ARSENAL MATCH REPORT

An absolutely exquisite, unstoppable volley by Robin Van Persie, a piece of skill and unpredictability that Evertonians can only dream of at the moment, somewhat reminiscent of that other scorcher he got against Charlton a few years back was all that could separate two teams at opposite ends of the form table. Jagielka wasnt at fault either, it was a peach of a ball in behind him. GOALSTRIKE!



Arsenal fans whinge on about not spending like the other big bullies in the Premier league playground all the time, but one glance at their team sheet on Saturday afternoon identified a squad chock full of international stars they had brought in for very good money. Mertesacker, Vermalaen,  Gervinho, it was one time Everton target Aaron Ramsey who was the pick of the bunch though. Just what would we do for his industry coupled with that youthful enthusiasm these days? ''turn him into a crab'' I here you say? Never. Lets not even start about the ludicrous pace they have down the wings in Theo Walcott. Pace....Whoosh!



Arsenal had the lions share of the opening exchanges as once again Everton struggled to muster up so much of a shot on target, that might be two games now? Ex Everton heart throb Mikel Arteta received a nice reception from the visiting fans and responded by effortlessly sliding in the jet heeled Walcott only for him to be denied by some stout defending by Tony Hibbert and latterly Tim Howard.



Much was made in the second half of a tactical decision on 65 minutes to bring lone centre forward Louis Saha off for centre back Sylvain Distin and moving John Heitinga and Marouanne Fellaini further upfield, people were implying (possibly over simplistically?) that it was negative change to make. The thing that was roundly ignored at this point was that apart from Van Persie's one part Van Basten one part Bergkamp wonder strike not long after the change, it resulted in Evertons most sustained period of pressure on the home side and we could of nicked a point. Whether that says more about our strikers than it does our manager and his outlook im unsure.



Magaye Gueye came on in the closing stages and had a bit of a go as did mini marvel Conor McAleny making his senior debut. McAleny almost made a mockery of another Louis Saha no show by rasping a 30 yard volley close by Szczesny's goal after only being on the pitch for 10 minutes. And that was it. Another depressing defeat to add to the festive pile that has already built up this season under the Goodison tree. Eight losses, Five wins, One draw. Not fucking good enough. Still Ross Barkley signed a new contract. Remember him?