Arsenal 2-1 Everton: Five Talking Points

Arsenal climbed to the top of the Premier League table for the first time since February 2014, with a 2-1 win over Everton at the Emirates stadium in London. The Gunners were lifted to a victory with two first half goals from in-form striker Olivier Giroud and his countryman Laurent Koscielny.The game started off slowly for both teams as the home side looked rusty coming from a 2-0 mid-week win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Whereas, for Everton, they barely had a chance to put their stamp on the game because Arsenal still kept the ball well.Arsenal dominated a fair share of the possession and Petr Cech was never troubled apart from Ross Barkley’s deflected effort off Gabriel that ended up in the back of the net. The second half was well matched and the Gunners held onto the lead, making their tough week, a good week.Let’s look at the five main talking points from the clash at the Emirates:

#1 Giroud\'s rich vein of form

Ever since Theo Walcott replaced him in the starting eleven, Olivier Giroud has looked like the real deal for Arsenal. He had come off the bench to score four times for the Gunners and had rescued his side on such occasions. Arsene Wenger decided to rotate his squad for their clash against Everton at home.

He replaced Theo Walcott with the Frenchman as a result of the good form shown by Giroud in their recent matches where he has scored crucial goals for Arsenal, the last being the first goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Olivier Giroud has now scored 3 goals in the last week, scoring against Watford, Bayern and now Everton. He has also achieved the feat of scoring in five consecutive games for club and country. He had scored two goals for France in the international break as well. More importantly for the French striker, he has now scored five goals in the Premier League, compared to Walcott’s two.

He will be hoping he can keep his place in the starting eleven come next weekend against Swansea. The mid-week Capital One Cup clash against Sheffield Wednesday should see one striker rested, if not both.

Giroud, who has always been criticized for not being a poacher in the box. He has always been under pressure as fans have always been on his back and have repeatedly asked Arsene Wenger to buy a new striker.

But the man has not disappointed. He has time and again shown that he can be the number one striker for the Gunners. His performance against Everton was tidy, neat and precise. He held up the ball well, headed home his goal and most importantly lasted the full game.

#2 Everton\'s poor run at the Emirates

Everton’s poor run at the Emirates continued as Roberto Martinez’s side fell to a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League. Everton have not returned with three points from north London since goals from Andrei Kanchelskis and Graham Stuart secured a 2-1 win in January 1996 and Martinez appreciates that record has to change if his team want to progress.

Ross Barkley pulled one back for Everton with a deflected strike just before half-time but, despite having plenty of chances, Everton could not conjure up an equaliser and their evening ended in further disappointment with the late dismissal of midfielder Gareth Barry for two yellow cards.

Despite having got many chances throughout the game, the away side could not manage even a point. Everton nearly opened the scoring against the run of play on the half-hour mark. Petr Cech failed to adequately deal with Aaron Lennon’s cross from the left, handing John Stones a golden chance to hand the visitors the lead but the England defender blasted wide from close range. After falling behind to Arsenal’s two goals, the Toffees pulled one back shortly before the interval via Barkley.

Romelu Lukaku did likewise at the other end as Everton searched for a leveller, his header from a Barry cross clipping the woodwork on its way over. The away side failed to level the scoring, though, and Martinez was unable to hide his disappointment.

Martinez was furious with his team’s slow start in the loss to Manchester United last week and was looking for a response in order to halt Everton’s record of zero wins in their last 21 visits to Arsenal in all competitions. Martinez wanted Everton to clear a significant mental hurdle and rewrite history by recording a first away win at Arsenal in 20 years but that was not to be.

#3 Mesut Ozil the provider

Mesut Ozil, once again proved why he is among the best playmakers in Europe at the moment. He was majestic at times for the home side. His cross for Giroud's opener was perfect and his overall contribution was immense. Ozil created five chances for his teammates and also hit the post himself late in the game.

The German magician has been enjoying himself on the pitch and it can be seen through the numbers - he now has seven assists for the season, which is the most for any player in Europe this season. Ozil has grown into his role as Arsenal's No. 10 since joining from Real Madrid for £42.5 million in September 2013.

Ozil could have also helped Giroud net Arsenal’s 2,000th goal under Wenger in the 70th minute after an intelligent pass from the German found the striker, only to see Giroud’s shot hit the crossbar. Ozil also has the best games/assist rate in the history of the Premier League - average one every 2.71 matches. He has also created 765 chances for his team this season, the most by any player since 2005.

#4 Numero Uno Arsenal

With Manchester City and Manchester United facing one another on Sunday, Arsenal moved to the summit of the table after taking the three points against Roberto Martinez's side, but they can be replaced by Manchester City on Sunday should they get at least a draw in the Manchester derby. It is a feat that the coach feels may surprise a number of people given the criticism following their 2-0 loss to West Ham in their first top-flight outing of the campaign.

The mid-week win against Bayern has given the Gunners a lot of confidence going into the rest of the season. They returned to the top of the league table for the first time since February 2014, when they were dislodged from the top spot after a first-half capitulation against Liverpool at Anfield where the game ended in a 5-1 defeat for the Gunners.

However, Wenger’s men have been unstoppable of late in the Premier League, and sit at first position, one point clear of second-placed City. The Gunners are on a good run of six wins from their last seven games, where they have scored 16 goals and only shipped five at the other end. Arsenal have the joint-best defensive record in the league this season (seven goals conceded, the same as Spurs).

With Chelsea faltering and Manchester United struggling to convince, Wenger's side can mount a serious title challenge to City.

#5 Arsenal scoring in spells

After their hard fought 2-1 victory, Arsenal have lost just one of their last 17 Premier League meetings against Everton (W10 D6). While they have now scored 89 Premier League goals against Everton in total – no side has scored more against a single opponent in the competition (Manchester United also have 89 goals against Everton).

Arsenal have won six of their last seven games in all competitions. What has been impressive for the Gunners is that they have scored goals in spells in the recent games. The problem with recent Arsenal sides was their inability to convert good possession and play into goals.

But starting with the game against Manchester United before the international break, Arsenal showed they are going for the killer touch. In an enthralling display at the Emirates, the Gunners scored three goals in the first 20 minutes of the match to cool down United’s challenge.

Resuming club football after the international break, the Gunners visited Watford and scored another 3 goals in the space of 13 minutes to kill the intense game. In the mid-week match against German champions Bayern Munich, the Gunners secured a hard fought victory with two goals in the space of 17 minutes.

Given their victory against Bayern, the hosts were expected to either win comfortably or show signs of tiredness against Everton. But Arsenal managed to score two first half goals in the space of 106 seconds to secure a 2-0 lead, which was later reduced to a one goal lead through Ross Barkley’s goal.

Arsenal fans will be hoping their side can continue their run in the coming weeks whereas the Toffees will need to step up and test Norwich in the League Cup in mid-week.