Van Persie snatches point for misfiring Gunners

IT did not take long for Arsenal’s defences to be breached on Saturday. Fifteen minutes before kick-off, a supporter strolled through the security cordon at the front of the Emirates Stadium’s media suite and into the tunnel that leads to the players’ dressing rooms, prompting mass panic among the club’s dayglo-jacketed brigade.

The interloper was apprehended, but the incident set the tone for an unusually careless afternoon for Arsenal. Shoddy defending saw them fall behind, profligate finishing kept them there and only a moment of virtuoso brilliance by Robin van Persie prevented them succumbing to a costly defeat against ever-improving Everton.

This was the third time this season Arsenal had conceded the first goal in a home Premiership match before toiling their way to parity, and the six points dropped in those matches would transform the chasm which currently separates them from the top of the table into a crack.