Everton suffered a tough night in the capital on Wednesday as they were humbled 4-0 by championship-chasing Arsenal.
Sean Dyche's men gave a good account of themselves for 40 minutes but by the time the half-time whistle had blown they found themselves 2-0 down. And with another two added after the break, it's three losses from five for the Blues' new manager.
Defeat leaves Everton in the relegation zone and still searching for a first away win under Dyche. Here's what the national media made of the contest from a Blues perspective.
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Jason Burt - The Telegraph
It may have been against Everton, a team in the bottom three and looking ominously toothless and with a negligent lack of goal threat which is certainly not Sean Dyche’s fault, but these are the kind of nights when nerves fray and resolve is tested and points can so easily be dropped.
Instead it turned out to be one of Arsenal’s best performances of the campaign. Not because they played scintillating football. They have done that more emphatically than this. Instead this young team demonstrated confidence and focus that shows they believe they can go the distance. That belief coursed through every one of them and through the crowd.
As impressive as the patience Arsenal showed was the ruthlessness. For 40 minutes this looked tricky. It was Dyche dominating the touchline and it was actually Everton who carried the greater threat. Arsenal did not even have a shot on target but, five minutes later, they scored with their first two accurate efforts and it was game over. The jeopardy evaporated.
That, too, is what the best teams do. They bide their time and they go in for the kill.
And to think Vitalii Mykolenko had dealt with Saka’s threat until the Everton left-back was let down by Dwight McNeill who stood and watched and did not help his team-mate who had two Arsenal players to mark and was caught covering neither.
Zinchenko popped up on the Arsenal right, again showing how he uses his own starting position at left-back as nothing more than a launchpad, and he threaded a smart pass through to Saka who took it in his stride to score.
Arsenal sniffed blood and Saka and Gabriel Martinelli hunted down Idrissa Gueye who lost possession. After a Var check Martinelli’s finish stood and although Aaron Ramsdale had to make a smart save to deny McNeill there was no doubt.
Martin Odegaard added the third, Martinelli rounded it off and it suddenly only became about by how many Arsenal would reduce City’s goal difference advantage. In the end it is down to six which, for Arsenal, was another bonus on a night when the momentum shifted strongly.
Phil McNulty - BBC Sport
Dyche started his reign as Everton manager with a win over Arsenal at Goodison Park that hinted at a possible revival - fast forward to this hammering and the brutal reality is clear.
Everton held their own for 40 minutes but even when they got into threatening positions they lacked any sort of bite.They have not scored more than once for 15 games, the last time coming in a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace on 22 October. It makes the decision to go through the January transfer window without adding a striker, indeed without adding anyone, look even more like negligence on the part of the club's hierarchy, including director of football Kevin Thelwell.
Dyche has won two and lost three of his first five games, and those winning goals against Arsenal and Leeds United have come from central defender James Tarkowski and veteran full-back Seamus Coleman.
And the manner in which Everton collapsed once they went behind, showing a complete lack of confidence and self-belief, is a serious worry for Dyche and their long-term Premier League prospects. This weekend's visit to Nottingham Forest now assumes even greater importance as Everton face yet another season of crisis.
David Hytner - Guardian
As the oles rang out from the Arsenal support with 15 minutes to go, the victory in the bag, Everton looking broken, it was possible to wonder how on earth they had lost to the same opposition at Goodison Park at the beginning of February.
If that was one of the clearest examples in recent times of a new-manager bounce, Everton responding to Sean Dyche, the visitors were back to the flatness that has characterised much of their season, even if they did make life difficult for Arsenal for much of the first half.
Once breached, though, by a scorching Bukayo Saka finish, there was only ever going to be one winner – particularly given Everton’s lack of edge in front of goal. It was all over bar the shouting, and there would be plenty of that from the home crowd, when Idrissa Gueye suffered a meltdown in first-half stoppage time.
Gueye did not notice Saka racing towards him as he dallied in his final third, facing his own goal and, when he was robbed, the ball ran through for Gabriel Martinelli to finish. At first, it appeared that Martinelli might have been offside. He was not. It was not a night when Everton would get away with anything.
It is easy to suspect that Dyche is no lover of Arsenal; he sees a fancy and entitled London team. Remember his rant after his Burnley had lost here in August 2019 when he raged about diving and cheating? It was not an Arsenal thing, he stressed; he was worried about the game in general.
Dyche, who recalled Michael Keane in central defence at the expense of Conor Coady, was a whirr of technical area energy; cajoling, demanding. In one sense, he did not need to bother. Everybody knew what he wanted – especially his players. It was compact lines in a formation that was resolutely 4-5-1 without the ball; aggression in the challenges, hard running on the defensive cover.
Dyche needed to see counter-attacking punch and there were signs of it during the first half. What Dyche would have been more pleased about as the interval approached was how his team had got men around the ball and stifled Arsenal.
Then everything changed, the breakthrough a bolt through the royal blue, Everton’s concentration slipping for a second but it was all that Saka needed.
Oli Gamp - The Mail
During the closing days of Frank Lampard’s reign at Goodison Park, one particular Everton chief canvassed the opinions of senior players about their manager. To a man, they are understood to have vouched for Lampard.
In the end, it made little difference, Lampard was sacked just days later. Three of the players approached at the time started for Sean Dyche here at the Emirates. The Everton boss will need that honesty and loyalty more than ever if they are to avoid the drop.
Mark Mann-Bryans - Independent
Everton arrived with a game plan which stifled Arsenal’s attacking intent while also giving themselves the chance to launch the odd foray forward.
Saka, in particular, was being well-marshalled by Vitalii Mykolenko and the England forward was having very little impact on proceedings. That all changed just five minutes before the interval, however, as Saka finally found some space to turn and collect an Oleksandr Zinchenko pass before firing high past his international colleague Jordan Pickford to break the deadlock.
The lead was doubled shortly afterwards, the Everton defence all-but stopping in anticipation of a free-kick being awarded for a foul on Odegaard. Idrissa Gueye was caught out, Saka pouncing onto the loose ball and Martinelli taking over to finish low past Pickford – the offside flag only momentarily denting celebrations before a VAR check ruled the Brazilian onside.
Leandro Trossard missed a good chance to further extend the lead 10 minutes after the restart but Everton were still in the game, Dwight McNeil forcing a smart stop from Aaron Ramsdale after a strong run forward.
This was Arsenal’s game in hand, the original match called off following the death of the Queen, and they went into the contest having lost to the struggling Toffees last month.
That was Sean Dyche’s first game in charge of Everton and things appeared to be on the up, but this loss leaves the visitors inside the relegation zone.
