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MOTD- Arsenal 1-1 Everton

By on December 8, 2013

Not since the days of Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira have Arsenal and Arsene Wenger been dealing with the possibility of a seven point lead at the top of the Premier League table midway nearly two weeks into December, yet when Mesut Ozil netted what Arsenal fans at the The Emirates’ thought was to be the winner against Everton, a seven point cushion was only six minutes away. That lead was reduced to four points due to a simple defensive error which allowed the boy from Barcelona, Gerard Deulofeu, to do what Everton intended him to do upon signing him on loan: score.

There is no shame for Arsenal to draw Everton, but having victory snatched away at the very last moment was a cruel way to earn the one point. In fact Arsenal would have taken a draw after they suffered a nervy opening of hour in which Everton enjoyed nearly 70% possession. Yet The Gunners’ came so close to taking the lead after twenty-six minutes when Santi Cazorla threaded a tantalizing ball across the face of goal that Kieran Gibbs came inches away from tapping home from six yards.

Three minutes later it was Romelu Lukaku’s ball across the Arsenal goal which needed just the slightest of touches to be converted, although as the match rolled on to the second half it was Everton who were soaking up all three pressure. The then visitors’ forced a decent save out of Wojciech Szczesny nine minutes into the second period when Ross Barkley’s flick set up for a Steven Pienaar shot on the edge of the box and the South African sent a laser effort towards goal. Arsenal were still on top though, and could have taken the lead when Gibbs’ cross from the left found Aaron Ramsey at the far post. Tim Howard did well enough to push the midfielder’s acrobatic volley around the post for a corner, not to mention saving Ozil’s effort moments later, but couldn’t stop Ozil from putting the home side up in the eighth minute. Theo Walcott headed Tomas Rosicky’s long ball down to the to German, who slammed a half-volley into the roof of the net to blow the roof off the of Emirates (considering it doesn’t have a roof in the first place).

However the a the whole stadium, excluding the away fans section, who were blisteringly loud, was silent just three minutes later when Deulofeu bagged a superb equalizer. The Barcelona loanee burst in down the right side of the Arsenal box, blowing by three defenders before smashing a bullet shot right past Szczesny into the back of the net from seven yards out. Arsenal were rocked, but three minutes and four seconds into the three minutes of stoppage time Olivier Giroud came inches away from restoring Arsenal’s lead when his stunning volley from twenty-five yards rebounded back off the crossbar, leaving the scoreline 1-1 until the final whistle blew seconds later.
Man of the Match: Mesut Ozil

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.