The last time Everton played at the Emirates Stadium in December, they ran their hosts ragged and fully deserved a point after Gerard Deulofeu’s lovely strike cancelled out Mesut Ozil’s opener. With the Gunners knowing that all that stood between them and a place in Wembley was Roberto Martinez and his team, they had to put up a better showing than that horrid performance against Stoke.
Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the Gunners victory over Everton.
All Hands on Deck Should go to the FA Cup
For those that don’t know, Arsenal has booked a place in the semifinals of the competition they last won in 2005. That seems to be a very long time in football but seeing the Gunners book a semifinal berth is a prospect we need to relish and capitalise on. Currently, Manchester City seems to be the only other ‘big team’ left but there have been banana skins here and there, so the Gunners would have to be mindful about who they meet in the next round.
With the FA Cup serving as the most realistic chance of winning silverware, the Gunners have to put all hands on deck in this competition. At least, Wenger’s starting line up proves so.
Finally…a Goal for Ozil and a Great Performance too
Mesut Ozil has been on the end of some heavy criticism following his poor run of form and as expected from a guy that cost a fortune, many fans weren’t pleased with his recent outings. However, yesterday brought an upturn in his fortunes as he latched unto Santi Cazorla’s carefully threaded pass to side foot the ball home.
Ozil capped a great day at the office with a neat assist to Olivier Giroud late on. I hope he carries this form to the Allianz Arena on Tuesday and I have a bunch that he has a personal vendetta with Bayern Munich after he missed the penalty that took the wind off Arsenal’s sails.
A Tale of the Purple Patch Giroud – A Good Game Today and a Poor Game Tomorrow
With Wenger’s blatant refusal to sign a striker in January, he made his stance clear that he has his full blown faith in the current striking lot at his disposal, Olivier Giroud, the alpha-dog in attack and his deputies, Yahaya Sanogo and Nicklas Bendtner.
Sanogo got the nod ahead of Giroud and didn’t do half bad but Giroud arrived on the pitch to devastating effect, banging in a brace which put the game beyond doubt. However, that has been Giroud’s story this season, one game he’s an exciting player to watch, another game you might want to ask for his head on a plate.
With 10 games left to play in the League as well as Cup competitions around the corner, Arsenal will need all the goals they can get if they want to win a trophy. As the chief striker, Giroud is meant to lead that charge and I hope he can maintain some consistency in the run-in.
