Arsenal put Everton to the sword with ruthless finishing

The first half ended 1-0 to Everton who scored from a corner. Arsenal conceded several corners to a decent Everton side who had the run of play for much of the game. Everton's goal was a bit lucky, and Arsenal could have done better, but it came early in the game and Arsenal had plenty of time to come back, if they could play somewhere near their best.

Arsenal never did play near their best passing game, but scored 4 ruthless second-half goals. The first two, from Eduardo, were decisive.

Eduardo - Put Everton to the sword with a double early in the second half. The goals were two punches right in the face, both fairly similar: long passes that made their way to Eduardo in the box with Everton defending cautiously, hints of handball from Eduardo as the balls came in, followed by sweet touches to set himself up and finishes that left American keeper Tim Howard no chance (9).

Diaby - Conventional wisdom is that he's out of position at left midfield, but he had some good runs and his trickery with the ball creates a lot of space. He doesn't remind me of Vieira as much as Rivaldo. Set up Rosicky for his goal (7).

Hleb - Great with the ball at his feet, but his passing was not good. He either misjudges where his teammates need to receive the ball, or he can't make the ball go where he intends. If it were Cesc passing the ball into touch, Arsenal supporters would assume that there's an injured player on the pitch, but with Helb, it's often the end result of a sincere effort to find a teammate (6).

Cesc - Looks a little off the pace, human. Arsenal supporters are hoping to get the super-human boy wonder back (6).

Flamini - Still growing in stature as an Arsenal player, a workhorse for the Arsenal midfield (7).

Bendtner - Showed that he's a good player with some good touches and was involved in the buildup to at least one of the Eduardo goals. Was also involved in the mix-up for the Everton goal. Gave the referee no choice for his second yellow card and got sent off in the 74th minute, leaving his teammates to hang on to a 2-1 lead with 10 men (5).

Alumuina - Could have done better for the Everton goal, but made a comfortable save or two after that (6).

Back four - This site is very happy with the back four of Sagna, Toure, Gallas and Clichy. That group looks sturdy (7s).

Adebayor - Came on for Eduardo at the same time Bendtner was sent off (74') and scored a few minutes later, capitalizing on a mistake by Yobo and/or Howard. It was a ruthless bit of play by Adebayor and the frustration of Bendtner's sending-off vanished (8).

Diarra - Came on for Hleb (82') and looked ok (7).

Rosicky - Came on for Cesc (88') and added a 4th goal that helps with the goal difference, and, even more so, with morale (8).

Everton manager David Moyes said after the game, "What impressed me was the way we played. I thought we played very well and I thought we were better than Arsenal today and it's incredible that we've lost 4-1."

It was just about a case of 4 chances, 4 goals; and Arsenal supporters will have no complaints about that conversion ratio.

Arsenal lacking sharpness, concede top of the table

Arsene Wenger's Arsenal had to settle for a point away to Portsmouth. Arsenal were the better team in patches, but Portsmouth central defenders Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin did enough to neutralize the Arsenal's attack.

Adebayor - Never looked like causing Portsmouth problems and had so much trouble staying onside that he was an asset for Portsmouth (5).

Cesc - Nowhere near his best. At times he looked like he lacked motivation (6).

Flamini - Some well-timed tackles. When he slides in, I have premonitions of a yellow card, but his timing was ok by referee Steve Bennet (7).

Eboue - He's still in Arsenal's first 11, but he's the first player to go off. He had a couple good moments early in the game, and he was heavily involved before being taken off, but he doesn't look like an Arsenal right midfielder. His crossing was better when he was playing right back and got the ball on the overlap. He had his typical theatrics imploring the referee to give him preferential treatment (6).

Hleb - Had some penetration and looked dangerous at times. He's great with the ball at his feet. He would have been better off today if he had a go himself, even if he was shooting through a crowd, rather than always trying to link up with a teammate (7).

Rosicky - Had a sweet curler on target in the first half that David James did well to save and had a chance in second half stoppage time to win it, but hit it wide. Had several good runs with the ball during the game (7).

Clichy - Man of the match performance from the Arsenal left back. His pace and fitness are extraordinary: he charges forward with the ball and hurries back to snuff out chances. He really looks quality late in games when everyone else is tiring (8).

Gallas - Like Rosicky, he had a chance to win it late on, but he hit it over. Good defending (7).

Toure - Had some decent runs forward and defended well (7).

Sagna - Got forward at times and put in some crosses and defended well, as he always does (7).

Almunia - Fairly steady. On one occasion when Portsmouth beat the offside trap, he came out, perhaps recklessly, in typical Almunia fashion, but Clichy came back at impressive speed to cut out the danger (7).

Diaby - Was marginally better than Eboue, whom he replaced (7).

Bendtner - Made a mockery of Arsene Wenger's selection policy by creating more in 10 minutes than Adebayor did in the whole game. Set up Rosicky brilliantly for a late winner, but Rosicky hit it wide (8).

What of Arsene Wenger's team selection? Where is Denilson? He'd be better wide right than Eboue, no? Even if Denilson is injured, Arsene could have played Diaby from the start. It sounds like Van Persie and Walcott are out injured, but even Eduardo might be a better option than Eboue as a wide midfielder. What does Bendtner have to do to get a start? He looked dangerous when he came on. Arsene could play a 4-4-2 and let Hleb play wide right. From my cozy sofa, it looks like Arsene got the team selection wrong.

