The first goal was always going to be massively important, and when you have Mesut Özil in the side you can always carve open a chance from nothing. His pass behind the full back was sumptuous and Ramsey's left footed cross inch perfect for Giroud at the near post. Mesut has taken much of the credit for that goal but you cannot underestimate
I thought Rambo had an extra spring in his step, an extra burst to escape opposition challenges and he was heavily involved in everything we did going forward. We are still waiting and hoping that his scoring radar sorts itself out as he continues to miss some very good chances. What is quite remarkable though is the amount of chances he ghosts into. This has been the case pretty much since he burst onto the scene as a youngster
Alexis along with Özil have been our best attacking players over the last few matches and he hasn't looked tired one bit, in fact he looked like he was returning to his best after a wobble. So I don't blame the manager for not taking him out of the team. If the player gets the go ahead from the medical staff, the player says he feels fit and of course his recent performances show that he is winning games for you then what do you do? When players get injured for the most part, I think we can manage until they return as long as it is not all of your players in the same position or if that player is Alexis Sanchez because he is different to everyone else. I guess it depends on the duration of the injury. Luckily we have Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ramsey back along with Joel Campbell who looks better than the bit part version we witnessed until now.
Joel Campbell was definitely quieter in the second half and did not get on the ball quite as much as he did during the first half. But in 68 he produced the pass of the match, cutting inside on his left foot, he spotted Alexis making a diagonal run inside the box, and his reverse pass sliced opened the Zagreb defence and landed at the feet of
Özil losing the ball in midfield is just something that happens to every possession based team but the players behind you have got to do much better. Bellerin was not close enough to his man on the flank and Cech missed the ball before Arteta inexplicably extended his arm to reach the ball and deflect into his own net. Had he not stuck his arm out, there was a good chance that Monreal would have just cleared away to safety. Given that it was Arteta who lost Morrison on the first goal, it is safe to say it was not our captain's finest moment
We were a better side after the break if still not fluent enough to play our usual game but the game could still have been very different had Oliver Giroud converted one of his two headed chances. Giroud has the best record in the Premier League at scoring from his bonce so it was a shame not to see him add to his recent scoring record. His header wide was the most regrettable but at the same time we have to should remember that his conversion rate is either the best or second best in the league this season. Can't really argue with that can you? Well I know you can but you shouldn't
Just after half time Giroud nodded us ahead after yet another Mesut Özil assist from the corner kick. Crazily enough it was Özil's first set piece assist of the season. This is because Santi Cazorla has been taking most of the dead balls. I remember when Cesc Fabregas was getting all kinds of praise for his assist numbers at this stage last season, most of those were from set pieces, you would imagine that Özil would have even more to his name if he was number one taker of set pieces
Everton had been strong on the break this season and it was a counter attack that presented the visitors with the equaliser. Oxlade-Chamberlain's shot was blocked just outside the Everton box. Deulofeu burst forward and found Barkley in space, it looked as if Gabriel and Ox had him covered until he wriggled past Ox and hit a left footed shot which deflected off the boot of the Brazilian and wrong footed Cech in the Arsenal goal. It was from a similar range to where
I need to watch it again to work out exactly when this happened but about half way through the half until half time we cut Bayern in ribbons on the break with great passing between the lines from Cazorla and the speed of Alexis and Walcott. We really had the chance to Manchester United them the way we did the red devils only a few weeks ago but a combination of Manuel Neuer and powder puff Theo Walcott finishing meant we could not get the needed goals. That Theo header? Not his strength but you gotta be putting that away fella, hopefully some work on the training ground and a few Ian Wright videos (do they still do videos?) and he will get there.
On the first goal Coquelin robbed Memphis Depay outside of their penalty box just as they had won the ball back. Ramsey's part in the goal is somewhat understated I feel but it was the Alexis improvisation that really stood out. Only Alexis would have taken that cross like that in our squad. After a slow start to the season he is well and truly back and wow he makes a huge difference to our attack. Alexis Sanchez got a taste for it, and it was his flick from Santi's pass to Özil that was the beginning of the second goal only minutes later. Walcott zoomed inside the box, cut inside and picked out Mesut Özil for a cool side foot past the rooted de Gea. A few weeks ago Walcott would have snatched at that when he had cut inside but these weeks he is showing composure and making the best decisions for the team