Everton have now suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats after losing to leaders Arsenal on Saturday.
The Toffees had a tough run of fixtures in the lead-up to Christmas, and David Moyes will be pleased that Everton will spend the festive period in the top half of the Premier League table.
Unfortunately, Everton’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal meant that fans had little to celebrate. Viktor Gyokeres scored the only goal of the game after Jake O’Brien’s costly error resulted in a penalty.
Mikel Arteta praised Everton’s atmosphere, and the Blues didn’t make it easy for the league leaders to leave without three points.
Jordan Pickford made history in the Premier League last week, but just days later, he was left frustrated by the nature of the Arsenal defeat.
Manchester United v Everton - Premier League
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Jordan Pickford reflects on Arsenal defeat
Arsenal picked up three points on Merseyside with only two shots on Jordan Pickford’s goal – one being from Gyokeres’ first-half penalty.
It is a frustrating way for Everton to drop points, but Pickford explained after the full-time whistle that the Toffees didn’t threaten David Raya in the opposite net.
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Everton vs Arsenal full time score.
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As quoted by BBC Sport, Pickford said: “We didn’t give away many chances and we defended really well…we had to suffer at times.
“We weren’t clinical and didn’t hurt them as much. I don’t think David Raya really had a save to make.
“Small margins and that’s why they are top of the league. They have been resilient at the back and hard to break down. They got a penalty and scored, the effort and application we put in was quality.”
Positives from Everton performance vs Arsenal
As Pickford pointed out in his post-match comments, Arsenal have the best defence in the Premier League by some distance, so breaking them down was always going to be a difficult task.
Despite not taking any points from the match, there are some positives for Everton and Moyes to take.
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In terms of defensive organisation, Everton were top class. Without O’Brien’s error, the Toffees would have frustrated Arsenal and potentially have been able to exploit them on the counter-attack.
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Jack Grealish’s involvement was also a boost following his injury scare, while Tim Iroegbunam was really impressive in the midfield.
Bukayo Saka found it tough at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, and it was a performance that sends a message to the rest of the league that they have to be at their best to beat Everton here.
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