Arsene Wenger: 'We are more dangerous offensively but these matches show how you need to prepare'

Published: 8 December, 2013
by RICHARD OSLEY at the Emirates

Premier League
ARSENAL 1, EVERTON 1

IT was impossible for Arsene Wenger to lament too much as his team missed the opportunity to move seven points clear and book a place at the top of the Premiership for Christmas. He was well aware how Everton tested the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium today, before the clubs were forced to settle for a draw.

Still, the glimpse of all three points was there for a fleeting moment when Mesut Ozil fired in from close range late on and he will head home tonight frustrated that his team could not suck the pace from a frenetic final sequence in which both teams battered each other’s goal and Everton found their deserved equaliser.

If Wenger was irritated by being pegged back, he was helpfully reminded in his post-match press conference that this time last year Arsenal were lagging behind in tenth place. By any reasonable assessment, the Gunners should be happy with their current lot. Now is not the time to protest too much.

“We are a better team defensively this year,” Wenger said. “We are more dangerous offensively but these matches show how you need to prepare. It shows we will have a tough Premiership this year and consistency will be rewarded. We need to keep the attitude we have had so far this season to do well.”

Once again he was asked whether Arsenal were "serious contenders" for the title – a thought most rational observers would have coughed at after their opening day loss versus Aston Villa. “We are five points ahead, so even with the best will, it is hard to rule ourselves completely out,” he joked. “We were disappointed to be caught late on today but Everton played very well and deserve a lot of credit. It’s still a point.”

After the first 25 minutes he would certainly have accepted such an outcome as Everton bossed the opening exchanges with a committed mix of slick passing and robust tackling. It was only deep into the first half that Arsenal created genuine goal chances of their own, with Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey both foiled by Tim Howard’s quick-thinking in brief one-on-one encounters. Howard was excellent today and was at full stretch to flip away Ramsey’s hooked shot in the second half as Arsenal’s main figures, Ozil, Cazorla and Wilshere, began a livelier second half with more urgency.

The match flitted between panicky passages, end-to-end football and less thrilling moments when both teams seemed to be thinking about the draw. Howard was booked for time-wasting, which was silly given Everton’s attacking options and obvious capacity to win here.

Their challenge was the toughest Arsenal have faced in the league at the Emirates this season, locking down their defence with organisation and strength, and breaking with speed and style through Ross Barkley, blossoming under Roberto Martinez, and on-loan forward Romelu Lukaku.

It was Ozil, however, who looked like he had claimed the win for Arsenal with ten minutes remaining. He fired Theo Walcott’s headed knockdown into the roof of the net after Everton seemed wrong-footed by Olivier Giroud’s botched attempt to force it in himself.

Instead of heralding a period of calm, the Gunners found themselves duelling with their visitors to the end and, in the mess of chances, sub Gerard Deulofeu, on loan from Barcelona, unleashed a corker after being found in space twelve yards out. Wenger moaned later about a foul in the build-up but those protests will be lost in the superlatives for Deulofeu’s toasted finish.

There was still time for Lukaku to break clear late on and thunder a shot into the stands, and Giroud to clatter the angle of post and bar with a volley in the final seconds. An inch lower and it would’ve been the greatest goal of his career. He was still shaking his head when the final whistle went, but it would have been harsh on Everton.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Arteta (c), Ramsey (Flamini 68), Cazorla (Walcott 68), Ozil, Wilshere (Rosicky 68), Giroud
Subs not used: Fabianski, Bendtner, Monreal, Vermaelen
Attendance: 60,001