Arsenal offered their fans only the occasional chance and lacked the quality finishing needed to win.
Early on Arsenal had the better of the play but were undone by a quick Everton counterattack. Lukaku forced a good save from Szczesny, but the rebound fell kindly to Naismith who put it away.
Lukaku would then undress Monreal and cut inside and unleash a thunderbolt which doubled the lead.
Arsenal offered little coming forward other than the odd shot from Podolski and went in at halftime looking to regroup.
I felt Wenger should have made his changes at halftime, but he’s always fixated on making changes around the 66 minute mark, which is often too late. It was too late today.
Everton, who started the second half looking a little sloppy, managed to secure a third goal by the time changes were made, a slow Arteta conceding an own goal.
Arsenal created a couple of chances in the games dying moments, the Ox hitting the crossbar and Sanogo cruelly denied what looked like a good goal for offsides.
Everton now threaten Arsenal’s Champion’s League spot and leave Arsenal with little confidence as they head to the end of the season. Arsenal definitely need one of those team meetings to try and salvage their season.
Player Ratings:
Szczesny 6. He made a couple of good saves today, but was left exposed by a leaky defence.
Sagna 7. My man of the match. Kept Baines relatively quiet, was strong in his challenges. That said, the fact he is my man of the match should tell you how bad we were.
Mertesacker 5. His lack of pace becomes obvious when we play the big boys of the league. He gives strikers a little too much room sometimes, which quick ones will exploit.
Vermaelen 5. Could he have done more to stop some of the goals? Probably. Should have hammered Lukaku when he cut inside of Monreal, in particular.
Monreal 4. Had a nightmare dealing with Lukaku. When he got forward he was often too reluctant to put in a cross, when he did it was overhit.
Arteta 4. Not a good game for Mikel, who was denied room to influence the game. His lack of pace and physicality was obvious on the third goal.
Flamini 6. Tried to get forward a couple of times when Arsenal needed greater presence in the box. He was not able to stem the tide of Everton’s attacks and picked up a yellow card which will result in a suspension.
Rosicky 5. Tomas was not effective today, a number of his passes going astray and unable to unlock the Everton defence.
Cazorla 6. He had his moments when he started to look lively, but nothing came off for him. He, too, appeared hesitant sometimes to put in a cross (probably because there was nobody there).
Podolski 6. An early chance he blazed to the right, when Monreal was better placed to his left. Another chance was well saved by Howard. He looked like the one man who would score, but didn’t.
Giroud 5. Too isolated, very little linkup with his teammates, and had very few chances.
Substitutes:
Ramsey 7. Was buzzing when he came on and he made a few things happen. Should have come on at halftime.
Oxlade-Chamberlain 7. Didn’t do much until the last ten minutes of the game. A great shot hit the crossbar (Howard may have got a fingertip to it) was his best contribution.
Sanogo 6. I thought he was onside at the end when he scored past Howard. It was his sole good contribution toward this horrible game.