Verdict from Joe Thomas after Everton suffer a controversial defeat at the Emirates Stadium on the final day of the season

If Richard Masters chose the Emirates for a quiet Sunday afternoon then the decision was just the latest to raise questions over whether his power should be curtailed.

Every supporter in the away end knew he was there and they all wanted him to know that too. He was left in no doubt before a ball had even been kicked; there could not have been a more fitting conclusion to this controversy soaked campaign than Blues getting to boo the Premier League anthem for one final time with the public face of the organisation looking on.

He could be in no doubt on the final whistle either. ‘Eight point loss, still did boss’ was a polite sign in the away end. The chants that penetrated the stadium as Arsenal’s hopes faded were far less polite but their message was just as clear. Everton will play in the top flight yet again next season. That is in spite of the calls from the league’s chief executive and the crippling punishments his regime has imposed on one of its most prestigious clubs.

Everton, after all they have faced this season, are still standing and the way this match unfolded only created further opportunities for that message to be sent loud and clear to the Emirates hospitality wing. Few Arsenal fans believed they could snatch the title from Manchester City – that helplessness just another strand of evidence to undermine the integrity of this competition – but the home supporters created an electric atmosphere before this match started. That offered some respite to Masters as the jeering of the league anthem, clear as it was, was quickly drowned out by those in red and white clamouring for a miracle.

Yet after two minutes Phil Foden’s goal 200 miles away punctured the mood. Foden’s second, combined with mounting frustration as Takehiro Tomiyasu headed wide at the back post and Jordan Pickford saved well from a deflected Leandro Trossard cross and then from Gabriel Martinelli, gave the away end the opportunity to seize control of the airwaves. That they did. As they always do. Spirit of the Blues came out under the early summer sunshine but so too, poignantly and emphatically given the audience, did the anthem of the 2023/24 campaign: “Premier League, corrupt as f***.” Later, it would be the invitation to “stick your points deductions up your a***”.

Everton’s players grew in confidence as their supporters grew in voice and enjoyed some of their best sequences of possession of the campaign while also producing a threat on the break. Arsenal were warned when Dominic Calvert-Lewin struck the foot of David Raya’s post but did not heed their lesson. Five minutes before the break Thomas Partey earned a booking for felling a surging Dwight McNeil and the unexpected hero of Everton’s survival push caused another surprise as Idrissa Gueye stepped up and, via a major deflection from Declan Rice, gave the away side the lead. The counter attack for the goal was started by Amadou Onana mopping up on the edge of his area, the Belgium international again reserving his best for Arsenal.

The hosts struck back almost immediately in an intense ending to the half that inflated the Emirates with belief once again. As West Ham United pulled a goal back in Manchester, Tomiyasu struck the equaliser from the edge of the box despite the best efforts of James Tarkowski, who had been receiving treatment and sprinted from the touchline to try and deal with the looming danger but could not get to the goalscorer quick enough to throw himself in front of the effort.

In the second half, Arsenal fought against an Everton side that would not quit and the rollercoaster of emotions caused by events at City. Kai Havertz, Martinelli and Emile Smith-Rowe all hit the woodwork and Pickford and his defence were kept busy. But this was no rearguard action from Everton, who always posed a threat on the break and almost took the lead again when Calvert-Lewin curled threateningly at Raya. Arsenal eventually got their goal, Havertz tapping in from close range after a stray ball from Ashley Young allowed them to break through Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard and then the goalscorer.

The goal controversially survived a VAR check that no-one in the ground could follow – another problem that must be addressed but, in truth, it mattered little to anyone. Pep Guardiola was already celebrating.

The story of the final day of this season may have been the title race, but the biggest narrative of this campaign has been the treatment of Everton and the resilience of the club’s players and supporters in response. For many associated with Everton, the blows have kept coming in what has begun to feel like a vindictive campaign against a club that has been selected to be made an example of. Unprecedented points deductions – two of them. A Premier League report that celebrated the infrastructure projects its clubs were undertaking but overlooked the biggest of them all on Liverpool’s waterfront. The social media post that Blues could be forgiven for reading as a warning when the world was told Sheffield United were relegated pending the now-withdrawn appeal against Everton’s second deduction. The purgatory of the Owners and Directors Test that is yet to reject 777 Partners’ troubled takeover ambitions. Everton have faced the most challenging season of the Premier League era, yet they are still here, fighting.

That is the story of this season and, in part, was the narrative of Game 38. As Everton once again fought valiantly against the best-laid plans of someone plotting their downfall they created the periods of silence that enabled the club’s fans to question the integrity of the Premier League. In turn, the ground was quieter because of the same problem – City were winning the title, for the second time, with 115 PRS charges hanging over them.

If Masters was worried about optics then Everton’s final game of the most controversial season of the Premier League era was a strange place for him to be. It may have prevented any awkwardness from him featuring in City’s title celebrations amid the claims they deny but which are still yet to be dealt with. But it just exposed the many problems of the modern game and the obvious need for changes.

That could be no clearer than in the brutal Catch-22 that ends this campaign for the Blues. For several Everton players this could be their final game in Royal Blue. The club expects to sell players, in part to help deal with PSR regulations it would be far closer to meeting if the club had not suffered eight points of deductions for breaching those rules. The roughly £10m in lost merit payments is a consequence that will make the club less secure, not more.

The absence of sustainability in the profit and sustainability framework is just one of many glaring reasons that justify Everton supporters and their questioning of Masters. That continued with his presence at the Emirates and, you know what, it will continue next season too – because in spite of everything thrown at the club, Everton are still in the Premier League.