LIVERPOOL, England -- If it's true that this year's battle for the Premier League title has been a one-horse race for some time, then this was the day Arsenal all but surrendered their hopes of pipping Liverpool at the finishing post.
With one of the world's most famous sporting fixtures, horse racing's Grand National, taking place just three-and-a-half miles away at Aintree, Arsenal failed to clear yet another hurdle as they were held by Everton to 1-1 draw that threatens to stunt momentum ahead of a season-defining week.
Even before a ball was kicked on Saturday, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta appeared to suggest he already had one eye on his team's mammoth UEFA Champions League clash with Real Madrid. The reigning European champions travel to North London on Tuesday for the first leg of their quarterfinal tie, where what already appeared a difficult assignment for Arteta's side was made even tougher when it was confirmed on Friday defender Gabriel Magalhães will miss the rest of the campaign with a hamstring injury.
With one of his main men already sidelined, Arteta opted to ring the changes against Everton with captain Martin Ødegaard, winger Gabriel Martinelliand talisman Bukayo Saka -- who scored on his return from injury against Fulham in midweek -- among the players to be named on the bench for a game which began with them 12 points off the lead with eight fixtures remaining.
"We'll need to be better than them," Arteta said of Madrid in an interview with Spanish newspaper ASpublished on Saturday. "We'll have to believe it from the first minute, and in the decisive moments we'll have to be clinical."
That same approach provided the blueprint for Arsenal's functional first-half display against Everton, with the hosts struggling to summon the same kind of spirt they exhibited against Liverpool in Wednesday's fiery Merseyside derby.
In a game that was low on both quality and dynamism, it was Arsenal forward Leandro Trossardwho delivered the afternoon's first meaningful moment; rifling smartly past Jordan Pickford in the 34th minute after Raheem Sterling had pounced on a giveaway from Everton's Idrissa Gana Gueye in midfield. Though Arsenal had been the better team in the first half, the cumulative half-time expected goals (xG) tally of 1.17 -- 0.21 for Everton and 0.96 for Arsenal -- told the story of a lacklustre contest.
Arteta attempted to change that at the break, introducing Saka and Martinell in place of Ethan Nwaneri and Sterling. But the visitors were denied the chance to find any rhythm and were pegged back just four minutes after the restart, when the lively Iliman Ndiaye -- making his first start since February -- stepped up to convert a penalty, controversially awarded for Myles Lewis-Skelly's challenge on Jack Harrison inside the area.
As the Everton players wheeled away in celebration, midfield pair Jorginho and Declan Rice attempted to rally their dejected teammates. But, despite dominating the rest of the match -- in terms of both possession and chances created -- Arsenal never really looked convinced of their own powers of recovery.