James Tarkowski was the unexpected hero as Everton handed Arsenal a shocking 1-0 defeat at the Goodison Park to put a dent on the Gunners title race.

It was Arsenal second defeat in the Premier League since the 3-2 to Manchester United at Old Trafford in September 2022.

Everton, who have lost five of their six matches across all competitions, were led by their new manager Sean Dyche for the first time following the dismissal of Frank Lampard last week.

The Gunners were the better side in the first half of the encounter, spending most of the half inside Everton’s area of the box but lacked the cutting edge to put the ball past the goalkeeper despite having 74 per cent ball possession.

The sloppiness of both teams continued until the hour time mark when Tarkowski met Dwight McNeil corner kick with a powerful header to score the first goal of Dyche’ era and secure ‘The Toffees’ first Premier League win since October last year.

With the outcome of the match, Everton temporarily moved out of the bottom three for the first time in several weeks while Arsenal failed to extend their lead to eight points as momentum continue to build in the title race.

Mikel Arteta has lost all three of his away matches against Everton in his managerial career, becoming the the first Arsenal manager to lose three consecutive Premier League away games against the Merseyside club.