The first question to be answered last night at the Grove was who would come in for the injured Samir Nasri. Many eyebrows were raised when Tomas Rosicky was named as Arsenal’s attacking threat on the left. Given the opportunity to make a statement about what he could bring to the team, he failed spectacularly. Amongst Arsenal’s current back up options, there are some players who are out of form and others who are simply not actually good enough to come in and do a job consistently. Rosicky has, with time, become one of the latter. It’s sad, as he was quite a player once, but the fact that he hasn’t scored in living memory tells its own tale. Whatever happened in 2007 that forced his absence from the game for a calendar year, he has never been the same player since.

Everton approached their visit to north London with a fairly ambitious approach compared to some. There was no parking of the bus in front of the goal as they came forward in numbers. David Moyes has realized that the best chance of getting a result against Arsenal is to have a go at them and hope they have an off day up front. Having said that, they were equally capable of some cynical play, with their men all content to take a yellow card where required, then leave it to the next man to execute the subsequent cautionable offence. This was a feature of the second half.

However, by that time, referee Lee Mason certainly owed Arsenal something. He had a shocker of a first half, failing to understand the advantage rule, but worst of all, not having the balls to over-rule a terrible decision from his linesman which led to the first goal. If Sian Massey had made that call the weekend before last, chances are Andy Gray and Richard Keys might still be in a job. The glimpse of the replay on the big screen showed the players and the officials that the goal should never had stood, Saha obviously in an offside position and interfering with play. Koscielny would not have tried to intercept the pass had Saha not been behind him. It was an easy decision, but one the linesman got badly wrong. Don’t expect to see whichever clown it was who failed to raise his flag working a high profile game anytime soon.

Arsenal had played competently up to that point, but you always felt they were biding their time until Everton might run out of steam and allow them the little extra space required to create more chances. The second half was a huge test of character against a team that were proving difficult opponents, but the home side passed it. With United winning at home to Villa, I’d say continued hopes of catching them in the league depended on Wenger’s team taking three points from this game. Momentum, as has been said before on this website, is everything. In the recent past, the Gunners have shown that if they stutter, they do not recover quickly, especially after the turn of the year.

Arshavin coming on for Rosicky was a step in the right direction, but the key change was Bendtner coming on for Wilshere, and the resultant change in formation. Fabregas dropped deeper to play more of a quarterback role, and Arsenal suddenly looked a more effective unit. Arsenal have a number of players who can play off a front man to good effect – Van Persie did it last night after the change, Nasri has looked effective there, and one suspects the team might get more from Arshavin in that position. Naturally, one would hope that Wenger retains the winning triangle of Song, Wilshere and Fabregas, but as a tactical weapon, the option of dropping the captain back is a useful option.

Arshavin’s equalizer, set up by a Fabregas chip, was a thing of beauty. Hopefully, the Russian is returning to form as he will be needed to start on the assumption that the Rosicky experiment will not be repeated. The winner was heartening, as for a long time, corners have proved so fruitless for this team. It’s not the first such Koscielny goal and let’s hope it becomes a more regular occurrence. The team need to make more of set pieces than they currently do if they are going to triumph in tight matches.

This was an example of a winnable fixture in a series of such games. Arsenal simply have to keep the pressure on and wait for United to play their more difficult matches, twice against Chelsea, away at Liverpool and of course the visit to Arsenal. They also entertain Manchester City next weekend and that is no ‘gimme’. Arsenal’s difficult away matches are mostly played. There is of course a visit to the Lane, but aside from that, the only game they really need to fear – if they can continue keeping enough key players on the park – is the visit of United.

As in 2008 and 2010, Arsenal have a decent chance of winning this title, partly because the season has been so forgiving with surprise points being dropped by all the contenders. The defence needs to stay tight and mentally, the team must stay focused and never, ever take some of the ‘easier’ games for granted. This is about being strong in spirit, body and mind. Winning the Carling Cup with a first choice eleven would do their self-belief no harm whatsoever. Losing it with a mix and match team could prove disastrous.

The manager has taken a gamble by not spending any of the £40 million sitting in the player trading account, a figure calculated by the Arsenal Supporters Trust in this piece. Many supporters would have felt the team’s chances of glory could have been enhanced with the purchase of a defender or some decent cover for Alex Song. Let’s hope, on this one, Arsene knows. Song could not walk after the game last night. He needs to be running around good and proper by the time the squad travel to Newcastle.

Late PS – This post on Untold Arsenal has been brought to my attention, which went online ahead of last night’s game. Seems Arsenal were lucky to get anything from Mr Mason!

The current issue of The Gooner was on sale at last night’s match and will also be available from sellers outside the stadium at the game against Wolves. For those who cannot make it along to the stadium, it can be bought online here.