Everton 2 Arsenal 1: Benitez buys time as Blues win at last

Well, I didn’t honestly expect that outcome but Everton finally ended a dreadful run of results with a last-minute 2-1 win over Arsenal at Goodison Park.

This was a potentially huge result for Everton with the team on such a poor run of form and the club in an uncertain situation behind the scenes after Marcel Brands’ departure over the weekend.

It’s far too early to draw too many conclusions from this one match and it could have gone either way in the end with Arsenal having a great chance to equalise right at the death, which they fluffed. But, it was a win at last.

As for the protests, they went ahead but perhaps weren’t as much in the end as might have been expected and the board will hope that Brands’ leaving will dampen those frustrations. We’ll see if that happens but results on the pitch will ultimately determine that.

In truth the first half of this game was pretty much forgettable as neither side showed much quality and a goal was hard to see for either team. The effort was there though and that was at least something.

To add to all the frustration for home supporters, Yerry Mina who was finally back in the heart of the defence, had to go off again. We really have to keep our fingers crossed it’s not a serious setback.

In the meantime Richarlison, who had a superb game overall, had the first of two goals ruled out by our old friend VAR. Athough to be fair, Ben Godfrey was perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch after his challenge in the first half.

After Arsenal had scored to take the lead, the away team grew in confidence and were on top now looking to hold onto that lead but never looked entirely comfortable and the Toffees’ kept battling.

As the second half wore on the Gunners also started some sly gamesmanship with nearly every knock or tackle provoking exagerated reactions and attempts to waste time.

Perhaps this played into the hosts hands though as the behaviour of some of the Arsenal players really riled the home fans and the reaction from them also boosted Everton’s players who could perhaps sense they might still get back into the match.

Momentum seemed to shifting towards Everton and Richarlison had again found the net.. but once more VAR intervened and for the second time the Brazilian had a goal chalked off. Was anything going to go right for the Blues?

Then at last, Richarlison did finally score with yet another fine effort and this one was third time lucky as his strike was declared legitimate and brought the Toffees’ back into the match.

And, now we saw a late surge in effort from the home side which was rewarded by Demarai Gray’s superb strike in the second minute of injury time. It was certainly a goal good enough to win any game and for Everton it might prove priceless.

So, a very welcome and important three points, which takes a bit of the immediate pressure off Rafa Benitez and the to some extent the board as well.

However, football is always about the next match, especially in this hectic pre-Christmas run of fixtures. This result will count for little if Everton go and lose yet again at Crystal Palace.

So, can the Blues’ follow-up with a performance and a positive result at Selhurst Park before that daunting trip across London to Stamford Bridge?