Strange decisions and injury time farce cannot hide truth about Everton against Arsenal
Everton might hope their prospective new owners can provide them with some ‘lucky’ sevens because Sean Dyche’s side can’t catch a break right now and fell to a third successive home defeat this season despite a major overturned VAR decision going their way.
Much of the pre-match build-up at Goodison Park surrounded Friday’s announcement that Farhad Moshiri had struck a deal to sell all of his shares in the club to Miami-based investment firm 777.
But while the Blues say the takeover could be complete by the end of this calendar year, Sean Dyche’s side have more pressing matters on the pitch.
Other than the shambolic capitulation at Aston Villa, Everton have been competitive in every game they’ve played so far - but following this first match back from the campaign’s inaugural international break, they’re still stuck on a solitary point.
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As you’d expect, Arsenal dominated possession but the Blues dug in and were unfortunate to seemingly find themselves behind on 21 minutes when Gabriel Martinelli decisively fired past Jordan Pickford.
However, following a VAR check the effort was ruled out as Nketiah was deemed offside as the ball deflected off Beto and was therefore not a deliberate play so the offside is from when Gabriel played the ball.
Given Everton’s past record in similar circumstances, it was an unlikely but welcome reprieve for the hosts but while last season’s corresponding fixture saw James Tarkowski net the only goal of the game, on this occasion it was the old “One nil to the Arsenal.” The breakthrough came through substitute Leandro Trossard – who replaced Martinelli
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