Arsenal’s faint title hopes were dealt another blow on Saturday as it drew 1-1 with Everton, handing Liverpool the chance to extend its gap at the top of the table to 14 points on Sunday.
The Gunners had led at the break thanks to Leandro Trossard’s excellent strike, but a harsh penalty decision early in the second period provided Everton with the chance to get back on level terms, inadvertently helping its near rivals in the process.
Arsenal was the better side in the opening 45 minutes and offered a repeated threat on the break, particularly via Trossard. The Arsenal attacker forced Jordan Pickford into a smart save and was denied a shooting opportunity on another occasion from a well-timed James Tarkowski tackle. But he eventually found the breakthrough after 34 minutes when Arsenal capitalized on a defensive mix-up between Jarrad Branthwaite and Idrissa Gueye.
The players collided as they went for the same ball, allowing it to run to Raheem Sterling. He advanced and slipped, before slipping to Trossard, who then fired hard and low with weaker left foot from a narrow angle.
But it was a first half that was punctuated by several injury breaks. Ben White, Mikel Merino and Trossard all dropped to the deck for long spells but, thankfully from an Arsenal perspective, all of the trio managed to continue.
Mikel Areta rested several players ahead of the midweek Champions League clash against Real Madrid, in a clear sign where his priorities lie at this stage. He introduced Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli at the break, with Martin Odegaard following later. The half-time changes didn’t have the required effect, though, as it was the hosts who grabbed the game’s next goal.
The manner of it will have only further infuriated Arteta who will rightly have been perplexed that Myles Lewis-Skelly’s minimal contact on Jack Harrison resulted in a spot-kick. Iliman Ndiaye, starting his first game since February, converted to level the score at Goodison.
Arsenal did push to find a winner, with Declan Rice testing Pickford with a powerful free-kick, before Martinelli also forced the keeper to claw his shot wide. Mikel Merino, a regular provider of recent goals headed wide late on, but in truth the visitors didn’t do enough to earn three points on their final trip to Goodison Park.
It means the gap at the top of the table is temporarily cut to 11 points but is likely to be extended again when Liverpool travels to Fulham. The Reds now need just 11 more points from its final eight games of campaign, and wins in the next four against Fulham, West Ham United and Leicester City will secure a 20th top-flight title.
