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In Sunday’s early kick-off, an under-pressure Everton team welcomed a wounded Arsenal side to Goodison Park. What followed was a match consisting of great entertainment for the neutrals.
In the end, Arsenal ran out 5-2 winners as goals from Alexis Sánchez, Mesut Özil, Aaron Ramsey, Nacho Monreal and Alexandre Lacazette gave the Gunners all three points. However, the defeat means Everton slip into the bottom three for the first time this season, ensuring Ronad Koeman’s job security hits an all-time low.
Here’s how the players on either side rated:
Everton:
Jordan Pickford: 7/10
The cliché that every keeper playing against Arsenal turns into Manuel Neuer is tiresome but for Jordan Pickford today, it was true. The 23-year-old was Everton’s best player as he saved the Toffees from an even more embarrassing scoreline. Pickford made 8 saves and had to clear his goal 3 times. With a different keeper in goal, Arsenal could have easily scored seven at Goodison Park.
Michael Keane: 5/10
The former Burnley man looked out of depth against the Gunners. It’s clear that Everton don’t possess the same defensive organisation as the Clarets and Michael Keane has suffered because of it. He looked out of place, uncomfortable and was rash in his decision-making.
Phil Jagielka: 5/10
In the middle of the defence, Phil Jagielka felt the full force of Arsenal’s attacking prowess. The final third runs of Aaron Ramsey kept taking him unaware and led to the Englishman being overrun all game.
Ashley Williams: 5/10
Much like his fellow defenders, Ashley Williams was absolutely ripped apart by the Arsenal attack. The Gunners simply toyed with him at times and his tendency to fly into tackles worked against him, as the likes of Sánchez & Özil just played tiki-taka around his outstretched legs.
Idrissa Gueye: 6.5/10
If Idrissa Gueye hadn’t had got himself sent off, it could have been a stellar afternoon for him. The Senegalese midfielder was relentless in his off the ball pressing of Arsenal and constantly entered himself into duels.
In his time on the pitch, Gueye won 67% of his tackles, made 1 interception and made 3 clearances. He was Everton’s only hope of salvaging anything from the game defensively.
Jonjoe Kenny: 4/10
The 20-year-old failed to make an impact on the game, as he was constantly dragged back by Alexis Sánchez, rendering him useless in attack.
Nikola Vlaši?: 6/10
In his 5th league game for the club, Vlaši? showed signs of becoming a pivotal player for the Toffees. The Croatian continuously tried to make things happen by driving forward with the ball but his efforts were in vain as nobody else was on his wavelength.
Gylfi Sigurdsson: 5/10
The former Swansea playmaker was invisible for Everton today. Usually known for his vision and brilliant set pieces, Sigurdsson looked a shell of himself as he failed to create any chances throughout the 90 minutes.
Leighton Baines: 5/10
Not only did the wing-back have to track Mesut Özil, he had to deal with the constant overlaps of Héctor Bellerín. Because of that, Baines couldn’t go forward as much has he wanted, but in defence, he wasn’t much help either.
Wayne Rooney: 6/10
Some things never change, 15 years after scoring his debut PL goal against Arsenal, he scores his 203rd Premier League goal against them. The 25-yard strike was Rooney’s 15th PL goal he’s scored against Arsenal over the years, he hasn’t scored more goals against anyone else. However, despite that wonderful strike, the Evertonian didn’t do much at all to hurt Arsenal.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin: 5.5/10
The youngster made a few promising runs in behind the Arsenal defence, but they weren’t enough to trouble the Gunners.
Substitutes:
Tom Davies: 5/10
The robust midfielder came on at half time as Ronald Koeman tried a switch in formation. However, Davies couldn’t do much to stop Arsenal from creating as they pleased.
Ademola Lookman: 6/10
The Nigerian youngster was lively in his few minutes on the pitch, but he came on too late to really affect the game.
Oumar Niasse: 6/10
Niasse was able to capitalise on a defensive mix-up between Petr Cech and Nacho Monreal to score his 3rd goal in 4 league appearances. His tap-in made the scoreline more respectable but his little cameo wasn’t that effective.