Still, Arsenal did have a couple chances to win it late on, so maybe Arsene just got it a little bit wrong, and the defensive set-up looks solid, but the Arsenal are now a point back, looking up the table at Manchester United at the half way point of the league season, which is something no Arsenal supporter likes to see.

Two Christmas presents from Arsenal: A brilliant opener and a winning header from a corner

That's the stuff for Christmas! 3 points over Spurs.

No goals in the first half.

2nd half and Arsene Wenger's Arsenal put together a goal early with Cesc, Rosicky, and Adebayor involved. Cesc, who had a mostly quiet game, started the move in midfield, gave the ball to Rosicky, received the ball back in the box and had a brilliant back-heel to Adebayor, who had to finish, and did.

Fantastic stuff, and Arsenal supporters felt like Christmas had come early.

Then the game went through a spell that would've had Arsenal supporters feeling like it was Christmas with the in-laws: Robbie Keane hit the bar, Berbatov scored, and Keane was stepping up to take a penalty kick to put Spurs up 2-1. Where had it all gone wrong?

But Almunia swatted the weak effort aside. Field microphones just missed Almunia yelling back to Keane, "Don't come up in here with that weak shit, BITCH!"

Bendtner came on for Eboue and dispatched Cesc's corner for a winning header with his first touch. 2 assists for Cesc and 3 points for the Arsenal.

Cesc - Was quiet, almost too quiet, except for those two assists. That first one was a peach (8).

Flamini - Looks like keeping his spot, which, considering he has competition from France starter Lassana Diarra, is saying something (7).

Rosicky - Playing well, but much better is to come (7).

Hleb - Wasn't at his very best and wasn't involved as much as he sometimes is (7).

Eboue - Not a bad game, but when he has the ball on the edge of the box, he usually can't come up with a good idea. On one occasion today he took a shot, but other times he dribbled right into a defender to give the ball away (6).

Adebayor - Another goal, and got the ball a lot up front. I think the balance of the side would look a little better if there was someone else with him up there (7).

Clichy - Stood out a bit today as he really looked up for the game. Shut down Lennon and had several takeaways deep in defense. Good close control bringing the ball out of defense (8).

Sagna, Gallas, and Toure - Not much to say about those three except that they are wonderful players and Arsenal supporters are grateful to have them on the team sheet (7,7,7).

Almunia - Was well beaten by Berbatov's goal, but swatted away Keane's attempted penalty, which was entirely welcomed (8).

Bendtner - He's well into the team now. Van Persie? I don't know where Robin was, but the big Dane was the right player to bring on (8). Update: A lot is being made of how high Bendtner jumped for his goal, and part of that might be due to still shots that show him impossibly high in the air, straining his neck downward to reach the ball.

Gilberto - He's not instilling much confidence as the holding midfielder brought on to see out games (6).

Boro earn a victory over Arsenal

Arsenal couldn't string anything together away to Middlesbrough, and got turned over two-one; a fair result.

The modus operandi of this site is to celebrate the brilliant Arsenal Football Club. That team didn't play today. It was just Arsenal Football Club, a team on top of the league table, but in a bad patch of form, missing some key players through injury, and dropping points while their title rivals Manchester United and Chelsea are quickly gaining ground.

Cesc - Out injured and increasingly missed. I miss no occasion to rant about what a great player he is, but I can see I've been selling him short. It would have been nice to have him in there instead of Gilberto.

Hleb - Out injured and badly missed. It would have been nice to have him in there instead of Eboue.

Robin Van Persie - Badly-missed long-time injury absentee. It would have been nice to have him in there instead of Eduardo.

Adebayor - Usually balances out getting caught offside several times by getting involved in some crucial goals (5).

Eduardo - Lightly involved (5).

Eboue - In addition to playing poorly, misplacing the ball all too often, he also slapped a Boro player and might have been sent off with Arsenal 1-0 down (3).

Update - Analysis from the Cannon:

Eboue - Absolute cunt. I’m getting to the stage where I hate him. He’s been getting better recently but he made up for it all today. Should’ve been sent of twice and was just a general idiot all over the pitch. Diving useless fairy lanky knob. Don’t want to see him play for us. Hopefully the FA will see look at the video replays and give him a ban.

Rosicky - For me, he's the one forward player who's playing well (7).

Diarra - He was taken off at the hour-mark, but he's playing fairly well. He looks like a quality player, but his introduction into the side has coincided with an alarming drop in the team's play, and Arsenal supporters are wondering if there's a cause-and-effect relationship (7).

Gilberto - Played like an old hero in a side that was getting overrun; an old hero who's lost the spring in his step (5).

Toure - Conceded the penalty against Aliadiere that Downing scored, which was disappointing. His long balls to Adebayor were all lost causes. Showed that he can still play a bit with some well-timed slide tackles (6).

Gallas - Almost got caught in a mess a couple times, but just almost (7).

Clichy - Looks like he's coming back into form with some good runs forward. He was being more careful with his crossing, and making Boro do the work to clear the danger (7).

Sagna - Reliable, if not at his rampaging best (7).

Almunia - Got mixed up with Toure for the penalty against Aliadiere, got a hand to Downing's spot kick, but couldn't keep it out, and could have done more to prevent the second, although the second was also bad luck (5).

Bendtner and Walcott came on and were involved; decent work from them (7,7). Denilson came on and didn't do a whole lot (6).