Arsenal top four hopes suffered a major setback after they suffered a 1-0 loss to Everton in the Premier League encounter between the two sides at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners went into the game knowing a win will take them above rivals Tottenham in the battle for third position. But Phil Jageilka’s early goal in the first half ensured Everton made it three successive wins.
Marco Silva side took the lead ten minutes into the game after Arsenal’s defence failed to deal with a long throw from Luca Digne allowing Jageilka to slot in from close range.
The former England international was only brought into the team as a late replacement for the injured Micheal Keane and it proved to be a masterstroke as he poked in from close range after another Lucas Digne long throw causes carnage in the Arsenal box.
Richarlison threw a leg at it, Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed it towards goal and Jagielka was there to pounce. Unai Emery’s men struggled to create any real chance and should have conceded more than that, but have Bernd Leno thank for making some crucial saves.
Here’s how the Arsenal players rated..
Bernd Leno: The only Arsenal player that had a decent performance, keeping the scoreline respectable. 8
Sokraitis: Struggled to cope with the aerial threat of Calvert Lewin but kept Arsenal in the game with a vital block from Sigurdson’s shot. 6
Shkodran Mustafi; Always an accident to happen. His only notable contribution to the game was receiving a yellow card for a foul on Calvert Lewin. 4
Sead Kolasinac: Misplaced crosses from him and was duly taken off at half-time. 5
Nacho Monreal: Decent going forward, playing in some brilliant crosses.. 7
Henrikh Mkhitaryan: Sloppy in possession, gave away too many balls. 5
Alexandre Lacazette: Couldn’t do much as his supplies was cut off by a fantastic Everton defence- 5
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: Struggled to cope with the pace and creativity of Bernard- 5
Mesut Ozil: Bullied off the ball easily, Lazy attitude- 4
Ozil throwing his coat at Emery after being subbed off ? pic.twitter.com/PFNAi5kQil
— jaap (@utdmfa) April 7, 2019
Aaron Ramsey: Came in as a half-time substitute but couldn’t influence the game. Missed a couple of half chances- 5
Alex Iwobi: Came in for Mesut Ozil but had little influence on the game- 5
Mohamed Elneny: Taken off at half-time for Aaron Ramsey- 4
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Came on at Half-time but final ball was lacking- 5