Arsene Wenger has blamed Mesut Ozil’s miss at Goodison park for Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to Everton last night. The Gunners lost their first game since the opening day of the season after strikes from Seamus Coleman and Ashley Williams cancelled out an Alexis Sanchez opener from a free-kick early on in the game.
Mesut Ozil has been in good form this season but failed to convert the chances that he got against the Toffees. There was a golden chance for the German to finish in the 6th minute itself but he skied the ball over the bar and to be fair he was a tad bit off balance.
Then 28-year-old’s best chance came in the 53rd minute when the score was level at 1-1. Sanchez cut back from the by-line to find Ozil unmarked in the box, but the German put it over the bar from a first time shot.
Wenger was understandably disappointed and did not hold back, pin-pointing Ozil’s missed chances as the reason for their loss, “We had some very good chances, especially from Mesut,” said Wenger after the game.
He complained about Everton’s physicality as well, "It was a very physical game, we faced many physical challenges and that disturbed our game but we were a bit unlucky to lose as well. Unfortunately we didn’t take our chances. We didn’t create many but we had clear-cut chances we didn’t make the most of.
”They defended well, they played a cup game, and at the end of the day it was two defenders in their team who scored. They were a bit scared at first but they got their confidence. We did fight, I cannot fault that." said Wenger.
He was especially critical about set-pieces and how his side contained Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku.
"I don't think with five to go we deserved to lose the game but we were caught on two headers. I think especially on the first one we were guilty, the second one was from a corner.” Wenger said.
"We controlled Lukaku well but two defenders scored.”
He also went on to say that Everton played like it was a proper cup game, “Maybe we made it easy for them when they became more physical. They played a real cup game tonight. They defended well even when we controlled the game.
“We created chances but not too many were clear-cut. We battled hard. We put everything in and the players are very disappointed", he added.
Arsenal will have to pick themselves up after this defeat and get back to winning ways if they are to continue to put pressure on rivals Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table. The Gunners are still second on 34 points after 16 games played, 3 points behind Chelsea, however, Liverpool now have a chance to go on level with Arsenal should they win their next game.
