Arsenal 2 - Everton 1

Arsenal Scorers
Henry 35′ (pen)
Pires 58′

Everton Scorers
Radzinski 84′

An eventful first half saw Sol Campbell given a straight red card for a “professional foul” outside the box in the 25th minute. Thierry Henry put the Gunners up from the spot 10 minutes later after a hand ball in the box by an Everton defender.

During the second half, ex-Arsenal keeper Richard Wright made several fantastic saves, keeping Everton in the match. In the 58th minute, Wright made two quick saves from shots by Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira, the second of which deflected to “Super” Robert Pires, who drove home from close range to give the 10-men Arsenal side a much-needed two goal cushion.

From that point on, the match became very chippy, and several Everton players were booked. This culminated in Chinese international Li Tie’s sending off in the 80th minute after a second bookable offense. Everton were undaunted, and pulled within a goal when Tomasz Radzinski scored in the 84th minute.

A harrowing six minutes followed in which Arsenal fought to control the ball. A nightmare additional four minutes of injury time was to be endured before referee Mark Halsey finally blew the whistle for fulltime.

A hard-fought victory for the Gunners, and one that helps get the season off on the right foot. Unfortunately, all the press attention will of course go to Sol’s red card. Hopefully the video review board will work in Arsenal’s favor for once, and prove that Ashley Cole and Lauren were covering back, thus reducing the red card to a yellow.

Otherwise, it was great to see Ti Ti and Super Bob both open their goal accounts on opening day. Next up; Middlesbrough on Sunday the 24th at the Riverside.