Everton 3-0 Arsenal
PEEP! PEEP! PEEEEP!
90 min + 3 Sanogo is, perhaps harshly, ruled offside as he sticks the ball past Howard. The final whistle is at Atkinson's lips.
90 min + 1 There are three additional minutes of this.
90 min An irate Mikel Arteta races over to confront Ross Barkley after the youngster shoves him to the ground. Arteta's booked.
88 min Arsenal are putting up some fight in these final minutes. Seamus Coleman throws himself in front of another Oxlade-Chamberlain drive, and Arsenal have a corner. Which leads to a second corner.
86 min Crossbar! Oxlade-Chamberlain thunders a shot past a flailing Tim Howard, but it cannons back off the bar.
85 min Oxlade-Chamberlain goes sprawling in the Everton area after a minor brush from Gareth Barry. Martin Atkinson isn't impressed.
84 min This game could really be seen out purely with interchanging close-up shots of Arsene Wenger and Bill Kenwright. As it is, we must watch Arsenal continuing to huff and puff somewhere in the vague vicinity of the impregnable Everton house.
80 min Everton are bringing on Aiden McGeady for Naismith, who gets a rousing (and quite deserved) ovation from the home fans.
76 min If I was actually trying to keep count, I'd have lost count of the times Everton have sauntered through Arsenal's midfield. The Gunners do find a rare opening, but Sanogo's offside and his finish is, well, awful.
74 min Full marks to Sky's Alan Parry for his delivery of the word "oozing" there, re Everton's confidence.
72 min The assistant's flag goes up against Stones as he nods a cross into Lukaku's path. Szczesny saves his header regardless.
70 min Sanogo is on for a rather defeated-looking Giroud.
68 min The Goodison faithful are thoroughly enjoying this. The olés are out as Everton pass the ball around.
65 min The Everton midfield knife slices through Arsenal's demoralised butter yet again, but Barkley's cross has too much on it. Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are on for Flamini and Podolski, meanwhile.
63 min Everton, not just smelling blood but bathing in it, go close again. Barkley slams a low shot into Szczesny's gloves.
61 min GoalGOAL! Everton 3-0 Arsenal (Arteta og) Szczesny races out to stop an onrushing Naismith. The ball falls to Kevin Mirallas, about 12 yards out, and his scuffed finish bobbles into the net via an unfortunate Mikel Arteta. That, surely, is that.
60 min Lukaku is sent through again, but an alert Vermaelen is over to slide across and deal with the danger. Arsenal are preparing changes...
57 min Just as in the first half, Everton are sweeping up every loose ball in midfield with ease. But, then, McCarthy gives away a free-kick midway into the Everton half. Arsenal take it short and eventually force a corner. It comes to nothing.
53 min Mirallas, deep in his own half, goes wandering into the Everton box with the ball, causing a bit of a panic. Everton smother the danger and eventually win a free-kick, but Martinez won't appreciate such sloppiness.
49 min A spell of pressure from Arsenal, featuring a Monreal cross that flashes across the Everton six-yard box and then, from a Cazorla delivery, a half-hearted handball appeal. Nothing doing.
46 min No changes for Arsenal, which is a bit of a surprise.
HALF TIME
Roberto Martinez's gameplan played out to the letter, that was. Everton were busier, hungrier (whatever that means) and much more effective. Naismith was a nuisance up front throughout the first half before his opener, before Lukaku got going and added a thumping second.
Arsenal are trying to pick holes in the massed Everton ranks, but it's far too slow and predictable. Wenger will almost certainly change things at half-time and you'd expect some sort of response from his side in the second half.
45 min + 2 Sky's Alan Smith says Arsenal have been "out-thought, out-fought and out-played", which is a rare hat-trick of "outs". They normally come in rhyming pairs.
45 min + 1 Two minutes to be added on in this first half.
44 min Another spell of banging their collective head against the Everton brick wall breaks down for Arsenal, and ends in a rash Flamini tackle for his customary yellow card.
40 min A promising moment for Arsenal. Podolski slams a shot into the ground and up, forcing Howard to tip it over. Arsenal waste the corner, leadin to another close-up of an increasingly flustered Wenger on the bench.
37 min Everton are going about this perfectly. Another Arsenal attack peters out amid a sea of blue shirts, and Barkley launches yet another counter attack. Lukaku then tries another left-foot hammer blow, but it flies wide. Barkley has been superb since he joined the fray to replace the stricken Osman.
34 min GoalGOAL! Everton 2-0 Arsenal (Lukaku) Oh my word. Romelu Lukaku gallops towards the Arsenal area, cuts onto his left foot, and batters it into the far corner. Drogba comparisons are inevitable, but that was like Drogba on fast-forward.
33 min Arsenal win a corner, and there's a semi-almighty scramble in the Everton box. It's hoofed away eventually, but that was probably Everton's shakiest moment thus far.
30 min A flowing Everton move leads to Barkley having two attempts blocked. From the resultant corner, Szczesny again has to deal with a dangerous shot, this time from Kevin Mirallas.
