It’s a defeat that could count at the very end of the championship. Arsenal, who had a five-point lead before the 22nd day of the Premier League over Manchester City, fell, to everyone’s surprise, to Everton (0-1). The Toffees, nineteenth before the meeting, were able to count on the arrival of their new coach Sean Dyche to counter the Gunners’ unbeaten streak that had been running since September.
Unrecognizable, the men of Mikel Arteta collided with the very dense midfield of Everton composed of the former Parisian Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana, and Abdoulaye Doucouré. Symbol of this meeting, Martin Odegaard, impressive this season, was completely missed. First in the 58th minute by missing a big chance, before dropping the mark in his own penalty area two minutes later. It was James Tarkowski, from a corner, who took the opportunity to score the only goal of the game (0-1), and deliver Goodison Park.
The entry, at the end of the match, of the two winter transfer window recruits Leandro Trossard and Jorginho did not have the desired effect. With 50 points, Arsenal is still leading the English championship but can see its great rival Manchester City come back to two points, in the event of victory this Sunday on the lawn of Tottenham (5:30 p.m.). For its part, Everton remains in the red zone in eighteenth position, but stops a series of four consecutive defeats. This is also the effect of Sean Dyche, who replaced Franck Lampard on the Toffees bench.