Everton were unable to make their first-half superiority tell against Arsenal and were beaten by two goals inside three second-half minutes.
The Blues created a slew of opportunities before the break and, in spells, sliced through the hosts at will. Unai Emery's team improved after the break, however, and led when Alexandre Lacazette thundered in a shot on 56 minutes.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had drifted offside when he converted three minutes later but the goal stood and left Everton 2-0 down and with a mountain to climb against a side which has been beaten only by Manchester City in 11 home games.
The first half started and finished with Petr Cech denying Everton to keep the game scoreless.
Arsenal goalkeeper Cech applied his fingertips to push over Richarlison’s rising drive after a quite brilliant Blues’ counter shortly before the break. Striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin dropped deep to play a precise ball infield from the right for Gylfi Sigurdsson.
He kept play moving to the left with a raking ball for Theo Walcott, who found Richarlison.
With Hector Bellrein backing off, Richarlison drove forward and shifted the ball onto his left foot before letting fly with an effort Cech tipped over from underneath his bar.
Moments earlier, Aubameyang’s hopeful cross from the left had dipped wickedly to strike Jordan Pickford’s bar. Had the ball landed in the net it would have been rough justice on the Blues who were quickest out the traps of the two teams.
Arsenal pair Nacho Monreal and Sokratis got themselves in a muddle trying to play a high line inside the opening two minutes. Calvert-Lewin exploited the defensive indecision to scamper on to Tom Davies’ threaded ball and leave Sokratis trailing, only to be denied by Cech, rushing from his line to save at the striker’s feet.
That hesitancy in the home ranks set the early tone, with Everton pushed up high and hurrying their hosts. If Arsenal were untidy to begin with, though, there was plenty of fluency in the way they poured forward to test Pickford on 12 minutes.
Bellerin sprinted onto Granit Xhaka’s pass down the right to deliver a cross which the stretching Michael Keane could only help across the box.
Aubameyang cushioned the ball back in first time, enabling Monreal to fire low at goal and force Pickford into a plunging stop down to his left.
Richarlison’s power was too much for Bellerin on 21 minutes when the Brazilian escaped Arsenal’s Spanish right-back to drive across the box and draw another stop from Cech, palming the ball away to his left.
Lucas Torreira was the next home player left chasing Richarlison’s shadow, the diminutive Uruguayan unable to get near Everton’s forceful winger as he received a pass from Lucas Digne and spun to try a shot which evoked memories of his delicious opening-day effort at Wolves.
On this occasion, however, Richarlison’s deft, right-footed shot across goal skipped a foot past the post.
Lucas Digne’s free-kick was diverted off target by a leaping Cech after Walcott’s hounding of Shkodran Mustafi and subsequent direct running ended with him being brought down by a flailing Sokrtais.
Cech was swiftly called on again when Sigurdsson’s nimble footwork took him clear of Monreal. The Icelander promptly fed Walcott whose movement had carried him in behind the Gunners’ backline – but not Cech, who was out rapidly to save with his left foot.
The best of it for Arsenal before the interval came when Ozil manufactured some space for himself on the left of the box and crossed in the direction of Aaron Ramsey. Keane, though, recovered exceptionally well to slide in and divert the ball out of Welshman Ramsey’s path.
Ramsey slapped a volley into Pickford’s midriff minutes after the restart but it was still Everton asking most of the questions.
Keane headed off target from a Sigurdsson delivery, while Granit Xhaka’s cool chest back to Cech, with Walcott poised to meet a delivery from Digne, belied the gravity of the situation.
Lacazette’s strike on 56 minutes, then, came as an absolute hammer blow. Aubameyang’s effort three minutes later was even more cruel, given the forward was stood offside when he received possession.
The build up to Arsenal’s first goal was scruffy, with Torreira first to a loose ball, which he turned forwards to Ramsey. He picked out Lacazette to his left, with the Frenchman switching the ball onto his right foot and sending an explosive shot across goal and in off the far post.
Aubameyang then took advantage after Ozil has broken free down the right to cross for Ramsey, who slipped as he unwittingly nudged play on to the offside forward. With no sign of a flag, however, the Gabonese stroked the ball home.
Keane would have halved the deficit on 71 minutes when he glanced on a Sigurdsson free-kick from the left were it not for Cech’s sharp reflexes. Substitute Bernard then dribbled infield to set up Sigurdsson for a shot which deflected over.
