It was a headstrong performance from Everton at Emirates Stadium, as the Toffees were able to hold off 18 shots from Arsenal to claim a draw in N5. Everton manager, Brian Sørensen, spoke to the media following the stalemate in North London, praising his side’s ‘exceptional’ performance.
First speaking on the mentality of his side to bounce-back from devastating injury news and put in such a headstrong performance against Arsenal, Sørensen analysed “I knew the second half was going to be tough, but we had a plan, we executed it, and I think we deserved the points. I don’t think they created super big chances. We got them into the areas where we know we can defend the early crosses. It’s more when they were getting in-behind us, we were in trouble, but we defended that also super well.”
Sørensen ‘proud’ of attacking moments despite an overall defensive showing from Everton
Everton put on an organised and compact defensive display against Arsenal, as the side shut-out 18 shots from Arsenal in fast succession. Despite what many may have perceived as a lower-block, Sørensen spoke in detail on Everton’s offensive strengths over the course of the 90 minutes.
He said, “I actually am proud of how we, in phase one, went up and pressed them to get them turned over, because the distance in Arsenal is always big. The ball is always faster than the players, of course, but when you get up in that area and the backspace doesn’t become such a big problem, because they can’t just turn it over then, then I think a couple of times we got them on the back foot, and maybe could have capitalised a little more on that.”
High praise for Everton’s ‘togetherness’
When asked on the heavy task of facing Arsenal at Emirates Stadium, Sørensen was strong in his response when expressing “Arsenal’s squad is unreal compared to us, but all the money in the world doesn’t matter, it’s what you do on the pitch.”
The Toffees boss continued, “That was the message to the girls. We did everything we can. My staff is working extremely hard to get the girls ready, and the girls are self resilient. So it’s just that togetherness that we speak about that we need to have, especially in the situation we’re in at the minute.”
