The loud groans from the Arsenal faithful were growing louder and Mikel Arteta felt it. After seventy minutes he threw his arms in the air, desperately trying to get them up.
Both he and she knew that anything short of a victory would be problematic to say the least. That’s why full-time was greeted with the kind of boos that haven’t been heard in the Emirates for some time.
It’s still early in the season, but after losing points to Fulham and the lead Liverpool have already gained at the top of the Premier League, the Gunners can afford more mistakes. Especially against a team that looks over its shoulders at the bottom three. It makes this result all the worse.
To Everton’s credit, their will has never waned. The tide of red and white shirts kept coming and the desperation for a goal grew as the second half ebbed away.
The north London club weren’t terrible; Jordan Pickford’s aerial punches and reflexes did much to thwart the opposition’s attack. Although Arsenal lacked creativity and the attackers had opportunities, they failed to take them.
Martin Odegaard’s shot from close range in the 30th minute was deflected by Pickford’s body, and early in the second half, Bukayo Saka’s effort was blocked by a stunning save.
Arsenal failed to capitalize on the points drop at Liverpool as they became frustrated by a stubborn Everton team
The traveling Toffees blunted wave after wave of attacks from Mikel Arteta’s title contenders
Mikel Arteta’s men collapsed in the Premier League for the second time in a row on Saturday
A collision between Thomas Partey and Vitalii Mykolenko in stoppage time was checked by VAR but waved away.
A frustrated Arteta said: ‘I’m very disappointed not to win the match because there’s clearly a team that deserves to win, there’s only one: Arsenal.
‘We didn’t give anything away, we didn’t concede any shots, we dominated the direct play… we created the chances, but in the last 20 meters we lacked the ability to score goals, and that’s what you have to do.
“I can’t ask much more from the boys other than putting the ball in the net.”
The Gunners had an early scare after just six minutes. Abdoulaye Doucoure was played in on goal, but it took forever for him to shoot. That allowed Gabriel to slide in and deflect his shot.
It was a rare bit of action for the Toffees near opposition territory. The home team, as is often seen, enjoyed the lion’s share of ball possession. In their draw against Fulham they largely neglected the left wing.
They took advantage of that side early on, with Gabriel Martinelli getting a few trips to the byline.
Bukayo Saka was followed in attack by at least two players, initially limiting his progress
In the end, one point each was the right result – and one point that Sean Dyche will be happy with
Both groups of fans paid tribute to Kevin Campbell, who died in June aged 54, before the match
When Saka cheated his way through inside 30 minutes, Odegaard had the ball passed in the area and his shot from close range saved by Pickford.
Odegaard had a number of attempts on goal in the first half, including one that dragged wide after dropping his shoulder.
The first half ended with a foul throw from Myles Lewis-Skelly; an encapsulation of the fact that the Gunners had not scored at half-time. Mikel Merino, who had limited impact, got stuck on the restart, in his duel with James Tarkowski the ball passed to Saka. His shot, low to Pickford’s left, was indeed well saved.
Kai Havertz thought he had got a one-on-one with Pickford after a terrible back pass from Jarrad Branthwaite, but Pickford got there – just about.
In an attempt to turn things around, Arteta surprisingly replaced captain Odegaard and Declan Rice around the hour mark.
Sean Dyche said: “They are a nice side. We know that. The players have made a big change, the commitment to doing the basics: pressing and recovering and staying true to that for 90 minutes. I was proud of the players.’
In the end, a point was what Everton and Pickford deserved.