For most of the first half Arsenal dominated the game but didn’t look particularly dangerous. However all things changed in the 36th minute when a lovely high pass from Mesut Ozil was headed home by Olivier Giroud.
Barely had the game restarted when Everton fouled Sanchez and gave away a free kick. Santi Cazorla found Laurent Koscielny, who headed home, resulting in a quick two goal lead.
Just before half time Everton broke forward and a Ross Barkley strike deflected off Gabriel, wrong footing Petr Cech, and giving Everton a way back into the game.
The second half started to open up as Arsenal’s legs tired and Everton pushed forwards for an equalizer.
Everton had two great chances. Lukaku headed against the crossbar and Cech made a great save off Deulofeu.
Arsenal had their chances to score as well. Giroud hit the crossbar, Ozil hit the upright, and Flamini headed directly at Howard, being the best of a number of opportunities.
In the end Arsenal hung on for an important victory and have moved to the top of the table.
Player Ratings:
Cech 8: A huge save late off Deulofeu was the signature save of the game, but he made several other good saves. He was lucky in the first half when he saved an Aaron Lennon save/cross and spilled the ball straight to Stones, who punted it wide.
Bellerin 7: He had a strong first half, especially going forward. Made a couple of questionable plays, but was not punished for his mistakes.
Gabriel 7: He also made a couple of poor passes, but had a good game and made several good tackles and interceptions. He had a couple of headers that didn’t test Tim Howard.
Koscielny 8: Scored his first goal of the season. He made a number of key interventions as well, but he made a couple of mistakes as well. Was outjumped by Lukaku late in the game, but there was no goal.
Monreal 7: He had a tough day dealing with Deulofeu, who beat him a number of times, but he almost always hustled back to help out. He made a couple of good crosses on the other end of the field.
Coquelin 7: He had a strong second half and helped to keep an eye on Barkley. He does well when he joins in the offence and is looking better on the ball every game.
Cazorla 7: Another good game for Santi. He assisted on the second goal and he made a number of fine passes, particularly late in the game, when Arsenal were looking for a third goal.
Ozil 8: One of my two men of the match. He was fabulous, made a number of chances and should have had a bushel of assists by the end of the game. However he did assist on the opening goal. He had several chances to score, including one shot that hit the upright.
Oxlade-Chamberlain 6: A quiet game from Alex, who did little of note in the first half, but came alive in the second half with several strong runs and one great cross that narrowly missed Giroud.
Giroud 8: My other man of the match. Scored a lovely first goal with a snazzy back header. He had several chances to add to that, but he couldn’t finish them. His best chance hit the crossbar. He was a monster in the middle, consistenly winning Cech’s kicks and finding his teammates.
Sanchez 7: He worked very hard and kept the Everton defence busy. He had several half chances, but wasn’t able to convert them.
Substitutes:
Flamini 7: Came on and played from the front and had a bigger impact on our offence than the defence. Should have scored from a cross, but he headed straight at Howard.
Gibbs n/a. Helped to waste time in the corner and he was on the receiving end from both Mirallas and Barry (who was sent off following his challenge on Gibbs as it was his second yellow).