Arsenal frustrated by Deulofeu's late equaliser

Gerard Deulofeu's late goal earned Everton a deserved 1-1 draw at Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday after Mesut Ozil's strike seemed set to seal three points for the home side.

An absorbing clash which sizzled throughout caught fire in the closing stages as Ozil swept Arsenal in front from close range in the 80th minute and substitute Deulofeu fired a powerful shot past Wojciech Szczesny four minutes later.

Olivier Giroud almost snatched victory in stoppage-time for the hosts when his 30-metre thunderbolt thumped against the woodwork although that would have been harsh on Everton, who won at champions Manchester United on Wednesday.

With a treacherous-looking fixture list looming, Arsenal lead the table with 35 points, five clear of Liverpool who were the only one of the top five to win this weekend.

Chelsea also have 30 points with Everton, beaten only once in the league this season, fifth on 28.

At the other end of the table, Fulham showed signs of a revival under new manager Rene Meulensteen with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at Craven Cottage, Steve Sidwell and Dimitar Berbatov scoring the goals to snap a six-match losing streak.

Arsenal face Manchester City and Chelsea in their next two league fixtures and looked set to go into those battles with a seven-point cushion after record signing Ozil netted his fourth league goal since moving from Real Madrid.

Just when it looked as though Arsenal were going to draw a blank at home for the first time this season, Tomas Rosicky found fellow substitute Theo Walcott with a long diagonal pass and the England winger's cross was missed by Giroud but popped up for Ozil to finish past Tim Howard.

Everton, for whom young midfielder Ross Barkley was superb throughout, refused to go home empty-handed, however, and when Romelu Lukaku failed to connect with an overhead kick, the ball ran to Spaniard Deulofeu who took a touch before arrowing a powerful shot through Szczesny.

"It was a good game and Everton played well," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told reporters.

"It took us time to get into the game, they started stronger than us for the first 25 minutes. You have to give credit to them, they always looked dangerous. We were disappointed to get pegged back but it's still a point."

Everton manager Roberto Martinez was delighted with his team's display.

"The first-half performance was as good as it can be from an away side at the Emirates, to take the sting out of the game and stop Arsenal playing and creating a threat," he said.

"Their goal came from nothing but to display the character and come back to score with a goal of that quality was fitting for a game of that standard."

SURGING RUNS

A point was reward for Everton's first-half domination, much of which was inspired by the surging runs of Barkley.

Strong and powerful, the 20-year-old dominated the midfield as England manager Roy Hodgson watched on.

Kevin Mirallas nearly found fellow Belgian Lukaku in one Everton raid while on the left flank Costa Rican full back Bryan Oviedo and Steven Pienaar cut through at will.

Despite their territorial dominance, Everton failed to muster clear-cut chances and Arsenal ended the half in the ascendancy.

Everton keeper Howard had to react sharply to deny Giroud and again when Ozil played in Jack Wilshere

Arsenal began the second period at much higher tempo than they did the first and Santi Cazorla should have given them the lead but could only head straight at the grateful Howard.

Pienaar brought a good save out of Szczesny and the Pole beat away a fierce blast from Berkley after a mix-up in defence allowed him a sight of goal.

Wenger made a triple substitution with a little over 20 minutes remaining, taking off Cazorla, Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey with Walcott, Rosicky and Mathieu Flamini joining the fray.

Flamini almost made an instant impact, driving a left-footed shot just wide of the far post and Barkley forced a fine stop from Szczesny.

The game looked to be heading for stalemate until the furious finale concluded another hectic weekend in the Premier League which also brought defeats for Manchester United and Chelsea.

"Deulofeu took his goal very well," Wenger said. "It was a quality game for the neutrals between two good teams but we showed fantastic attitude. We are more stable than last year defensively."

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