Arsène Wenger’s critics were dealt a severe blow on Saturday.
Arsenal Defied their Critics
When the Arsenal manager claimed last week that he seriously believed in Arsenal’s title challenge this season, many shook their heads in disbelief.
This was of course only the first game of the season, but it was also the best possible way for Wenger to start a response to the pessimists from within and the doubters from without.
Denilson Scored the Opener
Everton were actually deceptively threatening for the first 20 minutes of the games. With a lot of wayward passes, Arsenal looked shaky and lack of ideas.
However, as Nicholas Bendtner, playing in an unfamiliar right wing position in Wenger’s new look 4-3-3 formation, side-stepped Leighton Baines, the Everton left-back, and sent in a square ball to Fàbregas, the Spain international midfielder laid it on to Denilson. The Brazillian unleashed a dipping strike that swerved away from Tim Howard and into the top corner.
Arsenal's Midfield Domination
Wenger would be especially happy to see Denilson getting the opener.
The youth and supposed inexperience of the Arsenal midfield was one of the central themes upon which a lot of people have built their arguments against any possibility of Arsenal challenging for the title this season.
These critics were made to look silly yesterday as the Arsenal midfield trio of Alex Song, Denilson and Cesc Fàbregas dominated the centre of the pitch. 22-year-old Fàbregas, the oldest of the three, scored two second-half goals to remind the critics why he was captain of Arsenal at the age of 21.
Fàbregas Hit Wonder Goal
The second of the two was a special one, even for Fàbregas.
As if the world needed any more demonstration of his confidence, composure and outstanding technical ability, when the ball was thrown to him by Almunia, he started to run with it. From deep inside his own half, Fàbregas ran more than half the length of the pitch and dragged a right-footed strike low into the left-hand corner. No chance for Tim Howard.
It was a great goal from the young Spaniard, and an emphatic statement of intent from Arsenal.
Everton's Defensive Failings
The fact that Fàbregas’s run was entirely unchallenged did not take the gloss off his wonderful goal, but it did demonstrate, if it wasn’t glaringly obvious already at that point, how poor Everton’s defending was.
Their full-backs, Tony Hibbert and Leighton Baines, were tormented throughout the match by the marauding Arsenal wingers Andrei Arshavin and Nicholas Bendtner, who were able to cut inside, cross from deep, and, in short, wreck havoc at will.
Manchester City Target Lescott Failed to Deliver
Joleon Lescott, the Everton centre-half and Manchester City transfer target who recently handed in a transfer request and was duly booed by a large section of the home crowd, did not look like a £19m defender at all.
He might not have been directly at fault for the second and third Arsenal goals, even though he did not play his part in properly organising the defence in set-pieces However, if the fourth and fifth goals conceded by Everton are considered, it becomes harder for Lescott to deny that he had a very poor game.
His positioning for the fourth one was highly suspect while for the fifth, instead of stepping up to challenge Fabregas, Lescott kept backing off and afforded the Arsenal midfielder far too much space to pull the trigger.
And with Leon Osman and Tim Cahill absent without leave, the industry of Steven Pienaar and Marouane Fellaini was simply not enough to contain the Arsenal onslaught.
Reactions from the Managers
While David Moyes was keen to forget the match and approach their next game away to Burnley as their start to the new Premier League season, Arsène Wenger would have been extra happy that Arsenal won 6-1 and not 5-1.
The sixth goal was disproportionately important as it was scored by Arsenal's 18-month absentee Eduardo da Silva. Though it was a simple tap-in, Eduardo looked sharp and lively throughout his substitute appearance and had a couple of other efforts on goal.
With Arsène Wenger taking Eduardo as a de facto new signing, both Arsenal debutants – Thomas Vermaelen and Eduardo – got their names on the scoresheet. The absence of the men they replaced, namely Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor, seems to have been quickly forgotten. At least until Arsenal take on Celtic on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League qualifying round fixture.
