Arsenal suffered another disappointing result against Everton despite taking the lead
at Goodison Park, it was Demarai Gray’s superb injury-time strike that earned
Everton a first win in nine games to end a bruising week with a stunning comeback
against the Gunners.
A poor quality first half passed largely without incident until Richarlison had a goal
ruled out for offside for the hosts just before the break.
There was still time though for Martin Odegaard to put the Gunners ahead after a
lovely move that culminated in a fine cross from the returning Kieran Tierney.
Arteta’s side really should have then gone on to seize the momentum in the second
half but were far too passive and were given a second warning when Richarlison had
another ruled out for offside.
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Arteta somewhat surprisingly opted to leave both captain Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang and £72million signing Pepe out of the starting XI for the match,
with Gabriel Martinelli and Alexandre Lacazette preferred.
Even more controversially, when Martinelli pulled up with an injury in the 71st
minute, Arteta decided to bring on contract rebel Nketiah to play on the wing ahead
of the more senior options at his disposal.
The 22-year-old, who is expected to leave Arsenal in the summer on a free transfer,
missed a great chance to put the Gunners back ahead when the scores were level but
nodded his header against the post from a yard out.
Many Arsenal fans felt either Pepe – who has only played five minutes in the last
seven Premier League games – or Aubameyang would have buried the chance,
but Arteta defended his decision afterwards.
Asked why Pepe has not been involved as much recently, Arteta replied bluntly at
his post-match press conference: ‘Because I decided to play Eddie today, to bring
him on.
