Arsène Wenger has just signed three new players, and here was an uncomfortable reminder why he needs them. Arsenal were poor, rarely threatened, and have now managed just 11 goals in their past 11 away games.
Their evident frustration boiled over at the end, when Cesc Fabregas was sent off in stoppage time for flooring Tim Cahill in reckless retaliation for the Australian’s scything challenge on Thierry Henry.
Much will be made of the fact that it was the 62nd red card of Wenger’s nine-year tenure, but this one will not be joining some of the others in English football’s black museum. It was a handbagging, rather than a hatchet job.
Arsenal’s shortcomings notwithstanding, Everton deserve full credit for another highly encouraging performance and result which leaves them unbeaten in their past six games and with four league wins in a row. Four successive defeats in December, two of them
4-0 drubbings, had Everton supporters fearing the worst, but the improvement since has been such that they should be capable of maintaining mid-table security. This win was the product of a good, if obvious, game plan. Like an increasing number of managers, David Moyes has come to realise that Henry and his supporting cast of continental technicians like time on the ball. What they don’t like is terrier-like opponents who are constantly in their face, so that’s what his players gave them.
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Everton chased and harried relentlessly from the first minute to the last, never allowing Arsenal to settle into their composed passing game. Wenger hated it and made his feelings known afterwards, when he complained that Everton, and others, were turning the beautiful game into “physical combat”. He said: “You cannot say it was real football, but it was efficient, and when they went 1-0 up it convinced them even more that they were doing the right thing.”
It was a curmudgeonly reaction that smacked of sour grapes. Everton were physical in a legitimately committed way, and should have won by a more convincing margin. They had the best scoring chances and it was fitting that they had the points.
Of Arsenal’s new signings, Theo Walcott has been given a 10-day break, Emmanuel Adebayor is away with Togo at the African Cup of Nations, and Abou Diaby spent all but the last few minutes on the bench.
Young Kerrea Gilbert quickly caught the eye, dispossessing James Beattie on the edge of his penalty area then sprinting forward to get in a testing cross at the other end, enabling Freddie Ljungberg to let fly. Nigel Martyn did well to push the shot against a post, and was alarmed when Tony Hibbert headed the rebound straight into the ground in front of him. Fabregas was wide with a follow-up goal attempt.
That was about as good as Arsenal got. Everton took the lead after 13 minutes and never looked like losing it. Cahill’s lofted through-pass sent Beattie charging away through the middle, but there should have been no real danger to Jens Lehmann’s goal, with both centre-halves in position in front of him. Beattie, however, was not deterred and nodded the ball down before bursting between Sol Campbell and Philippe Senderos, outmuscling the England defender before scoring from seven yards.
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It was an old-fashioned centre-forward’s goal from a centre-forward who may not be as old fashioned as he is painted. Beattie, who refuses to give up on a World Cup place with England, now has four in his past eight games. He should have had a second after 25 minutes, which would have made the issue beyond doubt but, gifted a chance by a careless backpass from Fabregas, he shot wastefully wide from 20 yards with Lehmann off his line and helpless. It was a bad miss — the only blemish on a performance which was second only to that of the energetic Leon Osman.
A scrappy second half was notable only for the flurry of cards as tempers flared. Wenger didn’t like it, but Moyes certainly did. “Satisfied? Not half,” he said. “The pushing and shoving was a show of spirit. Arsenal are a team of winners who don’t like losing, and we were determined to hang on to what we had.
“Our performance was exactly how we planned it. We didn’t give them any time to settle. My players were terrific.” Asked to explain Everton’s recent improvement, he added: “Nobody can put a value on the confidence and belief that comes from winning.”
Arsenal now play Wigan in the Carling Cup and Bolton away in the league, and Wenger can expect no respite from the attritional football to which, he admits, his team have yet to find an answer.
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STAR MAN: Leon Osman (Everton)
Player ratings. Everton: Martyn 6, Hibbert 6, Ferrari 6 (Stubbs 32min, 6), Weir 7, Valente 6, Osman 8, Neville 7, Arteta 6 (Ferguson 86min, 5), Kilbane 6, Cahill 7, Beattie 8
Arsenal: Lehmann 6, Gilbert 6 (Hleb 74min, 5), Campbell 5, Senderos 5, Lauren 5, Ljungberg 6, Gilberto 5, Fabregas 6, Pires 5 (Diaby 81min, 5), Henry 6, Reyes 5
Scorer: Everton: Beattie 13
Referee: A Wiley
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Attendance: 36,920