Everton show class to beat Gunners; Bournemouth edge Leicester

A late goal from Ashley Williams helped ten-men Everton overcome Arsenal 2-1 at Goodison Park in the Premier League.

Seamus Coleman headed Everton level just before the interval after Leighton Baines found the Republic of Ireland international at the near-post, before Williams converted Ross Barkley’s corner in the 85^th minute to hand the home-team, and Ronald Koeman, a huge boost going into next week’s Merseyside derby.

Arsène Wenger’s side – who could have gone top with three points – opened the scoring in the 20^th minute when Alexis Sanchez’s free-kick deflected off Williams, after early pressure from the North-London outfit paid off, but it was not enough to prevent from suffering their first Premier League defeat since the opening weekend.

Sanchez had his effort from close-range cleared off the line in stoppage time after a late Gunners attacking frenzy, before Phil Jagielka was sent off for a second bookable offence following a professional foul on Lucas Perez.

The hosts, and the returning Aaron Lennon, came close to levelling up the tie in the 38^th minute, when the former Spurs winger sliced his effort from inside the area just wide, after Ross Barkley found the 29-year-old with a clever flick.

With Everton upping the intensity towards the break, and Arsenal on the receiving end of tough tackling, the two sets of players collided after the half-time whistle blew, a sign that the Toffees passion may be returning after a number of underwhelming performances in the Premier League.

Arsenal should have silenced the Goodison Park faithful ten minutes into the restart, when Theo Walcott found Mesut Ozil in space outside the box, only for the former Real Madrid star to wastefully fire over the crossbar.

Barkley – who has come under fire for previous poor performances – came within centimetres of giving his side a crucial lead two minutes later, after the 23-year-old’s shot whizzed narrowly past the far-post.

Arsenal will look to get their title challenge back on track when they travel to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on the 18th of December, who have hit a slump in previous games.

Bournemouth moved into the top-half of the Premier League as they edged Leicester City 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium.

Marc Pugh broke the deadlock from 18 yards out for Eddie Howe’s side, after they dominated much of the possession in the opening moments of the game, and they saw the game out for a derserved win.

The Foxes improved on their blunt first-half performance, but thanks to a sturdy Cherrie’s backline, and some fine goalkeeping from former Celtic man Artur Boruc – who denied Leonardo Ulloa late on - Eddie Howe’s side held out and now sit eight in the League.

Claudio Ranieri’s side will look to get their campaign back on track when they travel to Mark Hughes’ Stoke City on December 17th, while Bournemouth will look to make it back-to-back wins when they host Southampton on the 18^th.

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