ricky1985
Established Member
Szczesny - 7. Other than one lazy kick where he tried to be too clever, he didn't put a foot wrong. Liked the new kick out where he finds an advanced Sagna, we must have won about 15 of them through the match. Little things like that are crucial when Everton are going at you at Goodison.
Sagna - 7. Made some great tackles, but definitely had a rocky spell 15 minutes either side of half-time. Wasn't helped enough by Theo and the midfielders because he had Fellaini pulling onto him, with Pienaar and Baines looking for the second ball. Still crucial to the win, worked damn hard all game.
Koscielny - 9. Won nearly everything that was played into the box, and had some really classy and assured defensive moments. Played one or two errant balls, but there were also some really good passes into the forwards and a couple of brilliant forward runs.
Vermaelen - 9. Outstanding. Won every duel he went in for, and came up trumps for us at the corner. Can't emphasise enough how important it is to have a leader like Thomas in the team. MotM
Gibbs - 8. Superb going forward when we were on top in the first 20-25 minutes, and very strong and solid in defence thereafter. Best performance in a long time.
Song - 6. One moment of madness nearly cost us dear. Made some decent passes, had some neat touches and bits of skill, and worked hard, but, as happens too often with Song, a number of sloppy moments in there, too.
Arteta - 7. Was a little better than Song, made more good passes and had less sloppy moments, but still lost the ball a couple of times when he shouldn't have.
Rosicky - 6. Played some good passes, had a couple of good shots, but nothing to write home about after our great start. The ref gave him nothing today, should have had at least 3 free-kicks that weren't given, and maybe a penalty as well.
Walcott - 5. Thought he was poor today. Couldn't make the ball stick and rarely tried to go at Baines or drive into space when it opened up for him. Worked fairly hard but could have done more.
Ramsey - 5. Had to score from that van Persie knock down. Another one that you couldn't rely on to keep the ball when he was put under pressure. Though he ran hard to his credit.
van Persie - 6. Missed a few big chances today that could have come back to bite us. Still put in a couple of great corners and set up a couple of good chances.
Subs
Gervinho - 6. Created a great chance for van Persie. Alos kept it fairly well. Not sure why he didn't chase that Ramsey flick though - that won't endear him to the fans one bit.
It was disappointing to see us back off after 25 minutes and lose the control we had on the game, but that was the most fluent I have seen us look in a long time. The team had it's shape back and everything was coming easy. Always going to be difficult to maintain that level of control at a ground like Goodison against a good side - the wastefulness of our forwards didn't help one bit - but when we lost that control and it came down to a fight - we rolled our sleeves up and won it.
Well done boys!
Sagna - 7. Made some great tackles, but definitely had a rocky spell 15 minutes either side of half-time. Wasn't helped enough by Theo and the midfielders because he had Fellaini pulling onto him, with Pienaar and Baines looking for the second ball. Still crucial to the win, worked damn hard all game.
Koscielny - 9. Won nearly everything that was played into the box, and had some really classy and assured defensive moments. Played one or two errant balls, but there were also some really good passes into the forwards and a couple of brilliant forward runs.
Vermaelen - 9. Outstanding. Won every duel he went in for, and came up trumps for us at the corner. Can't emphasise enough how important it is to have a leader like Thomas in the team. MotM
Gibbs - 8. Superb going forward when we were on top in the first 20-25 minutes, and very strong and solid in defence thereafter. Best performance in a long time.
Song - 6. One moment of madness nearly cost us dear. Made some decent passes, had some neat touches and bits of skill, and worked hard, but, as happens too often with Song, a number of sloppy moments in there, too.
Arteta - 7. Was a little better than Song, made more good passes and had less sloppy moments, but still lost the ball a couple of times when he shouldn't have.
Rosicky - 6. Played some good passes, had a couple of good shots, but nothing to write home about after our great start. The ref gave him nothing today, should have had at least 3 free-kicks that weren't given, and maybe a penalty as well.
Walcott - 5. Thought he was poor today. Couldn't make the ball stick and rarely tried to go at Baines or drive into space when it opened up for him. Worked fairly hard but could have done more.
Ramsey - 5. Had to score from that van Persie knock down. Another one that you couldn't rely on to keep the ball when he was put under pressure. Though he ran hard to his credit.
van Persie - 6. Missed a few big chances today that could have come back to bite us. Still put in a couple of great corners and set up a couple of good chances.
Subs
Gervinho - 6. Created a great chance for van Persie. Alos kept it fairly well. Not sure why he didn't chase that Ramsey flick though - that won't endear him to the fans one bit.
It was disappointing to see us back off after 25 minutes and lose the control we had on the game, but that was the most fluent I have seen us look in a long time. The team had it's shape back and everything was coming easy. Always going to be difficult to maintain that level of control at a ground like Goodison against a good side - the wastefulness of our forwards didn't help one bit - but when we lost that control and it came down to a fight - we rolled our sleeves up and won it.
Well done boys!
