Everton 1 - 1 Arsenal

Everton 1-1 Arsenal: Yet another draw

Updated: January 7, 2004, 10:26 PM UK

Everton stopped Arsenal in their tracks with a hugely committed display in a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.

Last season it was Wayne Rooney's stunning goal which beat the Gunners, while everyone forgot that Tomasz Radzinski had also scored for Everton that day with the youngster grabbing all the headlines.

• Wenger: We could have lost

But Arsenal will certainly not forget the Canadian international after he grabbed the deserved second-half equaliser which sent the home fans wild.

Arsenal maintained their unbeaten record this season, but it was an uncomfortable night for them. Everton roughed them up, did not give them a moments peace, and eventually got their reward.

And the irony was that it was an Arsenal player who finally made the difference.

Francis Jeffers, back at Everton on loan after an unhappy spell at Highbury, will have loved every second of his part in the goal that stopped Arsenal chalking up another win on the back of Kanu's first-half effort.

Jeffers came on as substitute, his eighth such appearance in 10 games since his return to Merseyside, and sprinted away to fire in a shot that Jens Lehmann could not hold, giving Radzinski the chance to score.

Everton's attacking intent was clear from the start with Rooney, Duncan Ferguson and Radzinski all starting.

Rooney attacked Kolo Toure down Everton's left and he lasted just 21 minutes before a knee injury forced him off, while Ferguson took on Sol Campbell in typical style.

Rooney's pace almost caught out Toure early on, but it was Kanu with the first shot when he hit a rising 25-yarder which Nigel Martyn pulled down.

And Arsenal escaped after 16 minutes when Rooney's corner flew into the box, hit an unsuspecting Kevin Kilbane, and deflected goalwards where Ashley Cole hacked off the line.

Ray Parlour was booked for a tackle on Li Tie, then substitute Lauren was carded for clattering Kilbane as Arsenal were being pressured consistently and forced into a much more hurried game than they would have liked.

Everton halted Arsenal's flow with pressure, tackling and constant running, and they needed to maintain that and their concentration to survive.

But in the 29th minute it failed them. Thierry Henry slipped the ball through a square back line and Kanu was onto it in a flash to slip round David Unsworth and Martyn before sliding home his first league goal of the season.

Nine minutes later Rooney squandered a gilt-edged chance to equalise. Kilbane swung a cross in from the left and the teenager powered into the six-yard box unmarked, but sent his point-blank header wide of a post, holding his head in disbelief.

After the interval Henry had a 20-yarder that curled into Martyn's hands, and Everton wasted a good break when Unsworth squandered possession, but Arsenal were back under constant pressure.

Ljungberg got himself booked for charging down a Rooney free-kick, and from the second effort Rooney fired his next effort through the wall for Lehmann to block.

When Kilbane limped off, Everton's response was another striker with Jeffers introduced to the fray.

And it was he who played a major part in Everton's deserved equaliser after 74 minutes.

Ferguson's header wide sent Jeffers scampering away on the right and when his fierce cross-shot was palmed away by Lehmann, Radzinski was coming in unmarked on the left to angle his shot into the unguarded net.

Wenger: We could have lost

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitted his title chasers were 'edgy' after watching them settle for a 1-1 draw at Goodison.

And Wenger, who also insisted he never considered asking Everton not to play his on-loan striker Francis Jeffers against his club, claimed his side 'were never themselves and hadn't forgotten the defeat from last season'.

Arsenal have now slipped three points behind leaders Manchester United, although they are still unbeaten.

Wenger said: 'It is a long way to go to be unbeaten, and we could have lost this one. What the boys have done so far is magnificent. If we keep going and United do better, congratulations to them.'

But Wenger admitted that his side still had the memory of last season's defeat on their minds.

He said: 'I feel that the mental shock we got last season here was still there, we were never ourselves and that played a part in the game for us. We were timid at times.

'It was a huge shock then, much bigger than I expected it to be, we were never really ourselves this time around.

'I said I thought it was out of our system, but I can be wrong. We just tried to preserve the 1-0 without taking any chances. But we did not have our usual confidence this time to stick to our game, when they forced us to play a different game.'

Wenger added: 'But there was a psychological factor, what happened last season was not out of our system.

'It was the kind of night you know what to expect after 10 minutes. They decided to lift the ball into the air and make a fight of it. We were edgy, nervous and did not have our usual stability to keep the ball.

'We put ourselves under pressure because we did not keep the ball, and the slightest mistake creates danger. The longer you go without scoring the second goal the more worrying it is.

'Everton never gave up, they fought very hard and forced us into a game we did not like. That kind of game disrupted us mentally as well as football-wise.'

Everton chief David Moyes was delighted with the commitment and determination of his side.

He said: 'It was just like last season, we were never going to out-pass Arsenal but our players had no fear of facing them and we gave everything.

'If they have better players you have to deny them space, they have great ability but we got as close as we could to stop them playing.'