy put in a cross that found the head of Brendan Galloway, but Galloway put the ball just wide.
Minutes later Romelu Lukaku put a threatening header just over the crossbar. Petr Cech was forced to make a pair of good saves in the final minutes, but Arsenal managed to hang on for the 2-1 victory. This win is the 4th in a row for Arsenal, as they were able to continue their strong run of form.
Santi Cazorla was the player of the game for Arsenal due to his impressive passing throughout the game. Cazorla delivered a fantastic free kick that resulted in the second Arsenal goal, and he finished the game with a total of 5 key passes.
In addition to his assist, Cazorla delivered 8 crosses, and completed 74 of his 80 passes. His passing throughout the game was key to setting up chances for Arsenal, as well as allowing them to keep possession and control the game. Cazorla’s performance has vital to the Arsenal victory.
