Everton 2 Arsenal 1
• Everton: Seamus Coleman (44’), Ashley Williams (86’)
• Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez (20’)
Red Card: Phil Jagielka, Everton (90’+3’)
Officially, the winners were Everton. Unofficially, they were Chelsea. They often are. Ronald Koeman’s side joined Leicester and West Ham, Bournemouth and Southampton, Tottenham and Middlesbrough in easing a path to the title for Antonio Conte’s team.
Arsenal arrived at Goodison Park unbeaten in 14 league games and undefeated on the road in nine months. They departed disappointed, stripped of both records. A game that began promisingly ended with comparisons to their 2002 visit. Then, as now, they were defeated by a late goal, the scorer’s first in the league for Everton. It was a teenage Wayne Rooney 14 years ago, a 32-year-old Ashley Williams now. The Welshman epitomised Everton on a memorable night at Goodison Park: at fault initially, triumphant eventually. If this was a test of character, Williams passed it.
It was a night defined by defenders, present and absent. Williams deflected in Alexis Sanchez’s opener but delivered the winner. Phil Jagielka conceded the free kick for Arsenal’s goal and sacrificed himself in added time, fouling Lucas Perez to bring his first red card for 12 years and rule himself out of Monday’s Merseyside derby. Leighton Baines crossed for Seamus Coleman’s equaliser and denied Arsenal the latest of levellers by clearing Alex Iwobi’s shot off his line. Coleman headed his goal in the style of a towering striker and produced the game’s outstanding performance.
Yet both the outcome and the manner of the goals two unmarked Evertonians scored. It reinforced the importance of the injured Arsenal invincible Shkodran Mustafi, who has missed each of their three defeats this season. It bodes badly that the ex-Evertonian is sidelined for three weeks, although Arsene Wenger denied his replacement was at fault for the decider. “I think Gabriel did well,” Wenger said. “I don’t think it is his fault on the corner. The responsibility is someone else’s.”
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Having spared Gabriel blame, he transferred it to a referee who awarded Spurs a contentious penalty in November’s North London derby draw. “I am really disappointed in Mr Clattenburg,” he said. “He is in a really good position to see it and it is not the first time we are really unlucky with his decisions.”
The spikiness of the game carried over into the post-match debriefings. Koeman countered by inferring his Arsenal counterpart is a bad loser: “I am not surprised about Wenger and his comments. It is the third time in a row I won at home against Arsenal and three times in a row it was about the referee.” He concluded sarcastically: “Sorry Arsenal. We won through the ref.”
Wenger was irritated with what he perceived as Clattenburg’s leniency to the “very physical” midfielder James McCarthy. Such complaints, however, may merely serve to provide future opponents with a game plan. Arsenal’s capacity to outplay opponents was apparent to Koeman. A purist in his playing career sounded distinctly pragmatic now.
“The weakness is if you go face-to-face with them and you win battles and you are aggressive,” Koeman said.
“They disturbed our game,” Wenger admitted.
After an opening 20 minutes when Everton looked a side with a solitary win in their previous 11 games, lacking coherence and conviction, they showed the requisite urgency. As they had done when rescuing a point after trailing to Manchester United in their previous home game, an attitudinal shift proved crucial.
The temptation is to dismiss this as a case of Arsenal being Arsenal, of a team with an aversion to winning the title missing the chance to top the league and of a side with a soft centre showing its shortcomings when pressure was applied. The reality is more complicated. Wenger put the result into perspective with a reminder.
“We had nine months unbeaten away from home,” he said. “You can lose away, especially in the atmosphere.”
Yet the tougher away games in Arsenal’s campaign are backloaded. They go to Manchester City on Sunday, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Tottenham in 2017. Their destiny may be decided on the road. It is a thought that would have offered more optimism before the setback at Goodison. As one unbeaten run ended, another may have to begin.
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