Everton vs Arsenal result: Five things we learned as Phil Jagielka goal dents visitor’s top four hopes
Arsenal failed to move back ahead of north London rivals Tottenham after an early goal from Jagielka
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Your support makes all the difference.Everton beat Arsenal 1-0 in the Premier League on Sunday as the Gunners missed out on a chance to move back ahead of north London rivals Tottenham and into third in the Premier League table.
Arsenal have struggled on the road this season and conceded a goal almost immediately, with Phil Jagielka taking advantage of a defensive mix-up to stab home from close range.
Unai Emery rolled the dice at half-time with a double substitution, but Arsenal never came particularly close to an equaliser with Everton spurning numerous opportunities to extend their lead.
The result leaves Arsenal in fourth only on goal difference, while Everton climb ahead of FA Cup semi-finalists Watford into ninth.
Here are five things we learned from the match.
Arsenal lost Champions League advantage
Arsenal’s Champions League fate is still in their own hands – but only just. Last week’s win over Newcastle saw the club move into third, two points ahead of Tottenham, but now they are back behind their north London rivals, level on points with Chelsea.
Unai Emery seriously needs to address the club’s away form. They have been poor on the road and are yet to keep a clean sheet in an away match this season, and still face four away days before the end of the season. Given how close the race for the top four is, they can ill afford another underwhelming result like this.
Everton stake claim for best of rest
Everton continued their good run of form with today’s win over Arsenal. They have lost just one of their last six league matches, and have now beaten both Arsenal and Chelsea – as well as drawing with Liverpool – in the last month.
Their good form has come at just the right time for Marco Silva. The club suffered a dismal February, losing three consecutive matches to drop to ninth, with speculation that the Portuguese manager could be sacked. But this was another result to suggest that they are the best team outside of the top six – next season they need to reproduce this kind of performance with far more consistency.
Jagielka an outstanding late replacement
36-year-old Phil Jagielka hadn’t even been supposed to start the match. Named as a substitute, the veteran defender was only parachuted into Everton’s starting XI as a result of Michael Keane’s untimely illness, just moments before kick-off.
It didn’t take Jagielka very long to make his mark. Lucas Digne’s long throw caused Arsenal’s defence to implode, with Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin colliding and Jagielka on hand to poke the ball home from six yards out.
Elneny experiment backfires
With significant fixtures in both the league and Europe coming thick and fast, Emery needs to be careful not to overuse any of his first-team regulars. And so while the inclusion of Mohamed Elneny in midfield came as a surprise, it was at least an understandable one.
However the Egyptian was desperately poor in the first-half, repeatedly running into Mattéo Guendouzi and producing little of note when in possession of the ball. He was eventually hauled off at the break for Aaron Ramsey, his sub-par performance evidence of the risks of rotating a settled, winning squad.
Emery exasperation with Maitland-Niles
21-year-old Ainsley Maitland-Niles has done brilliantly ever since Héctor Bellerín was ruled out for the remainder of the season, performing well in an unfamiliar position at right wing-back.
But the youngster struggled today. He struggled to keep hold of the ball – giving away possession eight times, more than any other player on the pitch – and Everton frequently exploited the space behind him. In the second-half Emery repeatedly lost his cool, bellowing out instructions to the youngster, furiously indicating where he needed to be on the pitch.
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