Weak Arsenal Escape With a Point

After 45 minutes Arsenal looked to be in for a long afternoon at Goodison Park.  Everton commanded the entire first half, putting two simple goals past Wojciech Szczesny, but Olivier Giroud replaced Alexis at halftime and provided the 90th-minute equalizer.  Giroud’s introduction came with a customary outrage on twitter, but his hold-up physical play changed the game.  

However, Arsenal left this game with more questions than answers.  Mathieu Flamini put in his usual hard shift in the midfield, but his late booking exemplified why Arsene Wenger cannot count on his countrymen to produce consistently.  With Mikel Arteta still out, the length of his injury not disclosed currently, Wenger would be wise to add another combative midfielder in the next week, while Giroud's performance shouldn't hinder any desire to add another striker.  

Mesut Ozil was sluggish in his season debut but still managed to create several chances in a game where he rarely featured in the middle of the pitch.  Alexis, meanwhile, only managed one touch in the opposing penalty area in the first half.  The Chilean put his tenacious pressing qualities on display and made several excellent runs off the ball, but the odds were never in his favor against such a stout defense.  

Speaking of defense, Per Mertesacker still has one foot on the airplane home from holiday, and Calum Chambers made some errors that were expected of such an inexperienced player.  It was arguably his worst performance in an Arsenal shirt, but the 19 year old still has a long way to go.  Laurent Koscielny, sidelined by an achilles injury today, would have helped the Arsenal defense greatly.  

As for Mertesacker, his two mis-timed challenges on Lukaku allowed Everton two gaping chances, one of which was converted by Steven Naismith who was in a clear offside position when the ball was played to him.  Regardless, Arsenal deserved to concede a second goal.  There was way too much standing around in the first half, and not enough communication on the pitch.  

Arsenal should look to how Everton conduct themselves on the field during games; Gareth Barry and James McCarthy are in constant communication, and Tim Howard is never shy to make himself heard.  Ozil was caught sleeping on the first goal, indicative of the German’s lazy nature on defense.  Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere had mixed afternoons, the former netting Arsenal's first goal and the latter combining nicely in the center of the park.

Then again, playing Ozil on the left limited his ability to influence the game.  This was probably by design, as he probably cannot bear the load of the engine room just yet.  As he regains fitness, Ozil will improve but today his movement was less impactful than it usually is.  Credit to Arsenal, who looked awful for 75 minutes before mustering up two late goals.  However there is much work to be done if they wish to compete with the title contenders.