Ancelotti and Arteta watch scrappy goalless draw from the stands
Newly appointed managers Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta watched on from the stands as Everton and Arsenal played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw at Goodison Park.
The Toffees announced the appointment of Ancelotti on a four-and-a-half-year contract before kick-off, while Arteta was announced by the Gunners on Friday.
READ MORE: Everton confirm appointment of Carlo Ancelotti as manager
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had the first shot on target in the 51st minute and he should have scored, but unmarked at the back post he miscued his strike and Jordan Pickford was able to make the save.
Arsenal got away with one with 20 minutes left on the clock when Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s effort struck the arm of Lucas Torreira inside the area, but penalty claims were waved away.
Everton climb up to 15th with a point, while Arsenal move up to ninth.
Everton caretaker boss Duncan Ferguson welcomed four players back from injury and illness for his final game in charge as Fabian Delph, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Lucas Digne and Djibril Sidibe all returned to the starting line-up.
Freddie Ljungberg was also in the Arsenal hotseat for the last time ahead of Mikel Arteta taking the reins and he made five changes from last weekend's loss to Manchester City.
In came David Luiz, Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe, Granit Xhaka and Bukayo Saka in a show of faith in the club's young talent.
The Toffees suffered an early setback as Alex Iwobi, playing against his former club, was forced off through injury in the 12th minute, with Cenk Tosun replacing him.
Everton came closest to opening the scoring after a slow start the game when Richarlison was upended by David Luiz just outside the box. Sigurdsson’s free-kick went over the wall and just past the post, tickling the sidenetting.
Martinelli had a decent opportunity for the away side after he was released down the left, but after getting himself into a shooting position, he sliced his effort wide of the target.
There wasn’t much to excite either Ancelotti or Arteta in the first half and the match remained goalless come the break.
The first effort after the restart fell the way of the hosts but Richarlison dragged his shot wide.
Aubameyang should have made it 1-0 in the 53rd minute after a corner was headed on and landed at his feet unmarked at the back post. With just Pickford to beat, the 30-year-old’s strike came off his ankle which allowed the England keeper to palm over.
He had another chance not long after but it was a tame one from the edge of the box that was easily dealt with by the Everton goalkeeper.
Everton almost managed to break the deadlock with 20 minutes left to play. Some neat play set up a chance for Dominic Calvert-Lewin but after his shot was blocked it pinballed off a series of players before going behind.
From the resulting corner there were calls for handball after Calvert-Lewin’s effort struck the arm of Lucas Torreira and the Gunners got away with one.
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