Nick Ames was at the Emirates tonight. His report is in, so you know the drill: clickity click! Thanks for reading this report. Nighty night!
Mikel Arteta is livid. “There are certain things we cannot control. We can control the performance, I think we were the better team on the pitch. But there are certain decisions we cannot control and last week it was exactly the same thing. To disallow a goal 15 seconds before, eight or nine touches, I saw it ten times, I cannot see it. but you can draw the line however you want, how thick you want, I don’t get it. The lottery can be taken away, but they won’t. Zero control. There is an offside that is two metres offside that goes to a corner and they score from it. Somebody has to explain that. It’s an own goal, we know we have to do better. We were the better team and did not deserve to lose the game. We did not have enough threat to open them up and they were very well organised but when we had the penalty it wasn’t given. Our home form is terrible, unacceptable. We have to rest, analyse and focus. We know what the semi means for us, and the consequence it will have at the end of the season.”
Don Carlo talks to Sky. “It was a good, important result. We are still attached to the top of the table. It is what we needed. We had to keep fighting, the team played a good game. We had difficulties but tried to play all the time, we had opportunities and were good defensively. Honestly, it was a draw ... but it can happen. Against Spurs and Palace we deserved to win, but today we got the points. When you have options on the bench, it is better. It was important after five games without victory, so we will keep fighting. I always said the race will be decided at the last game, and it will be so.”
Everton defender Mason Holgate speaks to Sky. “It’s brilliant. Over the last few weeks we’ve been hit and miss with results and performances, so to see it come together today is massive with where we want to be at the end of the season. The three points are huge. Arsenal are one of the teams who want the same thing we do. But we have to consistently keep this form going on. It was the best-looking goal I’ve ever seen! It was all about fighting and digging deep. We didn’t look majorly threatening, but against Palace we had a lot of chances but didn’t score, so it’s massive for us.”
Everton have kept their top-four hopes alive in slightly farcical circumstances! It wasn’t a very good match at all, but Richarlison’s thrusting run was the difference, forcing Bernd Leno into a dreadful mistake. The Toffees stick on seventh-place Liverpool’s shoulder; they’re now on 52 points, one behind their city rivals, both teams with six matches left to play. Arsenal have played one more, and are stranded in ninth on 46 points. European football next season is almost certainly dependant on their winning the Europa League. So all is not yet lost.
FULL TIME: Arsenal 0-1 Everton
There’s just time for a minor brouhaha as the hosts show their frustration, then the whistle goes. Everton win at Arsenal in the Premier League for the first time in 25 years!
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90 min +3: Martinelli wriggles his way down the inside-left and from a thicket, fires a low shot goalwards. Pickford does extremely well to react to this unexpected turn of events. Brilliant reaction save! Corner.
90 min +2: Most of the first two are taken up with medical attention for Coleman, who was shoved to the ground and went down in the wholly professional clock-management style.
90 min: There will be four added minutes for Arsenal to save themselves. They needed seven against Fulham.
89 min: Mina comes on for Richarlison as Carlo Ancelotti showcases some old-school Italian tactical nous. Speaking of Everton’s Brazilian sort-of-match-winner, here’s Espen B: Maybe it’s not entirely in the spirit of today’s game, and maybe it has never been fully acceptable, but all I could think of watching Richarlison’s celebration, had he done that in the days of Chopper Harris or Tommy Smith, I assume he would have found his legs separated from the rest of his body. Is it wrong that I would have found it a little funny if one of the Arsenal players would have clobbered him?” Guardian disclaimer: we don’t like to see it, won’t somebody think of the kids, etc.
88 min: Arsenal keep stroking it around slowly, as the quips keep rolling in. “William coming on is more heart sinking than kitchen sinking,” suggests Matthew Stephens.
86 min: Rodriguez is replaced by Davies, as Everton look to keep hold of what they have. “Richarlson wasn’t doing a victory dance,” writes Mary Waltz. “He was imitating Leno’s footwork.” Ow.
