In a dramatic affair Everton came from behind to stop their winless run in injury time and they had Demarai Gray to thank once again.
VAR done its best to stop Everton from scoring as just before half-time Richarlison had the ball in the back of the net for it to be ruled out for offside.
Then several minutes later Arsenal went and stole the lead through Martin Odegaard who ran onto a Kieran Tierney cross to put the ball past Jordan Pickford.
Richarlison then scored again in the second half but a ridiculously close offside call meant another goal was ruled out.
However finally in the 79th minute the Brazilian striker finally got his goal nodding in the rebound from Gray’s fantastic effort which smacked the crossbar.
With two minutes left before the final whistle Seamus Coleman made a goal saving challenge and Everton broke up the other end.
Andre Gomes passed the ball to Gray who ran at his man and again cut in on his right to thunder the ball past Aaron Ramsdale
Goodison Park went into uproar.
Finally, the fans had something to celebrate.
What a relief and what a well-deserved victory for The Blues.
Ratings:
Jordan Pickford: 6
Didn’t have any tough saves to make but dealt with corners and crosses well yet again like he has done all season.
Seamus Coleman: 7
What a difference a few days make. After a woeful performance in the derby Coleman was a major reason why Everton won this game. He threw his body at Odegaard’s shot in injury time which inadvertently set Everton up on the counter-attack for the winner.
Yerry Mina: 3
Only lasted half-an-hour. Must have been rushed back from injury. Didn’t do anything wrong whilst on the pitch.
Michael Keane: 5
Left Odegaard free last min which was really poor. He looked suspect at times so improvement is still needed.
Ben Godfrey: 6
Replaced Lucas Digne and proved his manager right. Solid defensive performance and was much better than Digne has been all season. A crunching challenge in the first ten minutes to get the crowd going. Got away with a potential red card though.
Allan: 7
Ran himself into the ground and done extremely well always harrying the Arsenal midfield. Also done a stepover which is something new from him.
Abdoulaye Doucoure: 7
His ball carrying into the final third was brilliant and we saw glimpses of his early season form. Unlucky not to get an assist due to the tight offside calls.
Demarai Gray: 10
The winning goal was worthy of the 10 rating alone. Tormented Takehiro Tomiyasu all game and ran at him in the last minute before smashing the ball in. Also created the equaliser due to another sumptuous effort which hit the bar. Fabulous performance.
Andros Townsend: 4
Like Doucoure unlucky not to get an assist with a quality delivery from a free-kick. Other than that, not his best game. Needs to get back to his early season form.
Anthony Gordon: 4
Never stopped trying but just didn’t have the final bit of quality.
Richarlison: 9
From the first seconds he set the intensity and looked like he would change Everton’s awful form by himself. Could have had a hat-trick on another night. Brilliant header from Gray’s rebound to get the equaliser.
Substitutions:
Mason Holgate (Yerry Mina 31): 5
Done well to adjust to the game.
Andre Gomes (Andros Townsend 66): 8
Everton’s best substitute appearance this season. Was fantastic with the ball and added an extra bit of quality in the final third getting the assist for Gray’s goal. Hopefully will get a run in the team.
Alex Iwobi (Anthony Gordon 87): 3
Should have got the third goal as he went one-on-one with Ramsdale but could not slot the ball home.
