Arsenal's unbeaten streak ends, missing chance to take top spot in Premier League

Coach Arsene Wenger's team lost 1-2 to Everton in the early match of round 16 on the evening of December 13.

The sadness of Olivier Giroud and his teammates. Photo: AFP.

Goals: Coleman 44', Williams 86' - Sanchez 20'

Arsenal travelled to Everton with full confidence to aim for a win, thereby taking the top spot from Chelsea - the team playing a day later. And they had a good start with Alexis Sanchez opening the scoring, after a free kick hit the home defender Ashley Williams.

However, that advantage was lost just before the end of the first half. From a pass fromLeighton Baines,Seamus Coleman escaped the visitors' defenders to level the score at 1-1. Everton played with enthusiasm from then on, with the home crowd cheering them on. With just a few minutes left in the second half, Williams jumped high to head the ball in to make it 2-1.

In the dramatic extra minutes, Everton lost their captain.Phil Jagielkabecause of the second yellow card, whileArsenal had two shots cleared off the line.

This is the first time since the second round that the teacher and studentsCoach Wenger had to accept defeat in the Premier League.

Williams' powerful header...

... leading to the goal that decided the match.

Everton have not been in great form of late, winning just one of their last 10 games and keeping just one clean sheet in that time. And they started the game cautiously. That's understandable given that they are up against an Arsenal side who have been on fire, having won their last three games, scoring 12 goals and conceding just three in all competitions.

However, after Sanchez's opening goal in the 20th minute, the game took a different turn. Everton, with nothing to lose, abandoned their defensive counter-attacking style of play and switched to a direct attack. The distance between the two strikersRomelu Lukaku and Enner Valencia were narrowed down against the back line, creating many situations of besieging the visitors' goal.

Arsenal's few moments of joy in this match. Photo: AP.

On the contrary, Arsenal's attack did not play well in this match. Apart from Sanchez's somewhat lucky goal and the shots that were blocked in injury time byNacho Monreal as well as Alexi Iwobi, the away team did not create any more shots on target. Their total number of shots in this match was nine, also far less than their opponents.

Not only the attacking front, the defensive system is also a headache for coach Wenger when the season enters a fierce phase. In 11 consecutive matches, Arsenal has not conceded a goal. "I don't think we deserved to lose, but we lost because of two headers. The first goal was a big mistake by the defenders. We controlled Lukaku, but let two of their defenders score."

This weekend, Arsenal will be away at Man City.

According to VNE