Arsenal:
Petr Cech: 5/10
Error-prone, ponderous and timid, are all three traits any great keeper shouldn’t have. However, Petr Cech displayed all those attributes at Goodison Park. The once great keeper made error after error and didn’t look like saving anything. He gives the fans and players no confidence whatsoever and his costly mistake in the last minute only re-enforces that.
Héctor Bellerín: 6.5/10
Héctor Bellerín presented himself as an ever-present option wide on the right. He tormented Leighton Baines and in defence, he was never found lacking either. The wing-back was influential both offensively and defensively.
Laurent Koscielny: 6/10
The French defender is meant to galvanise his teammates by giving them the reassurance of defensive solidity, instead, he also looked like a bag of nerves in the first half. In the end, the Frenchman’s true quality shone through as he even contributed effectively to Arsenal’s build-up play.
Per Mertesacker: 5/10
It was a poor start from Per Mertesacker as his hesitancy to close down Wayne Rooney led to the opening goal of the game. However, from then on the German didn’t put a foot wrong as he steered the back three through.
Nacho Monreal: 7/10
The Spaniard was Arsenal’s only defender who showed any heart or desire at the back. He got into the faces of the aggressive Everton players and matched them stride for stride. The full-back also showed great desire to be the first to react to a parried Granit Xhaka shot. The Spaniard has now scored 2 goals in a season for the first time ever.
Sead Kolašinac: 5.5/10
The Bosnian had a relatively quiet game in comparison to his Spanish compatriot. His enthusiasm to get forward was admirable but he didn’t offer anything worthwhile in attack.
Granit Xhaka: 5/10
If this was a one-time thing it could be forgiven, but a week after costing his team the game, Xhaka nearly did the same thing at Goodison Park. Wayne Rooney’s stunning opener wouldn’t have happened if Xhaka hadn’t had taken an age on the ball before getting tackled. The Swiss international showed great naivety for that goal and that lapse in concentration seemed to affect him for the rest of the game.
Aaron Ramsey: 7/10
If his teammates had been on the same page as him, Aaron Ramsey could have bagged himself a hat-trick today. There were several times where the Welshman found himself free in the final third, but instead, his teammates, most notably Alexis, kept ignoring him.
However, the 26-year-old did not allow that to deter him as he kept on making surging attacking runs, allowing Arsenal to dominate Everton from start to finish, eventually getting his well-deserved goal.
Alexis Sánchez: 6.5/10
The Chilean’s tireless work rate seemed to inject a spurt of life into his teammates. Sánchez was everywhere in the final third, doing his best to make things. His movement wreaked havoc in Everton’s box and his constant attempts on goal kept Jordan Pickford ever so busy. In the end, the Chilean got a goal that his work rate deserved.
Mesut Özil: 9/10
What can we say about the former world cup winner? Mesut Özil was simply amazing against Everton, he ran the show from the first minute and reminded everyone why he’s so important to Arsène Wenger’s attacking plans.
The German created an incredible 8 chances throughout the game, provided 1 assist and on top of that, he scored a game-changing goal in the 53rd minute.
Alexandre Lacazette: 6.5/10
After a frustrating 70 minutes, Alexandre Lacazette finally got the goal he desperately craved as Mesut Özil squared the ball to him in the 73rd minute. Before that goal, the Frenchman cut a frustrated figure struggling to get into the game, but in the end, he settled the game for the Gunners.
Substitutions:
Jack Wilshere: 6.5/10
The Englishman has gradually been receiving more & more minutes this season. His three Europa League starts have clearly impressed the boss and today he was allowed 18 minutes to work his magic. And that’s exactly what he did, Wilshere completed 15 passes and provided 1 assist in that time.
Francis Coquelin: 6/10
The Frenchman came on to sure up the game and shield the midfield. He did that and allowed Jack Wilshere & Aaron Ramsey to freely roam forward.
