Arsenal beat Everton but fall short in Premier League title race
After an entire season of highs and lows, Arsenal played one last time at the Emirates Stadium with an eye on the Etihad and dreams of lifting the PL trophy.
The excitable atmosphere was tainted by news of Phil Foden’s opener filtering into the stadium inside the opening 80 seconds, but the players still had a job to do.
Takehiro Tomiyasu headed wide from a Declan Rice cross, and the Gunners kept pushing with Rice, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli all being denied by Jordan Pickford.
Everton were playing with freedom however, and dealt the hosts a scare when a break culminated in Dominic Calvert-Lewin smashing his shot against the post before sending a follow-up marginally wide.
Idrissa Gueye then made his impact at both ends to stun the Emirates, making a timely block to stop Kai Havertz before hitting a free-kick that deflected off Rice and wrongfooted David Raya, giving the Toffees an unlikely lead.
It took just three minutes for Arsenal to respond though, as Martin Ødegaard cut the ball back for Tomiyasu to clinically score his second of the season, having last netted in October.
As if that wasn’t enough to lift their spirits, belief was renewed by Mohammed Kudus reducing West Ham’s deficit against Man City to one goal.
Havertz headed wide and was halted by an impressive recovery tackle from Jarrad Branthwaite as he fronted Arsenal’s search for a second after the break. While most of the focus was on attacking, there was a blow at the back with Gabriel Magalhães being forced off injured.
That was compounded by City doubling their advantage, although Raya made a brilliant save to stop Calvert-Lewin’s strike. Havertz was then unfortunate to see his header hit the post, before Pickford and Amadou Onana made superb blocks to deny Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe respectively.
Arsenal’s decisive goal eventually arrived in the 89th minute as Ashley Young’s wayward pass was intercepted by Gabriel Jesus to start a move that culminated in Ødegaard getting the ball to Havertz for the Germany international to finish. Even so, the Gunners’ sixth win in a row wasn’t enough to secure the PL title. Everton, meanwhile, suffered their first defeat in six matches.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal)
