Everton vs Arsenal: Five Talking Points

By Oli Dickson Jefford

Arsenal slumped to a third defeat in four league matches with a 2-1 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park on Monday.

Martin Odegaard gave Arsenal the lead just before half-time but Richarlison equalised before a stunning finish from Demarai Gray in the 92nd minute sealed three points for the Toffees.

Everton had not won in the league since September meaning this result eases some pressure on Rafa Benitez, but there will be some serious questions asked of the Gunners.

We take a look at five of the biggest talking points of last night’s encounter on Merseyside.

Should Godfrey have been sent off?

Everton dominated most of the match, but would things have been different had Ben Godfrey been sent off?

One of Everton’s most criticised players this season, Godfrey appeared to stamp on the side of Takehiro Tomiyasu’s face in an incident that led to a VAR check.

The check cleared the defender but the incident provoked a strong reaction, with Sky Sports’ Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher accusing him of doing it deliberately.

We’ll never know how the match would have panned out if the 23-year-old had been sent off, but if the Toffees were down to ten men it is unlikely they would have dominated in quite the same way.

This might be a decision that irritates the Gunners for a while yet.

Arteta back under pressure

After three poor defeats to start the season, pressure had lifted on Arteta after a strong run in the league which saw his side pushing for fourth in the table.

However, the only team they’ve managed to beat in their last four matches is Newcastle, who sit near the bottom of the table.

Defeats to Liverpool, Man Utd and now Everton highlight just how far Arsenal need to go to be regular European contenders once again and questions are now arising as to whether Arteta is capable of leading that change.

This match had worrying echoes to those early losses to Brentford, Man City and Chelsea; a lack of defensive organisation, a lack of identity and an unwillingness to make crucial tackles.

If Arsenal fail to get positive results soon, the response to Arteta might get ugly.

Defenders failed to respond to Richarlison threat

Fans will be incredibly frustrated as to how easily Richarlison was able to repeatedly penetrate Arsenal’s back line.

The scoresheet shows that he scored one late on, but he had two efforts before that were disallowed after he was judged to be offside.

These were not blatant offside decisions; they were marginal decisions that required VAR intervention and would have been given in the pre-VAR age. 

The Brazilian striker was unlucky not to score more and was a standout performer, though he was allowed too much time and space by some of Arsenal’s defenders.

After a run of strong defensive performances, nine goals conceded in four matches will frustrate Arteta.

Tierney return a welcome boost

One of the few positives from last night’s match was the return of Kieran Tierney, who made his first appearance in over a month and a half as he returned from injury.

Defensively it was not a great night for Arsenal, though Tierney was their best performer and his return will give hope to Arteta and his coaching staff that this form can turn around.

The Scot looked strong when defending and attacking, and he could be a crucial part of Arsenal’s season looking ahead.

His importance was highlighted by Nuno Tavares' poor display when replacing him, with the Portuguese looking sloppy on the ball and playing a role in Everton’s two goals.

Having spent a significant amount of time on the sidelines since joining from Celtic, fans will be praying that Tierney stays fit for the foreseeable future.

Same players, same mistakes

It is fair to say that this was an all-round weak performance from the Gunners with perhaps Tierney, Tomiyasu and Aaron Ramsdale the only three who showed some positivity.

What was most irritating was that many players are making the same mistakes as they have throughout the season or throughout their time at Arsenal.

Perhaps the biggest offender was Granit Xhaka, who was sloppy in his passing and unable to put in too many tackles after an early yellow card put him at risk of being sent off.

However the likes of Benjamin White, Thomas Partey and Odegaard - goal aside - were all sloppy and reverted back to playing football with a real lack of conviction or confidence.

Arsenal host Southampton at the Emirates on Saturday, and a strong response is required.