Arsenal left it late. It was 89 minutes, to be precise, before Viktor Gyokeres did exactly what Arsenal bought him to do — score from those in tight, striker areas. It was Max Dowman, 16 years and 73 days young, whose ball into the box made the difference. His crossed bedeviled Jordan Pickford, who came for it but could only get a fingertip to the ball. Piero Hincapie, uh, torso-ed the ball back across the face of goal. The Big Swede was quickest to react, banged it into the empty net, and turned
stomach-churning anxiety into delirium in North London.
Everton had six minutes of added time (which I still think you shouldn’t get back if you’re the side that wastes the time to preserve a result) to equalize. When the visitors won a corner seconds before the clock hit 96, all the years of heartbreak told me that was it. They were going to equalize at the death. Jordan Pickford came forward.
Then Max Dowman blew the roof off the Emirates. Arsenal won the initial header from the corner — it was either Viktor Gyokeres or Piero Hincapie, they were both there. Gabriel Martinelli knocked it further forward and the 16-year old did the rest. He shrugged off an attempted challenge / foul from Vitaly Mykolenko. He cut back inside Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. And he was in on a vacant goal from 25 yards inside his own half.
Dowman’s touch into the empty net kicked off bedlam at the Emirates. It also made him the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history, lowering the record previously held by Everton’s James Vaughn by nearly 200 days. Wayne Rooney was 16 years, 360 days when he scored his goal against Arsenal. The kid is special. He makes stuff happen and immediately was among the best players on the pitch for the Gunners.
A lot can happen in seven matches. But man, I don’t know. This feels like the moment to me. Arsenal were minutes away from dropping points, and instead the Hale End graduate, one of our freaking own, sets up the winner and scores with the last kick of the match.
Referee Andy Madley should be thanking his lucky stars that Viktor Gyokeres and Max Dowman saved Arsenal. He called a nightmare of a game. The inconsistency between his non-call when Michael Keane ran over Noni Madueke and whistling a foul against Declan Rice for a similar (and not as bad) challenge later in the first half was maddening. Madley somehow outdid himself by not awarding Kai Havertz a penalty when Michael Keane stepped on the Arsenal attacker’s foot (and shoved him a bit for good measure) only to whistle Cristhian Mosquera in the second half when Idrissa Gueye dangled a leg to create contact and throw himself over.
Shame on VAR, too. The speed with which they checked and cleared the penalty shout is mind-boggling. I’m really not sure you could possibly have looked closely enough at all the angles to make a decision in the time that it took them to confirm the call on the pitch. I’m almost forced to believe that they were so focused on the potential push that they failed to notice Kai Havertz getting stepped on. It was tough to see from one angle but plainly obvious from another. I’m genuinely curious to know whether that angle was even reviewed. You don’t even have to touch the extent of the contact, whether it was enough to take Havertz to the ground, or enough to overturn the call on the field. Had the foul been given and penalty awarded, they’d have also had to decide whether it was a DOGSO red card. For my money, there was absolutely enough in it to merit further review and completely inappropriate to dismiss with a cursory check.
Fortunately, what was to me one of the worst VAR decisions of this Premier League season will end up hardly a footnote because Arsenal won anyway.
Everton were stubborn. They defended well, particularly in and around their own box, and had arguably the best chances of the first half. Both fell to Dwight McNeil. Riccardo Calafiori’s desperate donkey-kick, thrown-out leg improbably blocked the first. He rattled the post on the second. Credit to the visitors for not completely parking the bus and carrying a bit of threat of their own. After that, Arsenal clamped down and didn’t allow them much. The Toffees were energetic to start the second half but didn’t create anything of note and that was that. The Gunners took control and were eventually rewarded.
Ebere Eze continued to impress. He seems to have finally settled in and found his role. He is continuing to cut down on the giveaways while finding ways to provide a creative spark. The Arsenal attack looked as good as it has in a while, particularly in the first half. Much of that is due to Kai Havertz and Riccardo Calafiori finally being fit enough to start. The pair bring sorely needed unpredictability, dynamism, quality, and pace of play. Noni Madueke was also bright. I’ll touch every piece of wood around me before observing that the Arsenal attack seems to be moving in the right direction after far too many frustrating, flat performances.
In an odd scheduling quirk, Arsenal won’t play in the Premier League for nearly a month. They have the second leg of the CL tie with Bayer Leverkusen at the Emirates on Tuesday. Next weekend, it’s the Carabao Cup Final against Manchester City. The scheduled PL match was moved up — away to Wolves, the 2-2 draw. City’s match against Crystal Palace, their game-in-hand, has yet to be rescheduled because both clubs are still in Europe. It’s an international break after the final and then the FA Cup QF the weekend back.
Good thing Arsenal pulled this one out, ensuring that Manchester City can’t gain any ground on them before the layoff. It would have been a long, uncomfortable wait otherwise. Seven matches left.
