Here’s a report on a fine win for Everton. That’s all from me. Bye!
John Brewin has coverage of the FA Cup semi-final between Watford and Wolves here.
Phil Jagielka speaks! “It feels great. We’re trying to build momentum before the end of the season. We got one goal but could have had a few more. They’re a very good team and have proved that all season but it’s nice to beat one of the so-called bigger boys. I’m not normally a matchwinner but it was good. They’re the best goals, tap-ins from two or three yards out.”
Phil Jagielka’s early goal was enough for Everton, who dominated as they secured their third successive win to move a point behind seventh-placed Leicester. Marco Silva’s team defended well, showed plenty of energy in midfield, passed with crisp urgency and had a threat in attack. Basically they were everything Arsenal weren’t. Arsenal were useless. They had a chance to go third, but they barely created anything and this performance doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season. They’re still fourth, but Chelsea can go three points above them when they host West Ham tomorrow, while Manchester United are only two points behind. Arsenal surely won’t qualify for the Champions League if they continue to struggle away from home. Next Monday’s trip to Watford looks uninviting after this setback. Four away games left for Arsenal: their fans won’t be feeling particularly joyful at that prospect.
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Full-time: Everton 1-0 Arsenal
The corner comes to nothing and that’s your lot!
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90 min+5: Everton commit to many forward, lose the ball, allow Arsenal to break and concede a corner. But...
90 min+4: Davies shoves Guendouzi midway inside Everton’s half. The Arsenal free-kick is poor, though, and the pressure subsides.
90 min+2: Mustafi gifts possession to Lookman, who wins a corner. There isn’t a hint of an Arsenal equaliser.
90 min+1: Tom Davies replaces Gylfi Sigurdsson. There will be five added minutes.
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88 min: Ademola Lookman replaces Bernard.
87 min: Sigurdsson’s corner is headed wide by Zouma, though it took a deflection off an Arsenal defender. Everton continue to press. Sigurdsson’s corner finds Zouma unmarked this time, but he heads wide.
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86 min: Nacho Monreal is booked for dissent after complaining too much about the award of an Everton corner. Time is running out for Arsenal. Everton win another corner when Walcott’s shot is deflected wide by Monreal.
84 min: Gomes blasts wide from 30 yards. Arsenal aren’t offering much. The television cameras, meanwhile, picked up Ozil throwing his jacket at Marco Silva from his seat on Arsenal’s bench.
82 min: Mustafi, so very clumsy and dozy, is caught out by Calvert-Lewin’s pace and urgency on the left. Calvert-Lewin reaches a loose ball first and Mustafi can only respond by cynically bringing him down, enraging the Everton bench. Marco Silva and Unai Emery exchange some angry words before Mustafi is booked.
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81 min: Walcott’s involved straight away, charging inside from the right and finding Bernard in space on the left. The Brazilian shoots straight at Leno. All those Everton misses...
79 min: Theo Walcott, who’ll be all too familiar with this kind of Arsenal performance, comes on to replace Richarlison.
77 min: Digne, who took a knock to the ankle earlier, is down after feeling the full force of Henrikh Mkhitaryan. It might be time for Leighton Baines.
76 min: Iwobi almost makes an instant impact, skipping inside from the left and poking a pass through to Lacazette, who falls over.
75 min: Alex Iwobi replaces Mesut Ozil, who was irrelevant.
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74 min: Gueye finds Sigurdsson on the edge of the Arsenal area. This time his shot hits Sokratis. But the Arsenal’s block only takes the ball to Richarlison, who’s completely free on the right! He only has Leno to beat - but his first touch is poor and his second sees the ball go wide of the near post! What a miss. Everton are in danger of letting Arsenal off the hook here.
72 min: This should have been the second goal for Everton. Richarlison leads another break down the right and this time he picks someone out in the middle, only for Sigurdsson to clip his shot straight at Leno. Either side of the goalkeeper and it was in.
71 min: Mkhitaryan collects possession on the left, cuts inside and arrows one just wide of the far corner from 20 yards. It’s as close as Arsenal have come all afternoon.
69 min: This is end-to-end now. Aubameyang beats Jagielka on the left and crosses towards Lacazette. Just too high. Everton break, Gomes sweeping a pass down the right for Richarlison, who waits for support before finding Sigurdsson. The midfielder’s shot takes a deflection and goes wide for a corner.
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67 min: Everton are playing some really good football. They’re finding plenty of space on the counterattack, though they’re struggling to play the telling final pass when they get into promising areas. Their latest attack ends with Richarlison bending a disappointing shot wide.
63 min: Arsenal’s performance has been littered with so many errors, Maitland-Niles the latest guilty of sloppiness. They’ll be leaving empty-handed if they don’t improve. Everton are pressing for a second. Richarlison has two dashes down the right, neither leading to anything. Then Sigurdsson volleys over from 20 yards. Everton want to kill this off.
