Everton’s record against teams near the top of the table this season meant they were always going to be a tough nut to crack. The task was made harder by the referee and his assistant who ludicrously allowed Louis Saha’s 24th minute effort to stand. It was offside. Forget all the nonsense about “active” and “inactive”. It was offside.
The uproar in the stadium was loud enough but then, perhaps “accidentally on purpose”, the producer manning the video screens replayed the goal as the players walked back to the centre circle. We got the confirmation that our eyes hadn’t deceived us and the uproar turned into pandemonium. But to no avail. It was a dreadful decision for which the officials ought to be embarrassed.
The referee actually had an appalling game overall. I try not to slate them too much on these pages because what goes around tends to come around and bad decisions even themselves out. However, Lee Mason’s was undoubtedly the worst refereeing performance we have seen at home this season. He lacked consistency, failed to play advantage on a number of occasions and set the wrong tone for the game with the bookings he handed out. Hopefully, we won’t be seeing him again for a while.
That decision aside, Everton were largely the better team in the first half - particularly in the first quarter of an hour - and they restricted the Gunners to only a few chances. Things turned around after the interval though and, despite what David Moyes would have you believe, the thing that really swung things in Arsenal’s favour was the introduction of Andrey Arshavin.
The diminutive Russian has come in for a lot of stick this season - and deservedly so. But over the last few matches there have been signs that his form is starting to turn a corner. Last night offered the clearest indication that he is heading back in the right direction and his goal in the 70th minute was a handsome reward for the increase in Arsenal’s tempo and effectiveness that his arrival brought.
Many expected Arshavin to clear his personal log-jam with one spectacular performance or a stunning goal but it seems his rehabilitation is going to be a more gradual process. It has been a long while coming but his timing couldn’t be any better with Samir Nasri likely to be laid up with his hamstring injury for the next three weeks.
Laurent Koscielny is becoming a bit of a danger man from corners scoring his second goal from such a set play in as many weeks. The Everton defence left him completely unmarked and he unerringly dispatched his header into the bottom corner. Making capital from corners has hardly been the Gunners’ strongest suit in recent seasons but it is good to see them scoring from them again.
So, Everton set Arsenal a stern test but Arsene Wenger’s men earned a good result from a very spirited performance. They stay in second place in the Premier League and, after scraping past Huddersfield in the FA Cup on Sunday, remain fighting on four fronts this season.
The other so-called talking point to emerge from last night was the accusations made by David Moyes that Cesc Fabregas verbally abused the referee in the tunnel at half-time. Why the media have seized upon this, I do not know. Arsene Wenger defended the player and the referee himself made no comment in his match report regarding anything Fabregas may or may not have said. It is a total non-story and was really just a smokescreen by the Everton manager to deflect attention away from the defeat.
Cesc Fabregas does make himself heard by officials during matches. Some don’t like to see this but plenty of other players do it, not least amongst the ranks of Manchester United and Chelsea. Maybe that in itself is not a justifiable excuse for Fabregas to indulge in such behaviour but, over the past few seasons, Arsenal have been perceived to be too soft and a bit of a pushover. If Cesc has decided to take it upon himself to make the Arsenal point of view understood by referees, then fine by me.
There is a lot at stake in every game coming up now and I want to see players getting upset in matches. I want to see passion and I want to see them give every last drop of blood. I want them to hate losing. As we approach the business-end of the season, it’s got to be a case of no more Mr. Nice Guy.
So, keep moaning Cesc.
Source: David Young, ESPN Soccernet on 3 Feb 11
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