The speed and the extent of the swing in Arsenal's season was encapsulated in the song with which the travelling hordes toasted victory at Goodison Park. "Ten points and you messed it up" – or a word to that effect – they chanted. Arsène Wenger has steered the campaign away from chaos, Old Trafford poundings and talk of a seismic managerial change over several months and now there is cherished proof of progress in the Premier League – a perch above Tottenham Hotspur.
Less than four weeks ago, five minutes before half-time in the north London derby at the Emirates to be exact, Arsenal were staring at a 13-point gap between themselves and their local rivals. Now they are one point clear, in the final automatic qualifying place for the Champions League and, as a hard-fought defeat of Everton confirmed, able to lace defensive resilience with their trademark panache in the pursuit of third place.
"I was always optimistic," the Arsenal manager said, "because if you look at our results since October we've had only one bad spell when we lost three on the trot because we had no full-backs. But the attitude of the team was always good.
"We needed to be strong and we need that until the end of the season. We know what suffering means. In some press conferences I've been asked if we could go down. It shows that things change quickly in this league and that's why it's vital for us to keep our focus."
Fittingly, it was an Arsenal defender who secured victory on a night when the visiting back line outshone even Robin van Persie in what opened as a stroll against Everton but finished in a fight to preserve the Gunners' favourite scoreline. Thomas Vermaelen reprised the role of unlikely match-winner to follow his late goal against Newcastle United with the early and only breakthrough at Everton. His flicked header from Van Persie's corner ensured Arsenal recorded a sixth successive league win and succeeded where Manchester City, Chelsea and Spurs have all failed in recent weeks by taking three points from Goodison.
Wenger said: "In the last month we have taken six points in Liverpool from two intense fights and we want to keep that going. We cannot think the most difficult part is done.
"The most difficult part is to do and it is important we keep our humility, our focus and fight for each other like we did tonight. We were resilient, focused and had a great desire to defend.
"I felt it was psychological in that we refused to play a bit towards the end and just wanted to keep the score. Credit to Everton for that because they responded very well. You've seen a side of us that usually people don't know but it was the only way to get a result tonight."
Arsenal were quickly into their stride against a tired and laboured Everton team giving credence to the argument that momentum went from their season when David Moyes made six changes for the comprehensive Merseyside derby defeat at Anfield. From 30 minutes onwards, however, the home side countered that theory impressively.
Vermaelen's eighth-minute goal, when he escaped his international team-mate Marouane Fellaini to glance a header beyond Tim Howard, had been a long time coming. Aaron Ramsey had squandered one glorious opening and had a second blocked by the flying frame of Tony Hibbert.
The visitors' confidence and control in the early stages was epitomised by the sight of Vermaelen playing a one-two with fellow defender Kieran Gibbs on the edge of the area before his shot was deflected wide. Van Persie also went close and Everton were fortunate to trail by only one by the time they began to stem the flow from Mikel Arteta and Alex Song in central midfield and to belatedly show some energy down the flanks.
For all of Arsenal's dominance, Everton should have been level from their first meaningful attack when Royston Drenthe converted following a flowing move but was wrongly given offside by the assistant referee John Flynn. It was the first of several erroneous offside calls by Flynn, including one against Van Persie when he volleyed Gibbs's knock-down against a post late on.
"Five [offside calls by Flynn] were onside. I've checked," said Moyes. "We've had a few poor decisions go against us recently and this one cost us."
Source: Andy Hunter, The Guardian on 21 Mar 12
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