Everton robbed of laudable point at Arsenal

In a season riven with controversy and scandalous treatment from the game’s authorities, it was perhaps fitting that Everton’s season should end with an outrageous decision from referee Michael Oliver that handed victory to title runners-up Arsenal.

Widely regarded as England’s best match official, the Northumberland native has proven to be anything but on a number of occasions when refereeing games involving the Toffees and he combined with Ashley Young to ruin what was shaping up to be an impressive draw at the Emirates.

Young’s brain-dead moment when he attempted an ill advised cross-field ball in his own half in the 89th minute was intercepted by Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz ended up converting the winner from close range but the goal should never have stood.

Jesus had clearly leant in with his arm to nudge the ball past his man, but, despite being sent to the pitch-side monitor by VAR Stuart Attwell, Oliver stood his ground and awarded the goal.

It was harsh on Everton who had led through Idrissa Gueye’s deflected free-kick, been pegged back by Takehiro Tomiyasu’s leveller but were on course to shove Pep Guardiola’s disrespect back down his throat by getting a result against the Gunners and denying them a shot at stealing the Championship off Manchester City at the last.

As it was, City didn’t need any favours from the Blues but Arsenal needed yet more incompetence – or outright corruption, depending on your level of cynicism – from Oliver to ensure they ended their season with another win.

Sean Dyche, who wryly remarked afterwards on the handball controversy, “Funny how it is in a title race and it goes the other way,” had named his strongest side in a bid to extend his team’s unbeaten run to six games.

Veteran fullbacks Young and Seamus Coleman kept their places, Amadou Onana was paired with Gueye in central midfield and James Garner was deployed wide on the right in the absence of Jack Harrison but it took them a while to get a foothold in the game.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal overwhelmingly dominated the contest for the first 20-odd minutes and Tomiyasu had a shot charged down and a header that went wide before an uncharacteristic mistake by Jarrad Branthwaite, also attempting an ambitious pass in front of his own box, let Declan Rice in but Jordan Pickford made an excellent one-handed stop to keep it at 0-0.

The England man had to be alert either side of the quarter-hour mark, first when when Leandro Trossard’s attempt to volley a cross back into the danger area came off Coleman and Pickford flapped it behind and then when Gabriel Martinelli skinned Branthwaite for pace but was foiled by the keeper.

Despite having been largely in containment mode up to that point, Everton came within inches of taking the lead in the 32nd minute. Gueye had counter-attacked purposefully down the left channel and fed the striker who advanced towards the Gunners’ area before trying to place a shot inside David Raya’s near post.

Unfortunately, his effort came back off the upright and, off-balance following the shot, Calvert-Lewin could only prod the rebound into the side-netting.

An excellent block tackle by James Tarkowski at one end stopped Martinelli’s goal-bound shot while a foul on Dwight McNeil at the other handed the visitors a second direct free-kick in a dangerous area.

Calvert-Lewin had drilled the first into Gabriel’s head with the first after 17 minutes and on this occasion, Gueye’s shot also came off an Arsenal head but this time, the deflection off Rice took it wide of the wrong-footed Raya and flew into the other side of the goal to put Everton ahead.

Sadly, the lead lasted little more than three minutes as Arteta’s men responded and when Martin Ødegaard got to the byline and cut the ball back towards the top of the box. Tomiyasu arrived untracked to sweep the ball home and equalise a minute before the regulation 45 were up.

Buoyed by word of Mohammed Kudus’s spectacular goal at the Etihad that cut City’s lead to 2-1, Arsenal pressed for a half-time lead but Thomas Partey lashed over the bar with a similar chance to Tomiyasu’s deep into added time.

Everton remained obdurate after the interval, restricting the hosts to just a wayward Havertz header within the first quarter of an hour of the restart. Meanwhile, the Blues’ best moments in the game overall came in transition but all too often they were wasteful.

Calvert-Lewin had the best chance after 62 minutes when a received the ball in the box at the end of another good counter-attack but Raya plucked his curling shot out of the air.

On another breakaway, Gueye failed to release Abdoulaye Doucouré with a through-ball that could have put him on goal and later, substitute Youssef Chermiti would squander a gilt-edged four-on-two counter by also not finding Doucouré in space off the defenders.

In between, Arsenal had gone close when a mix-up between Pickford and Branthwaite pressed the keeper into batting the ball awkwardly behind, Havertz hit the post with a good header off a Martinelli cross, Emil Smith Rowe clipped the crossbar with a bouncing half-volley and Branthwaite diverted Jesus’ effort just wide with his head as it was searching out the far corner of the goal.

The game was settled a couple of minutes later, however, when Young ruined all of his team-mates good defensive work to that point with a shocking pass and Jesus was able to find Ødegaard in the area. The Norwegian scuffed it on past Pickford into the path of Havertz who had the simple task of rapping it home from close range.

Oliver could have restored justice on the advice of Attwell but in a rare instance of a referee not reversing the on-field decision after being sent to the monitor, he allowed the goal to stand.

Despite the defeat, Everton held on to 15th spot by virtue of Brentford’s home defeat to Newcastle, avoiding relegation by a 14-point margin. Without the deduction of eight points by the Premier League, whose CEO, Richard Masters, was in attendance at the Emirates to hear chants of “You can shove your points deduction up your arse!” from the away supporters, Dyche’s side would have finished in 12th, level on points with much-lauded Brighton.

Thoughts will inevitably turn towards the chaos and uncertainty off the pitch and a difficult summer in the transfer market but, on the pitch in 2023-24, Dyche, his staff and his players certainly got the job done.