As the clock ticked down to the dropped points which mean Liverpool will need a mere eight from seven games to wrap up this title, Mikel Arteta demonstrated how much he wants this fight taking to the end.
He brought Martin Odegaard into the equation, to go with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, all of whom he’d kept back with the small matter of Real Madrid and Tuesday night’s Champions League quarter final in mind.
But it’s hard to keep all minds willing when a quest seems so far out of a team’s grasp. They looked like a team who know that this cause is lost.
Martinelli offered a momentary threat in the game’s closing minutes, cutting in from the left to bring a fine save from a leaping Jordan Pickford. But a win for Arne Slot‘s team at Fulham on Sunday really will leave this business seeming like a procession.
The local emotion attached to one of Goodison Park’s last games hadn’t seemed such an ominous venture for Arteta who, despite that illustrious list of substitutes, watched Arsenal superiority show for a time. In the few significant first half moments, Arsenal were in a different class.
That included the instant when Idrissa Gueye’s miscued jump for a head outside Everton‘s box saw him inadvertently nod the ball into Raheem Sterling’s path just beyond the half hour. The former England international raced through 30 yards and laid off for Leandro Trossard, who threaded a shot through Jake O’Brien and Jordan Pickford to put Arsenal ahead.
Arsenal’s fading title hopes were dealt a blow after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Everton
Iliman Ndiaye slotted home the equaliser from the penalty spot to force a share of the spoils
Leandro Trossard had made the first half breakthrough after rounding off a rapid counter attack
It was a beautiful, angular strike through the eye of a needle – evidence of what an asset Trossard could be for Arteta if he could only deliver with greater consistency. At the back of last season, the Belgium international scored five goals in eight games.
When Arteta sanctioned a summer of transfer market activity which included no signature striker arriving, he will have had Trossard’s potential in mind. Yet this was only his fifth league goal of the season.
Sterling’s contribution to that goal – the composure, the vision – was not insignificant.
The 30-year-old’s start, only his third in the league since October, was an opportunity he needed to seize, with just a few months of his loan from Chelsea left and uncertainty about what lies ahead.
The brutal truth is that some of his pace has gone and he also struggled with Everton’s physicality, as Jack Harrison and Jake O’Brien both beat him out of possession. Arteta withdrew him for Martinelli at half-time, when Saka also arrived for Ethan Nwaneri, who had struggled for impact.
Everton had only manufactured scraps by then, though the return of Iliman Ndiaye, nearly two months after sustaining a knee injury here against Liverpool, served a reminder of how much the Senegal international had been missed.
His work-rate created openings, though Beto couldn’t get a ball he threaded through under control. Ndiaye’s right-foot shot after cutting in from the left flew over.
It was Ndiaye who stepped up to take the penalty Everton were fortunate to be awarded four minutes into the second half after Myles Lewis-Skelly was a judged to have fouled Harrison. Both seemed to be wrestling equally for possession.
Trossard finished low across Jordan Pickford to capitalise on a mix-up in midfield
But Everton were awarded a penalty when Myles Lewis-Skelly tangled with Jack Harrison
Trossard was denied by a sprawling save from Pickford in a wasted chance for the Gunners
Beto was played into the penalty area but was unable to find the net from a tight angle
Martin Odegaard was brought off the bench late on but his strike was also blocked
Arsenal had the best of the chances thereon.
Lewis-Skelly powered 30 yards to the edge of Everton’s box and was felled and after Martinelli had unfurled his strike, the absence of a serviceable centre forward cost Arsenal once again. Mikel Merino rose unchallenged to meet substitute’s Kieran Tierney finely judged cross, yet directed his header a foot wide.
Arteta held his head in his hands. The quest for a title, which had started in such earnest, is almost over.