Arsenal analysis: Alexandre Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil finally play together - but it may not last long

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James Olley23 October 2017

Arsenal moved up to fifth in the Premier League table after coming from behind to seal a 5-2 victory against Everton at Goodison Park.

Wayne Rooney put Ronald Koeman's Toffees in front, but the hosts were second-best all over the pitch as Nacho Monreal equalised for the Gunners.

Mesut Ozil put Arsene Wenger's side 2-1 up after the interval, and goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey made the game safe after Idrissa Gueye's red card. Oumar Niasse scored a late consolation goal following a Petr Cech mistake, but Alexis Sanchez scored deep into injury time to restore the visitors' three-goal advantage.

James Olley assesses the key talking points for Arsenal...

Arsenal’s Holy Trinity finally gets a chance

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Arsene Wenger’s ideal front three in August was surely Alexandre Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil yet today was the first time they were on the pitch together for Arsenal.

The trio’s mobility and movement caused Everton all manner of problems and it was apt they combined for the two goals that decided this in Arsenal’s favour after Nacho Monreal’s equaliser. Ozil headed home from Sanchez’s cross before the German turned provider.

Released by Sanchez, Ozil advanced down the right and found Lacazette in the box. The £52.7million man dispatched the chance in clinical fashion before Aaron Ramsey and Sanchez struck late on.

Injuries have complicated selection but Wenger will surely persist with this trio in the most important matches from now on. Supporters should perhaps enjoy it while it lasts - the possibility of Ozil and/or Sanchez leaving in January looms large.

Gunners end their away day blues

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Wenger had bemoaned his side’s lack of goals away from home in the Premier League with Per Mertesacker’s header at Watford last weekend their first on the road all season.

That match still ended in defeat but here they scored three and secured their first win in the process. Everton were abject but this was nevertheless a morale-boosting afternoon for Arsenal.

Their supporters reacted with typical mirth - “How s--- must you be? We’re winning away” - and were able to celebrate five goals as Ramsey added a fourth and Sanchez a fifth with some sublime football.

Rooney haunts Arsenal again

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Almost 15 years to the day since scoring a stunning long-range goal against Arsenal to announce himself on the Premier League stage, Rooney was at it again here.

The 31-year-old was given far too much time to pick his spot after Idrissa Gueye robbed Granit Xhaka in the Gunners’ half but he still did so with aplomb at the same end a teenage Rooney struck in 2002.

No player has scored more goals against Arsenal in the Premier League than Rooney (12) and his intervention here made this a difficult afternoon for the visitors once again.

Xhaka’s place under threat from Wilshere

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It is becoming a familiar refrain for Arsenal fans to sing Jack Wilshere’s name from the outset of Premier League matches these days as his wait for a start goes on. Xhaka’s 12th-minute error in losing the ball cheaply for Everton’s opener will only heighten calls for Wilshere to break back into the League line-up.

Wilshere is not a natural holding midfielder - despite Roy Hodgson trying him in such a position with England - but, then again, neither is Xhaka and the 25-year-old’s impressive Europa League form only provides a compelling argument for including him domestically in the weeks ahead.

Wilshere did at least make his first League appearance for Arsenal since August 2016 as a 77th-minute substitute.

Wenger enjoys some respite

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The Arsenal manager left their last away League game at Watford to calls of “Wenger Out” as he boarded the team bus and so he will have enjoyed an afternoon in the slipstream of criticism directed towards his opposite number Ronald Koeman.

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri was at Goodison Park to witness another performance bereft of direction and confidence with fans palpably uneasy even when their home side led through Rooney’s goal.

Fans streamed out after Gueye’s 68th-minute red card, while Koeman’s substitution of Dominic Calvert-Lewin was rounded booed, followed by brief chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” - a chant Wenger faced at Vicarage Road just eight days earlier.

This time, the Frenchman was able to talk up another victory recovering from a losing position ahead of tougher challenges to come.

Meanwhile, Arsenal’s travelling supporters turned their attention to Stan Kroenke, chanting for the club’s majority shareholder to “get out of our club”.