Arsenal 1-1 Everton: Deulofeu Delivers Share Of Spoils For Toffees

Gerard Deulofeu came off the Everton bench to give Roberto Martinez a hard fought point at Arsenal. The Gunners went ahead through Mesut Ozil's scrappy strike, but were quickly pegged back and lead the Premier League by five points.

Arsenal and Everton rather cancelled one another out right from the get go meaning clear cut chances were rare. Santi Cazorla's cross evaded Kieran Gibbs midway through a tense first half, but the Toffees had much more possession without hurting their hosts.

Jack Wilshere only got in behind the visiting defence by straying offside as the Gunners cranked up their intensity before the break. Tim Howard then came smartly off his line to deny first Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey.

Both were straightforward saves, but enough to give the Emirates Stadium crowd something to cheer. Some nifty footwork from Ozil after the break had Sylvain Distin on the deck, but Mikel Arteta put in a poor cross against his former club.

When the chance came Gibbs snatched at a 20-yarder that sailed wide. Cazorla also saw a close range diving header fly straight at Howard after Wilshere's first time cross when Arsenal switched play quickly.

Hopes Everton would tire after their memorable win at Old Trafford in midweek proved false as Steven Pienaar drew a stop from Wojciech Szczesny. Phil Jagielka broke forward from defence and Barkley teed up the South African.

Ramsey then forced a plunging save from Howard on the far post after good work from Gibbs up from left back for the Gunners again. Barkley stung the palms of Szczesny through a swerving strike with a quarter of the game to go.

Arsene Wenger then made a triple change unleashing Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky and Mathieu Flamini. Wilshere, Ramsey and Cazorla came off. Giroud headed off target and Flamini lashed across goal and wide.

Toffees sub Leon Osman threaded a fine through-ball for Kevin Mirallas, but his shot went just the wrong side of the post for Martinez's men. This was the Belgian's last action as Deulofeu came on for him.

Arsenal thought they had won it ten minutes from time as Rosicky found fellow sub Walcott. Giroud failed to turn in the England winger's cross, but Ozil snapped up the rebound firing into the roof of the net.

Everton had other ideas, however, and four minutes later Barkley started a move from which the visitors levelled. Romelu Lukaku tried an acrobatic finish to Oviedo's cross and the ball broke to Deulofeu. The young Spaniard smashed past Szczesny to give the Toffees a deserved point.

Giroud let fly for the Gunners at the death, but his strike came back off the top of the post. Honours finished even, so both teams stay where they were.