Match report – By the numbers – Player ratings – Video
Ok, so let’s be truthful here: how many of you thought that when it went 2-0 it was going to be another 3-0 like last season and not a game from which we could get something? Hands up …
I see a lot of imaginary hands. Or real hands imaginarily held upwards. I too harboured doubts that we’d get anything from the game, especially when we got inside the last 10 minutes and the only player we had who looked like scoring didn’t even look that much like scoring.
And then Santi did this thing with his feet and the Everton players were all like ‘What?’ and he was all ‘Behold my low fizzing cross!’ and Aaron Ramsey went in and went BOINK and scored from close range and there were just a few minutes left.
Not long afterwards, Ramsey got the ball from a slide-rule Calum Chambers pass and then he did cross it and the cross was badly overhit but Nacho Monreal was all ‘No way, caballero!’ and he got the ball and stuck it back in the mixer and Olivier Giroud headed us level and I said ‘Hurrah!’ quite loudly. So loudly, in fact, that the dog woke up and barked at the intruder of his calm but then he chilled out again and ensured that his butthole did sparkle.
We got a point from a game that looked like it was going to give us nothing but pain and misery and more questions to answer about our form and squad. 2-0 down at half-time, it wasn’t good. If the first goal was down to smart Everton play, it might also have been prevented had Mesut Ozil not decided to play ‘Ahh it’s only an Irishman, what damage can he do?’.
Ask Angela Merkel about that one Mesut. He tracked Seamus Coleman only so far, then decided to stop and the right back headed in from close range. I was exposed to some of the dark depths of Twitter yesterday and saw people suggest that Szczesny was at fault, but it was point blank, he had no chance.
As for their second goal, well that makes me grumpy. ‘Maybe there was a foul on Mertesacker there’, said the commentators as Mertesacker was clearly fouled by Lukaku. Now, you know I love me some Per, but he was trying to do the Koscielny job there – nipping in high up the field to win the ball back and that’s not really his game, but he was certainly fouled.
The referee, who gave us the square root of fuck all, all day, played on, and his assistant, who is to his job what Milli Vanilli are to singing, kept his flag down when Naismith was played in but in a very obviously offside position. The goal should never have stood. Regardless of how poorly we’d been playing, the two defenders we had back there played the man offside perfectly but the officials got it wrong. And I can’t be the only one who finds Naismith’s paleness disconcerting and, frankly, a little bit scary.
I would not like to meet him on a late night walk home for fear that he would enjoy the consumption of me while I was still alive. ‘Why are you eating me, Steven Naismith?’ I would cry as he devoured me but he would have no answer because he wouldn’t know why. That’s just what Steven Naismiths do.
At the break the manager made a change because we’d been playing poorly. All we had to show for the first half were loads of chances for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to fire wide, so he took off Alexis and put on Olivier Giroud. I know the HFB gets some stick because he’s not the greatest striker that ever lived (sadly we let him go him to Wolfsburg), but even his harshest critics have to acknowledge that he made a big difference yesterday.
Sure, he might have blasted a volley over the bar from a tight angle. Ok, he might have hit a shot wide then had one saved by that chap with the enormous beard, but we definitely looked better with him on. He gave the attack a focal point. Jack Wilshere looked to play off him as often as possible, and his hold-up play was very good, allowing us to keep the pressure on Everton late in the second half.
Then Santi did his thing and Monreal set up Giroud and we were 2-2 and you know what: for all the frustration of the performance – something which didn’t surprise me – you have to take your hat off to the lads for grinding out what might well be a big, big point. Last season there was no chance of us getting anything from that game. This time we showed the character to come back and that’s a huge encouragement for me.
I’ve said a few times I always thought this month was going to be a real challenge for us and so it’s proving, but so far, so good, really. Ozil and Mertesacker aren’t anywhere near match fit; the starting line-up, while exciting on paper, might well need a few tries before it really works; Aaron Ramsey’s goalscoring form is sensational but he’s struggling in his all-round play; and we’re far from the cohesive team we’ll be in a few weeks time when everything has settled down.
Afterwards, the manager said:
When we got beaten 3-0 here it could have been many more. That was quite a flattering score on the day but today I believe we deserved the point we earned and for us to come back from 2-0 down against a team who is good on the counter attack shows that the belief and resilience is there. Having said that the second goal was offside and there was a foul before, just before half-time, so it was difficult to swallow. But we took it on the chin and came back in the way we did.
It’s one of those draws that feels like a win, and I do enjoy those. I think it also highlighted that even with time to get fit and match sharp, there’s work to be done with the squad between now and the end of the transfer window. However, credit where its due for the fight and spirit to dig a point out of that game.
Ahead of Wednesday’s crucial Champions League tie, I think we’ll take confidence from this, and ultimately to get a draw against an Everton side who played really well for most of that game is something worth enjoying. Even if your focus is on how badly we played, you shouldn’t overlook the quality of their performance and their role in that.
Now, having been out to the very, very small hours for the Mugsmasher’s 40th birthday, I might go sit in a chair and not move for a while.
Till tomorrow.
