Everton and Arsenal are both off to shaky starts this season, and neither will feel satisfied after Saturday's result. The Gunners might be proud of their two-goal comeback, but both teams will walk away from their 2-2 draw thinking about things they could have done better.
Everton vs. Arsenal: Final score 2-2, Gunners come back from two down
Both Arsenal and Everton will be a bit disappointed with their effort at Goodison Park, but the Toffees are probably the more disheartened of the two.
Steven Pienaar was injured in the opening minutes for Everton and had to leave the game, but his exit didn't hinder the Toffees' attack at all. They had the lead just nine minutes after he came off, with Seamus Coleman picking up where he left off last season by contributing a goal from the right back spot.
The goal came off an excellent move following a quickly-taken free kick from the center of the pitch. Gareth Barry provided the assist with a perfect chipped pass to the back post and Coleman was unmarked, having ditched Mesut Özil, who started the match on the left wing. With no one hindering his progress at all, Coleman had an easy header into the back of the net.
Arsenal's attack stuttered throughout the second half as Everton looked extremely comfortable. They nearly doubled their lead through Kevin Mirallas in the 22nd minute, and eventually did find a second goal, just before the halftime whistle, and in controversial fashion.
Romelu Lukaku's setup was absolutely brilliant. He muscled Per Mertesacker off the ball in midfield, then skipped over a desperate challenge by Nacho Monreal before taking off into a massive space behind the Arsenal defense. The Gunners recovered well enough to slow him up a bit, but he made a brilliant pass to Steven Naismith, who passed the ball through Wojciech Szczesny's legs to score Arsenal's second goal. Fortunately for Everton, the linesman didn't notice that Naismith was well offside.
Arsene Wenger brought Olivier Giroud in for Alexis Sánchez at halftime, and his change almost paid off immediately. Giroud had a brilliant chance from six yards just 45 seconds into the half and should have scored, but put his volley well over the crossbar.
In the 53rd minute, Arsenal were lucky to avoid a sending off. Jack Wilshere made a nasty high and late challenge on Barry, but referee Kevin Friend opted to give him just a yellow card, despite vocal protests from the Everton players.
Everton appeared to be well on course towards securing a comfortable win, but they fell asleep a bit late in the match and allowed another Gunners substitute to set up a goal. Coleman stood too far off Santi Cazorla on the left wing, allowing him to hit a square ball across the box. Tim Howard didn't come out to claim it, and Aaron Ramsey was in a perfect position to smash the ball into the net.
The Gunners remained on the front foot following that goal and eventually found their equalizer. In the 90th minute, Ramsey hit a bit of a poor cross, but Monreal did a brilliant job to chase it down and hit a perfect ball to the edge of the six-yard box. Giroud was in perfect position and headed the ball past Howard, who had no chance to make a save.
Everton: Howard, Baines, Distin, Jagielka, Coleman, Barry, McCarthy, Mirallas (Atsu 85’), Pienaar (Osman 10’), Naismith, Lukaku (McGeady 76’)
Goals: Coleman (19’), Naismith (45’)
Arsenal: Szczesny, Monreal, Chambers, Mertesacker, Debuchy, Flamini, Ramsey, Wilshere (Cazorla 74’), Özil, Sanchez (Giroud 46’), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Campbell 74’)
Goals: Ramsey (83’), Arsenal (90’)
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