59 min: Mustafi launches a clever ball from deep over the Everton defence, but Lacazette heads straight at Pickford. Everton’s goalkeeper boots clear and Maitland-Niles drops his team-mates in it with a dreadful header back to Leno. The ball comes to Bernard, but Leno is out quickly to deny the Brazilian. On the floor, Bernard manages to dig the ball back to Sigurdsson. He spins and crosses towards Richarlison, but Arsenal clear.
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56 min: A flowing Arsenal counterattack ends with Mkhitaryan sweeping a pass out for an Everton throw.
55 min: Or not. The little Brazilian is on his feet again.
54 min: Sigurdsson’s dipping effort flies high and wide. Meanwhile Bernard is down after an unlucky fall. He might have stretched something.
52 min: The corner comes all the way to Ramsey on the far side of the area. But he has to take a touch before shooting and he’s under pressure as he lets fly with an effort that goes miles wide, much to the amusement of the Everton fans behind the goal.
51 min: Ozil creeps clear down the right, beating Everton’s offside trap, and wins a corner. Arsenal have made a strong start to the second half.
50 min: Gomes, thinking he has too much time in the middle, has his pocket pinched by Ramsey. He responds by bringing the Arsenal midfielder down and picks up a booking for his troubles.
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48 min: Arsenal attack down the right. Aubameyang’s cross causes problems. Pickford’s punch away from Lacazette doesn’t go far enough and the ball comes to Ramsey, who can only volley over the vacant net. That’s Arsenal’s best chance so far.
46 min: Arsenal get the second half underway. Unai Emery has made two changes at the break, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Aaron Ramsey replacing Sead Kolasinac and Mohamed Elneny, both of whom were nonsense.
Half-time: Everton 1-0 Arsenal
The hosts walk in with a deserved lead thanks to Phil Jagielka’s scruffy early goal. Arsenal need to step it up. See you in 15 minutes.
45 min: There will be two added minutes.
42 min: Richarlison bursts clear down the right, Arsenal cut open again, but the Brazilian’s low ball is deflected behind for a corner. He should have done better. There were so many blue shirts to hit in the middle.
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38 min: After a lull, Everton piece together a decent move that ends with Sigurdsson bending a shot straight at Leno from 20 yards.
34 min: Lacazette is down again, this time after colliding with Gomes. There wasn’t much in that.
31 min: Kolasinac puts all his muscles into a cross from the left and launches it into the crowd. Hmm. Arsenal aren’t playing well at all. They’ve been very ineffective in attack. Mkhitaryan and Ozil could do with waking up.
29 min: Calvert-Lewin, who’s putting himself about well, goes to ground again after another coming together with the Arsenal centre-backs. The Everton striker’s pace and willing running has Sokratis and Mustafi rattled. “Arsenal away bingo is playing out nicely - two early bookings, goal down, Ozil twice knocked off the ball, general limpness all round and a middling opposition made to look like Bayern Munich in their pomp,” Charles Antaki says. “Only an own goal and a sending-off missing, but there’s plenty of time.”
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26 min: Gueye has a shot. Throw-in to Arsenal.
25 min: Maitland-Niles cuts in from the right and sees a shot blocked. The ball runs to Sigurdsson, who looks to send Calvert-Lewin away on the break. Sokratis responds by yanking Calvert-Lewin down near the halfway line. Dearie me. A booking for Sokratis means he misses Arsenal’s next two games.
22 min: “Re Zouma’s tackle on Lacazette, I agree it should be punished more often,” Graeme Thorn says. “It’s almost like the defender gets a free shot if the attacker is shooting. Why should a tackle that would a free-kick if the roles were reversed not be penalised?”
21 min: Sokratis booed back on to the pitch by Everton’s fans, who reckon the Greek was playacting.
18 min: Another stoppage, this time so Sokratis can receive treatment after being floored by Gomes. Arsenal can’t afford another defensive injury. Even if Carl Jenkinson is on the bench.
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17 min: Arsenal take the corner short, but they make a hot mess of it. Ozil, hounded by a couple of Everton players, ends up letting the ball run out for a goal-kick. Oh dear. The action moves up the other end and Leno finds himself under pressure from Calvert-Lewin after a poor backpass. The Arsenal goalkeeper ends up booting it out for a throw.
16 min: Mkhitaryan and Kolasinac probe down the left and end up winning a corner for Arsenal, Jagielka conceding it.
15 min: Digne sweeps a magnificent crossfield pass out to Richarlison on the right. Where’s Kolasinac gone? Oh, never mind. Richarlison brings the ball down, but he’s blocked off by Monreal. The move ends with Gomes lashing over from 25 yards. Everton are really up for this.
12 min: This is going to be a big test for Arsenal, whose away form doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in their ability to turn this around. That said, they also conceded first in this fixture last season. Final score: Everton 2-6 Arsenal.
