Arsenal suffered a 1-0 loss to Everton on Super Sunday
Monday 8 April 2019 12:02, UK
Arsenal went into Sunday's meeting with Everton on the back of three consecutive wins in all competitions, but their dismal away form is threatening to be their undoing in the Premier League top-four race.
Phil Jagielka's early goal consigned the Gunners to a 1-0 loss at Goodison Park, leaving them level on points with fifth-placed Chelsea and one point behind third-placed Tottenham.
Arsenal have taken just 19 points from their 15 away games this season, failing to keep a single clean sheet, and with four of their remaining six games taking place away from the Emirates Stadium, they now risk slipping out of the Champions League spots.
Not for the first time this season, Arsenal were well off the pace in the first period. Jagielka capitalised on slack defending to poke home his goal following Lucas Digne's long throw, and the early strike set the tone for the rest of the half.
Arsenal's defensive frailties were obvious throughout, with Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Shkodran Mustafi and Nacho Monreal struggling to cope with even the most basic of long balls from Jordan Pickford. Dominic Calvert-Lewin's physicality was a problem for them and so too was the energy and invention of Richarlison and Bernard on the flanks.
There were even more issues in midfield, where, in the absence of Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira, and with Aaron Ramsey only on the bench, Matteo Guendouzi and Mohamed Elneny were completely overrun. Arsenal could not get their passing game going, with Alexandre Lacazette an isolated figure up front and Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan ineffectual.
Indeed, while Arsenal edged the possession stats in the first half, they did precious little with it. It was the first time since May 2016 that they have failed to have more than one shot on goal in the first half of a Premier League game.
Everton pressed ferociously while Arsenal looked lethargic both in and out of possession. The Premier League tracking data showed Everton had made 67 high-intensity sprints to Arsenal's 51 at half-time and the numbers were even more damning by the final whistle, with the hosts covering 115km to Arsenal's 113km and making 142 sprints to their 104.
Emery threw on Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Sead Kolasinac and Elneny at half-time, and the Welshman provided an immediate boost, charging upfield and winning a corner with his first contribution and attempting more shots in the space of a few minutes than Arsenal had managed in the entirety of the first half.
Ramsey's impact augured well for the rest of the half, but that was about as good as it got. Arsenal had more than 60 per cent of the possession after the break but they made basic errors. The moment Ainsley Maitland-Niles hurled a throw-in straight out for an Everton goal-kick summed it up - and he was not the only guilty party.
Arsenal still struggled to get the ball into their strikers, with Aubameyang only touching it 12 times during his 45 minutes on the pitch, and even more concerning was how open they were at the other end. Indeed, if not for some slack finishing by Everton and fine goalkeeping by Bernd Leno, the final score would have been a lot worse for them.
The statistics underlined the scale of the problem. Arsenal allowed their opponents 17 shots in the second half and 23 over the course of the whole game - their second-highest total in the Premier League all season.
Arsenal return to action when they welcome Napoli to the Emirates Stadium for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday, but their next Premier League fixture is another awkward away trip, this time against Watford, live on Sky Sports on Monday Night Football.
Arsenal will be confident of claiming maximum points from their remaining home games, against Crystal Palace and Brighton, but as well as facing Javi Gracia's Watford, who beat them at Vicarage Road last season, they must also go to Wolves, who have claimed a number of high-profile scalps at Molineux, Leicester, who are on the up under Brendan Rodgers, and Burnley.
It's going to take considerable improvement in order to navigate those fixtures without sliding out of the top four.
According to Sky Sports pundit Alex Scott, the key to reaching the top four could lie in using Lacazette and Aubameyang together from the start in those games.
"I think setting up with three at the back played into Everton's hands," she said. "They were exploiting those spaces in the channels, and then you've got Lacazette and Aubameyang. They have scored 30 goals between them this season, most of Arsenal's goals.
"If you start both of them, you're pressing Everton high and you're taking the game to Everton. That's where I'm frustrated because I think Arsenal could have started [with Lacazette and Aubameyang] and then it's a completely different game."
Jamie Redknapp, meanwhile, defended Emery and insisted Arsenal's squad still lacks the extra quality needed to change games from the bench.
You look at the home games, I think they will take care of themselves, but they have got to find a way of getting two or three away wins.
"I think there's been so much progression so I am actually loathe to be critical," he said. "I think he's done so well. They do look a different side. As much as I think you've got to have a bit more intensity when you play away from home, I think it needs a bit more quality as well.
"That's what he needs to bring in next season because he hasn't got those kind of players he can bring in to change it."
On their remaining fixtures this season, he added: "They're not easy games. You look at the home games, I think they will take care of themselves, but they have got to find a way of getting two or three away wins.
"It's given United and Chelsea hope, that result today. It's opened it right up again."