84 min: The scorers the last time Everton won here, in 1996? Graham Stuart and Andrei Kanchelskis (with a little help from David Seaman). It was a 2-1 comeback victory, Ian Wright having given the Highbury hosts the half-time lead.
82 min: Arsenal have to throw the kitchen sink at it now. On comes Willian, as Chambers exits stage left.
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80 min: If Everton hold on for this victory, it’ll be their first at this stadium, their first away at Arsenal since 1996, and their tenth win on the road this season. The last time they had an away record like that, they won the 1986-87 First Division.
78 min: There’s a long wait for VAR, of course there is, but Richarlison wasn’t offside earlier in the move. Poor Leno would have been hoping and praying for an out, but it wasn’t to be. That’s an awful mistake, and the blood drains from the poor guy’s face. Richarlison, it should be noted, celebrated as though he’d just beaten every man twice before curling home from 30 yards. But hey, a goal’s a goal’s a goal.
FARCICAL GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Everton (Leno 76 og)
Richarlison dribbles down the right, sent clear by Allan, and reaches the byline. He fires low towards the near post. Leno goes down for an easy claim ... but takes his eye off the ball, which flies between his hands, then legs, then squirts into the net. Oh dear.
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74 min: Arsenal make a double change. Pepe and Nketiah are replaced by Odegaard and Martinelli.
72 min: A couple of minutes ago, Partey took a shot so wild and high, I decided not to embarrass him by reporting it. That’s something I now regret, because now the structure and rhythm of this Charles Antaki zinger has been thoroughly compromised: “Good to see Thomas Partey coming to the aid of us all by trying to bring down the helicopter.” Sorry, Charles.
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70 min: A quick throw down the right wing catches Everton asleep. Saka enters the box and looks for Nketiah at the near post. Pickford reads the danger well and steps in between the Arsenal men to catch the ball in his midriff.
69 min: Delph also has the wrong socks on. They’re blue and white, instead of white and blue, if that makes any sense. I can only report on what’s happening.
68 min: Delph’s very first act is to hang out a leg and clip Smith-Rowe. Yellow card.
67 min: Ceballos picks a Rodriguez pass in midfield and counters. He sends Pepe into space down the left. Pepe returns the pass, allowing Ceballos to cream one towards the top right from distance. It’s parried well by Pickford. Nothing comes from the resulting corner.
66 min: Gomes, who has done very little tonight, is replaced by Delph.
64 min: Saka sends the free kick into the mixer. The ball drops to Chambers, who from 12 yards hits a first-time volley down into the ground, and miles over the bar. Just a half-chance for a defender; it would have been a good one for one of Arsenal’s attackers.
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63 min: The VAR check is over. Just a yellow. The fact that it wasn’t a particularly high slide tackle saved Holgate there. Pepe felt that, but after some attention he’s back up and about.
62 min: Sigurdsson clears the second corner. Arsenal have moved up a gear, though. Pepe comes straight back at them, down the left, and is scythed down by Holgate. Out comes the yellow, though VAR are going to check if it warranted more.
61 min: Arsenal keep the pressure up, though, winning a corner out on the right. Ceballos takes. The ball ends up with Xhaka out on the left. He crosses. Pepe tries to swivel a volley goalwards, but his effort is blocked. Another corner.
60 min: Pepe drops a shoulder to make some space out on the left. Coleman for once isn’t tight. He flashes a cross through the six-yard box, but there’s nobody there to poke home.
59 min: Saka works his way down the right and lays off to Chambers, who fires low. Holgate sticks out a leg and nearly deflects the ball into the top right. Not sure Pickford was getting to that. Just the side netting, and nothing comes of the resulting corner.
58 min: Or perhaps it never went away. Your poor desensitised MBM reporter.
57 min: That copter’s back.
56 min: Allan is booked for a tug on Saka. He’s not happy about it.
55 min: Richarlison sashays down the right and cuts back. The ball flicks the arm of Mari. A huge scream for a penalty kick. Everton aren’t getting one. Neither side deserves to be winning right now, so all of this is about right. Correct answer, just not sure of the working-out.
