Everton moved up to second with their third successive victory when they inflicted yet another defeat on Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in front of 2,000 fans at Goodison Park.
Rob Holding was named Arsenal’s captain in the absence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who missed out with a calf injury. But the armband brought the 25-year-old little luck as he deflected Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s header into his own net to give Everton the lead.
Tom Davies fouled Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the box as Nicolas Pepe scored from the penalty spot to bring Arsenal level, but Yerry Mina restored Everton’s advantage on the stroke of half-time with a near-post header from Gylfi Sigurdsson’s corner delivery.
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David Luiz had a shot deflected onto the woodwork when Arsenal applied pressure after the restart. However, despite all of their possession, Arteta’s side failed to register a shot on target in the second half until Bukayo Saka’s tame effort in the fifth minute of stoppage time, as they fall to their eighth defeat of the season.
The loss keeps Arsenal in 15th, just five points above the relegation zone, while Everton jumped from sixth to within five points of leaders Liverpool.