TERRACE TALK: Arsenal - A turning point in our season — but too late?

Following such a depressing week, with the Gunners spineless FA Cup capitulation and our almost inevitable Champions League demise, the doctor couldn’t possibly have ordered a better tonic than three points, a clean sheet and a man-of-the-match display from young Alex Iwobi at Goodison.

Despite doing ourselves justice with a creditable performance against the Catalan side, one sensed that Barca played well within themselves and that they were always capable of going into overdrive, if we had ever seriously threatened their progress.

Having travelled back from Spain and virtually straight up to Merseyside, for yet another early Saturday kick-off, we all feared a hangover from our fruitless efforts at Camp Nou. And yet straight from the kick-off against Everton, it was evident that only one team had turned up; while, in the absence of the midfield glue of Gareth Barry, our hosts looked like they’d not only lost their shirts at Cheltenham, but any sense of the intensity and the appetite necessary to win a Premiership match.