Another substitute, Cenk Tosun, brought one more save out of Cech and Digne sprinted to the byline and sent a cross into the frame of the goal.
But Everton were left to rue three minutes which ultimately defined this match.
Press GangMarco Silva promised Everton would not compromise on their progressive ideals simply because they were running into one of the Premier League’s stronger sides.
The match was fewer than two minutes old when the manager’s statement of intent was embodied on the pitch.
With the ball set to alight with Tom Davies in the middle of the park, Dominic Calvert-Lewin was already on his bike. Davies’ clipped first-time pass was perfect, sending Calvert-Lewin away, with chasing duo Sokratis and Nacho Monreal condemned to watching and crossing their fingers.
Petr Cech rode to the rescue but Everton were plainly emboldened by their early incursion. They tackled their task without the ball – to hassle and close an Arsenal team which is undergoing a transformation in style – with overt relish.
This wasn’t thoughtless chasing from Everton, it was controlled and concerted pressing designed to claim possession in dangerous areas of the pitch.
It worked a treat when Theo Walcott surprised Shkrodan Mustafi, converting Arsenal possession into a promising free-kick for the Blues in the time it took to rob the German and leave Sokratis resorting to foul means to stop the Everton man.
The Toffees’ gameplan wasn’t hatched purely with attacking menace in mind. By engaging deep-lying midfielder Lucas Torreira when he had the ball – Gylfi Sigurdsson typically the man charged with this job – Everton stifled the Gunners’ creativity at source.
For the most part, they slowed up what is a notoriously brisk attacking unit, too. Mesut Ozil cut a frustrated figure whenever he was forced to turn back to his own goal, with Idrissa Gana Gueye closing off the German’s passing options. It needed something special from Lacazette to
Winging ItRicharlison’s availability following a three-match ban enabled Marco Silva to revert to the attacking trio which so excelled in Everton’s opening two games of the campaign.
Gylfi Sigurdsson was the creative hub in the middle, adeptly mixing short and long passing to send his widemen on the offensive.
By the time Sigurdsson and Theo Walcott combined to release Richarlison late in the first half, the instinct of Arsenal’s backline was to retreat, a sure sign they were being burned mentally and physically by the speed of Everton’s two wingers – not to mention the movement of lightning striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Silva won at the Emirates Stadium with Olympiakos three years ago by utilising a plan which had two direct wingers at its core.
And the contributions of Richarlison and Walcott here showed precisely why the Everton boss places great store on playing with width and speed.
Even when one of the two vacates his touchline, the space is typically filled by another of the Toffees’ fluid frontline.
Sigurdsson, for instance pulled out to the left 60 seconds after half-time and set up a chance for Michael Keane with a deep cross.
To watch Bellerin – one of the Premier League’s genuine speed merchants – backtracking desperately with Richarlison bearing down on him was to appreciate the impact on opponents’ confidence of spending a period of time in the company of Everton’s flying wingmen.
Equally, when the Toffees’ full-backs had the ball at their feet, the men in front of them provided a reliable option to switch defence into attack.
Michael KeenFour weeks ago Michael Keane fractured his skull in the act of trying to preserve a point for Everton at Bournemouth.
It was some going for Keane to be back in action in north London today, then.
Silva insisted he did not think twice about returning the centre-back to his team after watching Keane win countless headers and tackles in the opening weeks of the campaign.
And the former Manchester United defender picked up where he left off here. His interception to prevent Aaron Ramsey meeting a low ball across the box from Mesut Ozil was of the highest order.
Keane certainly had no concerns about challenging aerially either, winning most things that dropped his way. Tellingly, he had eyes only for the ball as he contested a late challenge with Petr Cech, haring out with his fists flying.
He always wants to pass through midfield, too, making him a tidy fit for Silva’s model. We shouldn’t overlook the defender's threat in his opponents’ box either.
Keane scored a tremendous header before he was injured at Bournemouth. And with Everton searching for a route back into the game against Arsenal, it was the 25-year-old who rose highest at a Sigurdsson set-piece to force Cech into emergency action.
With Yerry Mina and Phil Jagielka expected to be ready for action before long, and Mason Holgate developing fast, Everton have an assortment of centre-halves vying for places.
Keane and his partner at Arsenal, Kurt Zouma, played like men determined to maintain their hold on the positions.
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