Scrub that! No penalty!
53 min: The old VAR rulers have been whipped out, and Pepe has been caught offside earlier in the move. That’s an equally ridiculous decision, with barely a millimetre in it, but this is the New Football, and here we are.
Penalty for Arsenal
52 min: This is as soft as kittens. Richarlison brushes Ceballos’s shin. The midfielder goes down after a fashion. There’s been contact, so ... but ... well ... y’know. Penalty it is, though.
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50 min: There’s been a bit of excitement online, where Spotify co-founder and Arsenal fan Daniel Ek has announced his desire to purchase the club off Kroenke et al. Good luck to everyone, though a gentle reminder that, whoever they are, capitalists gonna do capitalism.
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49 min: ... some needless pushing. Free kick, pressure off.
48 min: A corner on the right leads to a corner on the left. Then from that ...
47 min: Richarlison slips Coleman into space down the inside-right channel. Coleman cuts back for Sigurdsson, who aims for the bottom right. Holding gets in the road to deflect out for a corner.
46 min: ... Chambers tries to rescue Saka’s poor delivery but only clatters Richarlison. Free kick, pressure off.
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Arsenal get the second half underway. No changes. After 20 seconds of the restart, Xhaka wins a corner down the left. And from that ...
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Half-time protest.
HALF TIME: Arsenal 0-0 Everton
It’s eighth versus ninth, so we shouldn’t be too surprised.
45 min: Mercifully, there will be only one extra minute added to this uneventful half.
44 min: A long ball down the left, intended for Pepe, flies harmlessly out of play. The horror, the horror.
43 min: The coppercopter still hovers above. Perhaps they think that effigy of Stan Kroenke is an actual statue, about to be toppled. That seems to be the sort of thing that triggers them. On that subject, here’s Gary Naylor: “We need the helicopter to land and the Sky Strikers to leap out and dance in a tribute to that scene in Apocalypse Now. It would liven it up a bit.”
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41 min: Digne scoops witlessly into the wall. Danger over.
40 min: Partey hangs out a leg and brings down Rodriguez, just to the right of the D. He wants to watch himself, having just been booked. The look in his eyes suggests he fears the worst, but the referee takes pity. Just the free kick.
39 min: Sigurdsson flips it over the wall and back down towards the top-left. It clips the top of the bar. Leno had it covered.
38 min: Richarlison turns on the jets and makes down the middle with purpose. He’s cynically clanked to the floor by Partey, who is booked. It’s a free kick in a central position, 25 yards out.
37 min: Gomes has an opportunity to release Calvert-Lewin down the inside-right channel, but his pass is dreadful and easily picked off by Mari. That’s this match in microcosm. A couple of promising situations leading to naff all.
35 min: The corner isn’t very good, but it’s only half cleared, and picked up by Rodriguez, in the box on the right. He tries to make some space for a shot, but can only manufacture a dribble that’s easily dealt with.
34 min: Gomes gets fed up with the nonsense and takes a whack from distance. It’s not very good, but it pings off Partey and out for a corner on the left.
33 min: The midfield muddle continues. There’s little time or space on offer, just about everyone in the middle third.
31 min: More sterile Arsenal possession. Neither team are quite on it.
29 min: So having said that, something happens! Everton suddenly up the tempo, and Richarlison, sent into the box by Allan’s clever pass down the channel, switches feet and creams a shot from an angle on the right. Leno parries, and is fortunate that the ball evades Calvert-Lewin, who would have tapped home with his head had he arrived a nanosecond later.
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28 min: The motorik rumble of that helicopter appears to have put all 22 players into a trance. Nothing’s happening.
26 min: Mari is down having taken a whack in the face during an aerial 50-50 with Calvert-Lewin. An unwelcome prod in the eye, but totally accidental, and happily the Arsenal defender recovers quickly and is up and about again.
