'Hardly had a sniff': PL pundit says two Arsenal players completely stopped by Everton today

By Lee Connor

Everton saw off Arsenal with a hard fought 1-0 win this afternoon to give Sean Dyche the dream start to life as Toffees manager.

Dyche had clearly given his players a clear game plan and in the end, James Tarkowski’s goal was enough to send a rapturous Goodison Park crowd home happy.

For Arsenal, it was another wake up call in the title race. Manchester City will be buoyed by seeing the result and the pressure will slowly start to build on Mikel Arteta’s young team now.

Of course, that young team has been in fine form all season. But against Everton, some of Arsenal’s better players were completely out of the game and PL pundit Matt Holland commented on how the Toffees had ensured both Gabi Martinelli and Bukayo Saka were kept quiet all afternoon.

“This Everton team have got through some work. Martinelli and Bukayo Saka have had brilliant seasons but they’ve hardly had a sniff today,” Holland said.

Arsenal’s young wide duo have, as Holland says, been brilliant all season. But against Everton, they found themselves up against a tough side who were well drilled and stuck to task all day.

TBR’s View: Saka and Martinelli so key for Arsenal

Has Sean Dyche just provided the blueprint for other Premier League managers when it comes to beating Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal?

It certainly looks like there’s something other clubs can take from this performance. Everton’s in your face effort and way they stopped the likes of Martinelli and Saka was key.

The Arsenal duo have been so, so good all season but today they were simply stopped. And in stopping that pair, it took away a big part of Arsenal’s armoury. Dyche was always going to get this Everton team going. But even he couldn’t have dreamt of a better start than he got.