Everton lose their first game in seven as Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal take all three points in a 3-2 thriller.
How it happened
It was a dream start for Everton as Calvert-Lewin acrobatically gave the Blues the lead within a minute. Sigurdsson’s freekick initially hit Luiz and sent the ball into the air and Everton’s top scorer was fastest to react.
A cagey 20 minutes followed in which Arsenal were forced to bring on Saka for an injured Kolasinac. The substitute Saka fired a cross in for Nketiah who added the lightest of touches to steer it past the England Number One.
Arsenal then went on to take the lead through Aubameyang. Luiz played a perfectly weighted pass to the Gabon international who looked like a prime Henry to slot it into the side netting.
Everton remained aggressive deep into the five minutes of stoppage time and with a corner found the equaliser. The corner was cleared and met with volley that bobbled up and bad Arsenal defending let Richarlison level the score.
The Gunners then had an even faster start to the second half with Aubameyang scoring after 23 seconds. Arsenal came straight from kick off down the right hand side with Pepe who fired a cross to Aubameyang who scored his 17th goal of the season to make it 3-2.
Calvert-Lewin had a golden opportunity to equalise with 15 minutes to go as Arsenal’s performance became lacklustre. Richarlison’s header landed at the feet of the Englishman inside the six-yard box but Leno came out fast to deny the visitors.
Everton relentlessly hunted for an equaliser but Arsenal had Leno to thank in denying the Toffee’s. Everton’s Number Nine could only watch as his header sailed inches wide with just minutes to go.
Everton now drop to 11th in the table as they prepare to face Manchester United next Sunday.
Picture by: Little Savage / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
