Arsenal lost a glaring opportunity to move to the top of the table and above fierce rivals, Chelsea, as a physically dominating Everton side kept their spirits high to come with a late winner at Goodison Park after trailing by one goal, in the first 20 minutes.
Although Arsenal’s defending wasn’t quite up to the mark on the night, Mark Clattenburg’s horrible refereeing made sure the rest. Two wrong decisions that were game changing favoured the Merseyside club, who although dominated most of the match, but didn’t look dangerous until the final stages of the game.
Here are the Arsenal player ratings from the match.
Cech (7.5/10) – He was called to action heavily in the later stages of the second half. Had a brilliant save to keep out Jagielka’s shot and was one of the main reason why Arsenal were in the game until the last minute.
Monreal (8/10) – He had a decent game. He looked quite dangerous on the ball when he was running up the flanks and his pace was quite difficult at times to handle for Coleman. He did his defensive job well though lacked a bit of conviction in the ending stages.
Koscielny (8.5/10) – The captain had a solid game once again. He was easily the best Arsenal player on the pitch, completely shutting down every Everton attack down the centre.
Gabriel (8/10) – It would be wrong to say he was as efficient as Mustafi, but the Brazilian stuck with Lukaku throughout the game and has improved his defending a lot since last season.
Bellerin (7.5/10) – He had his moments occasionally throughout the game but is not quite 100% fit yet. But he closed down Lennon most of the times and made it difficult for the Everton forwards.
Xhaka (8/10) – The Swiss midfielder was the midfield hub for the team once again but his delicious long passes had no one in the other end to make things happen.
Coquelin (7.5/10)- Except few clumsy fouls that gave away possession at dangerous positions, the defensive midfielder looked sharp in his tackles and made some wonderful piercing passes.
Ozil (4/10) – Except for the first 20 minutes, when Everton let Arsenal play their game, the German was horrible. His defending and scoring prowess went for a toss on a night the team needed him the most. The goal he missed was unmissable and it was reluctant defending that cost Arsenal the match. He has often slept in big matches and if he is asking 300k for this display, Arsenal might as well dispose of him off.
Chamberlain (7.5/10) – He was seriously fast at times. The Everton side backs found it very difficult to stop him. But, he could not make anything happen up front.
Walcott (6/10) – His maddening inconsistency continues this season. He was invisible for most of the match. Hardly looked a threat.
Alexis (8.5/10) – The Chilean did his job pretty well. Although he was quite fortunate to get the goal he might have gotten more if he had got a bit of help from Walcott and Ozil.
