SUMMARY:
This match presented enticing opportunities for both the home and away sides. The Goodison Park faithful aimed to see their side go 9th in the Premier League just one point behind both Wolves and Leicester City with a win over Arsenal, though Wolves have one game in hand over Everton. The Gunners intended to keep their 3rd place position 14 points behind Manchester City and league leaders Liverpool . The incentive for both teams to win the day was ever present, however it was Everton that took all three points from a lackluster Arsenal side. Everton captain Phil Jagielka scored early in the 10th minute in a goal that exposed problems in Arsenal’s defense more so than showcasing particular attacking prowess from Everton. A long throw into the box from Lucas Digne was flicked on by Jagielka, headed down by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and ultimately tapped home by the Everton skipper. Everton were able to see out the remainder of the 90 minutes creating a few chances, namely a shot from Bernard which was saved at point-blank range by Bernd Leno which came from a weak header from Maitland-Niles back to his goalkeeper which was intercepted by Bernard. This, other than the goal and a flash chance in front of goal for Aaron Ramsey following a Pickford punch, was the biggest chance of the game other than a multitude of failed Arsenal counter-attack attempts as well as a few missed half-chances from Everton.
GOALKEEPERS:
JORDAN PICKFORD: Jordan Pickford has not had one of his best seasons to date, but he appeared to be solid in this game despite having very little work throughout the 90 minutes. He showed good confidence when dealing with services into the box from the Arsenal wing-backs and was able to take pressure off of his team by either coming to claim the cross or punch it away. I expect that Pickford will come under a bit of heat for coming to punch a ball that was lofted above his penalty area and he punched it down straight to Aaron Ramsey who tapped it over the bar from about 14 yards out. I felt that given that his defenders were not marking Lacazette in the 6 yard box and the position of the ball in front of Lacazette that made Pickford have to reach over the Arsenal Striker, he was completely in the right to punch instead of catch. Perhaps he good have generated more height or power on the ball, but when reaching over an attacker like he had to it’s a tough thing to manage. Although he didn’t have too much to do with his hands, the distribution of Jordan Pickford never ceases to impress me. There is no other goalkeeper in professional football at the moment that has mastered using body momentum and mechanics to strike a ball the way Jordan Pickford has. Pickford is not the tallest of goalkeepers meaning when he strikes a long ball he is dealing with a shorter pendulum. When Pickford strikes the ball he strides quickly then plants his planting leg simultaneously cocking his kicking leg all the way back and raising his opposite arm. He then, in one fluid motion, whips his kicking leg through the ball while swinging his opposite arm altogether to produce maximum momentum in a motion similar to a medieval Trebuchet. As well as his impressive kicking from the deck, he was able to start a few counter attacks with his laser-accurate side volley a few times in the second half. Like his goal kicks, Pickford puts his whole body into his side-volley and anyone learning how to drive a ball with pin-point accuracy, look no further than the example of Jordan Pickford.
BERND LENO: Despite a slow start to his Arsenal career, Bernd Leno has experienced something of a renaissance in the Arsenal goal showing the top form that he displayed in flashes in his time at Bayer Leverkusen. Although conceding very early in the game, Leno is not to blame for the calamity of defending displayed in the scrappy goal scored by Everton in the 10th minute and made 2 saves of note. The first came from a Jordan Pickford side-volley (no surprise) which was flicked on by Calvert-Lewin forcing the error from Maitland-Niles trying to head the ball back to Leno and creating a 1v1 situation between Bernard and the German ‘keeper. Leno starts off inside his 6 yard area and takes a step forward then sets his feet until he knows whether Bernard will strike the ball first time or take it into his stride. Once Bernard has taken the touch, Leno steals the space away from Bernard particularly well by reading when the ball is bouncing at a height that would not allow Bernard to get a strike off and moving forward in this window of time. Once the ball has dropped to where Bernard can attempt to finish, Leno is already within 2 yards of Bernard and has set his feet while dropping his knee to close the gap between his legs; A technique we see many keepers (the Germans in particular) use in 1v1 situations. The second save came from a cutback from Richarlison to Gylfi Sigurdsson whose one touch shot was straight at Leno. It is a relatively easy save to make for Leno, but the importance of keeping an open stance when facing a cross has to be stressed. The stance that Leno takes up when facing the cross from Richarlison allows him to quickly open up his body and take one shuffle step to his right and set to deal with the shot straight down his throat.
Safe Hands Review 