Arsenal missed the chance to return to the top of the Premier League standings, after going down to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Everton at Goodison Park on Tuesday night.
Despite taking the lead midway through the first half through Alexis Sanchez, and arguably being the better side for the better part of the contest, Arsenal were guilty of not taking their chances, and were made to regret their inefficiency in front of goal as two headers from Everton defenders - Seamus Coleman and Ashley Williams - late in either half earned Everton a much needed win.
Arsenal were the better side for much of the first half and took the lead in the 20th minute when Ashley Williams inadvertently diverted Alexis Sanchez's low freekick into his own net. The freekick came as a result of some awful defending by Everton with Francis Coquelin barged off the ball after Everton had go their players in quite a tangle. Sanchez's effort was on target, but probably wouldn't have beaten Maarten Stekelenburg in the Everton goal, but Williams' deflection left the Dutch keeper going the wrong way.
Arsenal had chances to double their lead with Mesut Ozil, who has been in excellent form this season, guilty of missing two gilt edged chances - one in either half.
Arsenal were made to pay for not making the most of their opportunities as their old weaknesses in the air came back to haunt them. A minute before the end of the first half, Seamus Coleman nodded Everton level, rising unmarked to meet Leighton Baines' freekick as Arsenal got sloppy just when they should have been concentrating hardest.
The Gunners started the second half on the front foot and it looked just a matter of time before they would retake the lead. However, Ozil was once again wasteful in front of goal, and Arsenal just didn't get enough efforts on target.
Back up the other end, Everton grew in confidence as the match wore on and looked for a winning goal themselves. The Toffees came close through Ross Barkley, whose shot whizzed past the post after he latched onto Romelu Lukaku's knock down. Lukaku had been threatening on the break all game, but his final ball had been lacking.
Everton appeared to be slightly fortunate to win a corner from Leighton Baines' freekick heading into the last 5 minutes. Petr Cech made an excellent save to deny Phil Jagielka from scoring the match-winner, saving sharply to high left.
The following corner though from Barkley was met by an unmarked Ashley Williams, and for the second season in a row, the Welsh defender celebrated scoring what proved to be the match winner against the Gunners.
Arsenal pressed on looking for a late equalizer, and saw a couple of shots cleared off the line from Monreal and Iwobi as Everton defended with 10-men after Jagielka had been sent off for picking up a second yellow card in injury time.
The defeat comes as a huge blow to Arsenal's title aspirations as the Gunners continue to have some tough fixtures this month, a trip to Manchester to take on City next on their agenda, while Everton can do Arsenal a favour by taking some points off their next opponents, Liverpool!
The result means that Chelsea can open up a 6 point lead over the chasing pack with a win against bottom of the league Sunderland, tomorrow.
Teams:
Everton: Stekelenburg, Coleman, Jagielka, Williams, Baines, McCarthy (Funes Mori 90'), Gueye, Barkley, Lennon (Mirallas 68'), Lukaku, E Valencia (Calvert-Lewin 79')
Subs: Robles, Deulofeu, Mirallas, Cleverley, Funes Mori, Calvert-Lewin, Holgate
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerín, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin (Perez 87'), Xhaka, Walcott (Giroud 71'), Özil, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Iwobi 71'), Sánchez
Subs: Gibbs, Pérez, Giroud, Ospina, Holding, Iwobi, Elneny
Final Score: Everton 2-1 Arsenal (Sanchez 20', Coleman 44', Williams 86')
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