Everton player ratings: two score 8/10 but four 5/10s in Arsenal defeat - gallery

Everton’s wait for a 2023-24 Premier League win continues as they suffered a 1-0 loss to Arsenal at Goodison Park.

The Toffees showed spirit, particularly defensively, yet they fell to a fourth defeat in five games this season to leave them in the relegation zone.

Arsenal monopolised possession in the first half although Everton limited their opposition to a dearth of clear-cut chances.

The Gunners did find the back of the net in the 19th minute through Gabriel Martinelli’s composed finish, although a VAR review deemed Eddie Nketiah offside in the build-up.

Everton finally started to show some sort of threat in the counter-attack and on 31 minutes they wanted a penalty when Abdoulaye Doucoure forayed into the Arsenal box and went down - but referee Simon Hooper was not interested.

The away side came out of the traps swiftly in the second period, with Jordan Pickford making a good save from Martin odegaard within the opening 60 seconds. Everton were forced into a rearguard action, with Vitalii Mykolenko making an important clearance in his own six-yard box and James Tarkowski charging down a sweetly struck Oleksandr Zinchenko effort.

Yet Arsenal’s persistent pressure eventually paid off as they found the breakthrough in the 69th minute. They worked a short corner to Leandro Trossard, whose first-time finish found the back of the net via the far post.

Everton could barely lay a glove on Mikel Arteta’s side in response, with visiting keeper David Raya having a comfortable afternoon. And while only five games have been played, fears start to mount that a third successive relegation battle is in the offing.

Here’s how we rated the Everton players.