24 min: Up the other end, there a minute pocket of space in the Everton box for Nketiah to spin and shoot. His effort is blocked and dribbles through to Pickford. It’s getting a bit scrappy now.
23 min: Sigurdsson, Digne and Rodriguez flick some pretty passes down the left. For a second, it looks like Rodriguez has sent Sigurdsson clear into the box, but the Iceland international doesn’t trust himself and checks back. Digne eventually runs the ball out for a goal kick.
22 min: Everton step up their press and the hosts don’t deal with it particularly well. They’re a little bit panicky at the back before Xhaka blooters clear.
20 min: Arsenal continue to stroke it around without carrying too much threat. Some habits are hard to break.
18 min: A snapshot from Saka, cutting in from the right, flies straight at Pickford, who handles well.
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17 min: Helicopters make their noise overhead. The polis checking on the protest no doubt.
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15 min: More space for Digne down the left. His cross takes a big deflection off Holding and travels at speed towards goal. Leno is forced to shift his feet quickly before dropping and smothering. An unconventional save in odd circumstances.
14 min: Arsenal are dominating possession, without doing too much in Everton’s final third.
12 min: And this is Digne crossing from the left towards Calvert-Lewin again. This time he finds his man, Calvert-Lewin almost Keith Houchen horizontal as he heads powerfully wide left. Had that been on target, the net would have been given a good old bulge.
11 min: It’s Pepe versus Coleman again. Pepe gets the better of the defender, but hesitates before delivering his cross, allowing Coleman to hassle him again. So much so, in fact, that Pepe rolls a dismal low cross straight at Gomes, who mops up.
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9 min: Pepe swans down the left with great intent and no little ball skill ... but eventually runs out of road, with Coleman sticking to him like glue, and Allan turning up to help, snaffling the ball away. Fine defending by the Everton captain.
7 min: Calvert-Lewin battles down the right and earns a free kick. A chance for Everton to load the Arsenal box. Sigurdsson sends it in. The Arsenal defence allows the ball to bounce, but with Godfrey sniffing around, Holding takes charge to chest the ball carefully back to Leno.
6 min: The protesting Arsenal fans outside are making themselves heard. The match has been lit on a brief but intense firework display. Bang, bang, crack, blast, bang. Quite the Arsenal arsenal.
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4 min: Digne curls one in from the left, looking for Calvert-Lewin. Not quite, but this has been a lovely fast start to this match.
2 min: But this is better from Chambers up the other end. He swings a cross in from the right, and Nketiah is able to attack it, six yards out. Sadly for Arsenal, he doesn’t connect properly. A corner is eventually won, and it’s wasted, but on balance that’s a pretty decent start for the Gunners. Had Chambers’ cross been a couple of inches lower, there’s a fair chance Nketiah would have powered that home.
1 min: Some early work for Leno, who has to turn on the jets to scramble clear after being given something of a hospital pass by Chambers. That’ll have helped the keeper get into Match Mode quicksmart.
Everton get the ball rolling ... but only after everyone takes a knee of love, solidarity, fairness and respect. There’s no room for racism. Challenge it. Report it. Change it. Kick it out.
The teams are out! Arsenal wear their Herbert Chapman approved red shirts with white sleeves, while Everton sport their famous royal blue. “If Arsenal fans do get their Arsenal back, will they give Highbury as the return address?” wonders art-deco aficionado and MBM troublemaker Ian Copestake. We’ll be off in a minute.
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As the away manager, Carlo Ancelotti is able to concentrate on football matters. “Our squad is much better than the last game we have played. I hope this game can go well. I think it’s time to win! It’s time to win. But I have picked a team with a lot of quality, and I hope we can show that quality on the pitch.”
Mikel Arteta is interviewed by Sky as the protests continue outside. “We hear them. We know what they think. But our responsibility, our role, our commitment should be on that pitch, trying to win the match, and that’s it. It doesn’t help when your own fans are saying loud and clear that they are not happy with something, but our job is to win the football match, and when that happens, everything is better, so that is our way to contribute in the best possible way.”