This is such a mess. Lucas Digne, the French Rory Delap, lobs a dangerous long throw into the Arsenal throw from the left. Arsenal react in classic Arsenal style. The ball’s flicked on into the middle. Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin make a nuisance of themselves and the ball drops to Jagielka, six yards out. He wasn’t even supposed to be starting. But he helps himself to a rare goal here, slamming past Leno from close range!
GOAL! Everton 1-0 Arsenal (Jagielka, 10 min)
The veteran gives Everton the lead!
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9 min: Lacazette is also moving more freely now. Arsenal’s main main seems to have shaken off that early knock.
8 min: Digne, back on his feet again, chugs down the left flank and gets Everton up the field. Marco Silva will be relieved to see the influential left-back moving well again.
6 min: No luck for Guendouzi: he’s booked. Worryingly for Everton, Digne is still down. It’s been a combative start. Another look at that Lacazette chance shows that Zouma completely took him out with a ludicrous slide tackle. It could easily have been a penalty. In fact, this angle shows Zouma didn’t even touch the ball. It’s one of those where the attacker doesn’t get the decision because he’s already parted with the ball, but it’s hard to see why that wasn’t a foul and an Arsenal penalty.
5 min: Guendouzi’s already riled the Everton fans, raising their ire by treading on Digne’s foot. The left-back stays down. Guendouzi will be fortunate not to receive a booking.
3 min: Lacazette is receiving treatment when the corner, which comes to nothing, comes in. He might not be able to last much longer. Fortunately Aubameyang is a handy option on the bench.
2 min: Arsenal are on the attack straight away, breaking through the middle, Lacazette sent clear down the left. Jagielka’s been caught out. Lacazette advances on goal, but he’s caught by Zouma as he shoots. Zouma got the ball first and then the man. The deflection takes the ball wide for a corner, but Arsenal will be worried to see Lacazette limping after that challenge.
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Peep! Everton, kicking from right to left in the first half, get the game underway. They’re in blue, Arsenal are in red and white.
The teams are in the tunnel. And here they come! Goodison Park roars. There’s been a late change to the Everton team: Phil Jagielka is in for the unwell Michael Keane.
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Everton are unchanged from last week’s win over West Ham. Bernard, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson are sure to pose problems for their markers.
Arsenal make two changes after last Monday’s win over Newcastle. Mohamed Elneny replaces Aaron Ramsey, who went off with a minor injury against Newcastle, and Alex Iwobi makes way for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. That means there’s there’s a fifth consecutive start for Mesut Ozil - and his first away from home in the league since Boxing Day.
Team news
Everton: Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Zouma, Digne; Gomes, Gueye; Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Bernard; Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Stekelenburg, Baines, Jagielka, Davies, Walcott, Lookman, Tosun.
Arsenal: Leno; Mustafi, Sokratis, Monreal; Maitland-Miles, Guendouzi, Elneny, Kolasinac; Mkhitaryan, Ozil; Lacazette. Subs: Cech, Lichtsteiner, Ramsey, Suarez, Jenkinson, Iwobi, Aubameyang.
Referee: Kevin Friend.
Preamble
Hello. At first glance the task seems quite simple for Arsenal: if they win their final seven games, they’re guaranteed of Champions League qualification for the first time since 2016. In fact, they’ll even finish third if they collect another 21 points, and wouldn’t that be something given what a mess they were last this time last year. Even if we accept that Manchester United were handicapped by having Jose Mourinho in dugout until the middle of December and that Chelsea have struggled to adapt to Maurizio Sarri’s style of football, there’s no denying that things are looking up for Unai Emery as he approaches the end of his first season at Arsenal.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. For while a top-four finish is Arsenal’s to lose, the situation is complicated by their involvement in the Europa League - they play the first leg of their quarter-final against Napoli on Thursday - and, more importantly, by a schedule that means five of their last seven fixtures in the league are away from the Emirates. Uh oh! Arsenal’s away form isn’t good – only one win on the road since November, assuming we’re counting wins against Huddersfield – and they’re likely to end up missing out if they don’t sort it out sharpish. Trips to Leicester, Watford and Wolves later this month are bound to test them and they’re going to have to be at their best here to deal with Everton, whose improving form means they still have a shot of winning the mildly diverting race to finish seventh.
Make no mistake, this is going to be a tough one for Arsenal. Everton looked impressive while swatting West Ham aside last week – most observers judged it the best performance of Marco Silva’s first season in charge – and the chance to win three on the bounce for the first time this season should be a motivating factor for a side who are beginning to grow in confidence and settle into a pleasing groove. It hasn’t always been easy for Silva, who has often railed at his team’s inconsistency. But after a sticky run there are emerging signs of him getting the best out of the enviable talent at his disposal and Everton’s last two home results – a 2-0 win over Chelsea and a 0-0 draw with title-chasing Liverpool – should tell Arsenal all they need to know. This could be a good one.
Kick-off: 2.05pm.
