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Determined to return to winning ways, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal made the trip to Merseyside for their clash against Everton in the Premier League on Monday.
The Gunners were condemned to a 3-2 defeat by Manchester United in their last outing and needed a win to keep their top-four hopes alive.
Unfortunately, a spirited Everton were in no mood to give them a free ride as they came from behind to bag a 2-1 win at home.
Everton’s Brazilian striker Richarlison rippled the netting in the 44th minute as he headed home from a free-kick. Unfortunately for the home supporters, he was at least a yard offside and saw his goal ruled out by the VAR.
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Buoyed by the lifeline, Arsenal stormed into the Everton box a couple of minutes later and got the opener through Martin Odegaard. Kieran Tierney’s delivery into the box was exquisite and Odegaard, too, made no mistake converting from a first-time volley.
Everton kept pushing for an equalizer in the second half and saw another of Richarlison’s strikes get ruled out for offside. Finally, in the 79th minute, the Brazilian broke the voodoo with his third strike, heading in Demarai Gray’s rebound.
The next 11 minutes saw the two teams exchange blows, but the hosts simply had a little extra in their tank. Gray cut inside and unleashed a lethal strike from 20 yards to leave Aaron Ramsdale dumbfounded. The scintillating goal saw Everton bag their first win in eight matches and Arsenal go down for the third time in four matches.
Here are five Arsenal players who were massively at fault for the upset at Goodison:
#5 Gabriel Magalhaes
Arsenal centre-back Gabriel endured another frustrating Premier League outing on Monday night. His passing lacked incisiveness and he could not command the box as well as he was expected to.
Gabriel also made only three clearances and was dispossessed a total of eight times in the match. All in all, a poor defensive display by the 23-year-old.
#4 Ben White
While Gabriel struggled with his distribution, Ben White was left frustrated with the lack of forward runs by Arsenal attackers.
He often took a couple of extra touches while clearing the ball, which invited unnecessary pressure.
White was also shaky on a couple of occasions and made the wrong call to drop deeper for Richarlison’s second strike.
Fortunately, the VAR ruled out the goal, saving the Arsenal centre-back’s blushes.
#3 Granit Xhaka
Arsenal fans seem to share a love-hate relationship with Granit Xhaka. He has often been hailed as a gifted central midfielder, but has also been subjected to heavy criticism following unconvincing performances.
Against Everton, the Swiss international failed to make a case for himself and cut a frustrating figure in the middle of the park.
Xhaka operated as a double pivot alongside Thomas Partey. He sat on the left side of midfield, hoping to penetrate Everton with his long balls.
Unfortunately, his distribution was well below par and posed no threat to the Evertonian defense. Out of his seven attempted long balls, none reached their intended target. He made no key passes and lost possession a whopping 18 times.
Defensively, too, he was far from imposing. He won only four duels, completed two clearances, and was even dribbled past once in the match.
#2 Thomas Partey
Unlike Xhaka, Thomas Partey took some liberty with his positioning. He ventured further up the pitch at times and tried to lend the Arsenal attackers a helping hand.
Sadly, Partey’s adventures were far too predictable and were easily dealt with by the hosts.
Partey saw only two of his seven long-ball attempts reach their destinations. He also did not create any goalscoring opportunities and lost possession 14 times over the 90 minutes.
Partey’s physicality also did him no favors in the middle, as Everton comfortably brushed his challenges aside. The Ghana international won only five of his 14 duels, which is abysmal by his standards.
#1 Alexandre Lacazette
Frustrated with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s ineffectiveness in front of goal, Mikel Arteta chose Alexandre Lacazette to lead the Arsenal line against Everton on Monday.
As expected, Lacazette dropped deep to get a feel for the ball and tried to contribute to Arsenal’s build-up. Surprisingly, he forgot to do the one thing Arsenal desperately needed him to do, keep Everton keeper Jordan Pickford busy.
Lacazette operated more as a central midfielder than an attacker. Most of his touches were around the middle of the park and he rarely took up his original role.
The Frenchman failed to dispatch a single shot against Everton on Monday, let alone keeping one on target.
He also made no key passes, did not attempt even a single cross, and was dispossessed a total of five times.
Overall, it was an atrocious display by the former Lyon man, one which utterly disrespected the faith Arteta showed in him.
