Set pieces can't save Arteta as dominant Arsenal fail to find a way past Everton
Being Odegaard At The Pic: During Stadium, Martin John London Wire Substituted Premier League Walton/pa You E: Walks Off Off Emirates Match After The Arsenal's
FRUSTRATED ARSENAL missed an opportunity to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool after their Merseyside rivals Everton held Mikel Arteta’s side to this surprise result.
Arsenal were not at their free-flowing best but dominated the game from start to finish in a match when even their set pieces could not save them.
A prolonged spell of Arsenal pressure – they had been on stop since the start – finally led to a proper clear-cut chance after 28 minutes. Bukayo Saka skipped through a tangle of defenders legs and pulled the ball back for Martin Odegaard only for the Norwegian to be denied by a block and a Jordan Pickford save. He should have scored.
Everton had not recorded a single touch in the Arsenal penalty area as the second half started but Arteta’s worry was that few of his side’s nine shots had looked like ending up in the back of the net.
Saka, by far Arsenal’s best player, nearly changed all that as he got his side playing with more pace after the break. He fired an 18-yard volley soon after the restart and it took a good Pickford stop to deny him the opening goal.
Arteta had sent his side back out a good three minutes before Everton at half-time and there was a reaction from his players and the crowd – for the first 15 minutes. Then he decided to up the stakes by sending on subs Ethan Nwaneri and Jorginho for Declan Rice and Odegaard.
Neither of Arteta’s two big-name midfielders had been playing particularly well but it was a big call to hook them with a good half an hour to go. Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey came on soon after as Everton shifted their time-wasting up a level to try to slow Arsenal down.
It worked a treat and Arsenal rarely looked like scoring again as the Everton fans celebrated as if they had won a cup final.
ARSENAL: Raya 6, Timber 6, Saliba 7, Gabriel 7, Lewis-Skelly 7 (Partey 69) , Odegaard 6 (Nwaneri 62), Rice 6 (Jorginho 62), Merino 6 (Jesus 69) , Saka 8, Martinelli 6 (Trossard 74), Havertz 6. Subs: Subs: Neto, Tierney, Kiwior, Sterling.
EVERTON: Pickford 7, Young 7, Tarkowski 7, Branthwaite 6, Mykolenko 6, Gueye 5, Mangala 6, Ndiaye 6, Harrison 5 (Lindstrom 66),, Doucoure, Calvert-Lewin 5 (Broja 66). Subs: Subs: Virginia, Patterson, Keane, Beto, O'Brien, Coleman, Lindstrom, Armstrong Ref: Craig Pawson 6