Hearts and heads were put to fine use by an Everton side who reawakened a home crowd with a gutsy display to which Arsène Wenger’s men had no answer
English football, bloody hell. The last five minutes of this game alone were worth the admission price, and that was after all the goals had been scored. Everton went down to 10 men, at one point both goalkeepers were standing in the same net, and how the ball stayed out as Arsenal saw shot after shot stopped on the line in the closing seconds is a mystery that will only be solved by a close examination of slow‑motion replays. If you like your action raucous and loud, and as long as you were not trying to take over the league leadership, Goodison Park on Tuesday night was a great place to be. Everton’s victory was something of a slow burner, though by the end the old ground positively crackled with atmosphere.
Perhaps unwisely, Everton like to relay a vox-pop conducted outside the stadium on the big screens just before kick-off. Supporters are encouraged to predict a favourable scoreline or take the opportunity to shout “Come on you Blues”, and many of them do, though with this being Merseyside and with Everton only having managed one win in their past 10 league matches the potential for blunt speaking is obvious. “If you can’t play with any skill then at least show some passion,” one unimpressed customer boomed by way of an exhortation. “That’s all we ask.”
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