But never mind all that, because here’s Charles Antaki to pour oil over troubled waters. “Ah! The comforts of looking forward to a somnolent evening of two pleasingly traditional clubs playing out a (less pleasingly) meaningless mid-table fixture. Yes, I know about Arsenal’s involvement in the recent unpleasantness; but let us draw at least a temporary veil over that while the lads go about their business to the distant traditional shouts of Sack the Board.” Tell you what, it’s going to be strange going back to the sports-centre squeaky-shoe ambience of the empty Emirates after hearing fans giving “We want our Arsenal back” plenty outside.
Tonight’s protest in numbers.
A bit more on the old protests. There were plenty of anti-Kroenke banners, plus an effigy of the Arsenal owner hung from a lamppost. One protester fell off the roof of the box office, and was taken away on a stretcher after hurting his face, but there were no other reported incidents. A group of bobbies milled about, although they didn’t appear too energised. Plans to block both team buses were nixed as Arsenal arrived earlier than normal, while Everton crossed a bridge on the opposite side of the stadium. Anyway, solidarity to one and all, salary caps now, enforce 50+1, etc.
Arsenal were seconds away from losing at home to Fulham for the first time in their history last weekend, so six changes seem about right. In come Bernd Leno, Calum Chambers, Pablo Mari, Thomas Partey, Nicolas Pepe and Eddie Nketiah. Mat Ryan, Hector Bellerin, Gabriel, Mohamed Elneny and Gabriel Martinelli drop to the bench, while Alexandre Lacazette is ill.
Everton make three changes to the team that drew 2-2 with Spurs this time last week. Seamus Coleman, Andre Gomes and Dominic Calvert-Lewin take the places of the benched Tom Davies and Alex Iwobi, and Michael Keane, who is missing altogether. Injured? We’ll find out soon enough, although he was hapless enough last Friday at Goodison to warrant being dropped.
The teams
Arsenal: Leno, Chambers, Holding, Pablo Mari, Xhaka, Partey, Ceballos, Pepe, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Nketiah.
Subs: Bellerin, Gabriel, Odegaard, Willian, Cedric, Nelson, Elneny, Ryan, Martinelli.
Everton: Pickford, Coleman, Godfrey, Holgate, Digne, Rodriguez, Allan, Andre Gomes, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin, Sigurdsson.
Subs: Delph, King, Mina, Iwobi, Nkounkou, Bernard, Davies, Olsen, Broadhead.
Referee: Jonathan Moss (County Durham).
Some pre-team-news news: Arsenal fans have gathered outside the stadium to protest peacefully against the club’s role in the risible European Super League fiasco. In particular, they’re giving owner Stan Kroenke the good old what-for.
Preamble
There are a few pointers which suggest Arsenal are favourites tonight for the win that would see them leapfrog opponents Everton into eighth place in the Premier League table. They’re unbeaten in their last 24 home league games against Everton. They’ve only lost two of their last 12 in all competitions, winning half a dozen, while Everton have taken just three points from their last 15, and haven’t won in six. This will be the 200th top-flight meeting between these famous old clubs, and the Gunners have won one in every two, give or take a fraction, the highest total of any team against another. They’re good for this.
On the other hand, you could argue that this is Everton’s moment. They won 2-1 at Goodison back in December, so have a chance to complete their first league double against the Arsenal since 1986. They may welcome back Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Meanwhile Arsenal will be without Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, David Luiz, Kieran Tierney and possibly Martin Odegaard. Also, Everton’s incentive to win is surely a little greater; they’re still just about within realistic reach of the top four, if they can summon a strong finish, while Arsenal are surely already out of it, even if they prevail tonight.
So this game, between two of English football’s grandest institutions, last relegated in 1913 and 1951 respectively, is poised rather elegantly. Good luck calling the result. Ah, the unpredictable nature of association football. This game, unlike that fiasco, is on. It’s on!
Kick off: 8pm BST.
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