27 min Flamini sends another Arsenal pass out of play and Wenger responds by angrily putting on his coat. Yes, that coat.
23 min Podolski sends Monreal flying down the left, but his cross evades everybody. Everton sweep up the other end and Szczesny is again called into action. It's a little untidy, mainly from Arsenal, but there's still some ebb and (indeed) flow to this game.
20 min A McCarthy cross is drilled into the area, and somebody's toe gets on the end of it. Luckily for Arsenal, it ends up in Szczesny's grateful hands.
18 min Everton's tails are understandably up, and Baines forces a corner. Mirallas takes it but, for reasons I can never fathom, overhits it completely and it drifts out of play to general groans.
14 min GoalGOAL! Everton 1-0 Arsenal (Naismith) Lukaku is played through, in the centre of the Arsenal box. Szczesny saves his shot with his feet, but the rebound falls perfectly for Naismith, who tucks it home. The cat is among the 4th Place pigeons.
13 min Wenger's looking very annoyed on the touchline, mainly because Naismith has just piled into Vermaelen after the ball had gone. He's lucky to escape a booking, perhaps.
12 min Kevin Mirallas links up beautifully with Leighton Baines in the box, but the assistant's flag comes to Arsenal's rescue.
11 min Flamini stings Tim Howard's palms with a 20-ish-yard drive, which the American gathers at the second attempt. Decent start, this.
9 min Osman's game is prematurely ended, in fact, so on comes Ross Barkley, clutching a huge copy of a script with picture of Wayne Rooney c.2002 on the front cover.
7 min Everton suddenly swarm into the Arsenal box. Naismith fails to find Lukaku, before a testing cross is just about cleared. Leon Osman is now down on the touchline, sporting at least two injuries, including a cut head. And he's also booked for his troubles, after a tackle with Sagna.
5 min Arsenal, in their own half at least, are settling into their usual passing rhythm. Everton are all over them whenever they threaten an advance, though. Podolski attempts a thumper from distance, but it dribbles well wide.
2 min Close! Leon Osman welts a dipping volley just past Szczesny's left-hand post. It was very Joe-Cole-versus-Sweden-2006, except for the going-into-the-net bit.
1 min They're off and under way at Goodison Park. Everton immediately start playing it around cutely at the back.
12.54 The teams are in:
Everton: Howard, Baines, Distin, Stones, Coleman, McCarthy, Barry, Osman (c), Naismith, Mirallas, Lukaku.
Subs: Robles, Hibbert, McGeady, Deulofeu, Barkley, Garbutt, Alcaraz.
Arsenal: Szczesny, Monreal, Vermaelen (c), Mertesacker, Sagna, Flamini, Arteta, Rosicky, Podolski, Cazorla, Giroud
Subs: Viviano, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Sanogo, Jenkinson, Kallstrom, Bellerin
12.42 Good afternoon, everybody. Today's first Premier League game will likely prove a vital twist in The Race for Fourth. Should there be a trophy for it, perhaps? What sort of trophy would it be? Maybe it would be a mere vase.
Anyway, Roberto Martinez's Everton are poised in fifth place in the table, four points behind today's visitors Arsenal and with a game in hand. Missing out on the Champions League, after leading the table for much of the first half of the season, would be unthinkable for the Gunners.
Arsene Wenger wondered before this game if hair-regrowth medication may be behind his squad's perpetual injury crisis. Certainly, the Premi
er League's injury table is one that Arsenal seem to dominate with perennial ease.
Upon his arrival as Everton manager, Roberto Martinez's first words to theatre empresario Bill Kenwright (as I am legally obliged to refer to him) were reportedly "I will get you into the Champions League". They've gatecrashed the top 4 once before, in 2005, and Arsenal would be the victims if they manage to repeat the feat.
Here's John Ley's match preview:Saturday, April 5, 2014
Team NewsEverton captain Phil Jagielka and midfielder Steven Pienaar will both miss the visit of Arsenal on Sunday.
Jagielka has been absent for six matches and will not return until manager Roberto Martinez is sure he is 100 per cent while Pienaar has sat out four games.
Midfielder Ross Barkley should be available after coming off against Fulham last weekend.
Meanwhile, Arsenal will have midfielder Aaron Ramsey back in the squad for the first time this year following a thigh injury, at Everton on Sunday.
Fullback Kieran Gibbs is a doubt, but Nacho Monreal should be available, while centre half Laurent Koscielny and midfielder Serge Gnabry are out.
Germany international Mesut Özil remains sidelined, alongside Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby.
Match NotesArsenal might have expected a Merseyside challenge to their Champions League place at the start of this season, but it is unlikely they will have considered they would be going head-to-head with Everton in what amounts to a fourth place shoot-out.
Arsène Wenger still harboured title aspirations a fortnight ago, but defeat at Goodison would support Roberto Martínez’s claims it is his side with the momentum.
This is Everton’s biggest league game since they were fourth in 2005.
Stat of the game: Everton’s 60 points is their best ever return after 31 Premier League games.
