We were not at the level we needed to be, says Arsenal's Martin Odegaard after loss to Everton

Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard insisted that they had only themselves to blame for, after losing 2-1 to Everton in the Premier League fixture on Monday. The Gunners led through Odegaard on the stroke of halftime before Richarlison and Damarai Gray netted for Everton to take all three points. It was Arsenal’s third consecutive away loss and they are now languishing at the seventh spot, playing catch up in the race for top four. Meanwhile it was Everton’s first victory since September.

Although the first half was a cagey affair with both teams struggling to create too many clear cut chances, the Gunners got their nose in front in the first half injury time. Left-back Kieran Tierney’s low cross was volleyed into the bottom corner by Odegaard at the near post.

However, the hosts came out all guns blazing in the second half and Richarlison got the ball inside the net, only to be ruled offside after the VAR check. It was the second time in the game that Richarlison’s goal was disallowed for offside after VAR intervention.

But the Brazilian striker proved third time lucky as he headed home the rebound from Gray’s shot which struck the crossbar. Although Arsenal had the opportunity to regain the lead, substitute Eddie Nketiah’s close range header hit the upright.

Nketiah’s miss proved costly as Gray’s thunderbolt shot in the 92nd minute sealed the three points for Rafael Benitz’s side.

“It’s a hard one to take. I think in general we were not at the level we needed to be at today,” Odegaard told Sky Sports.

“We had some good moments but we have to do much better. We should have been better. It’s hard to say. That’s just how it is sometimes. It’s hard to say exactly what happened. We have to do better when we have that lead. We stopped playing and gave them the game they wanted to play.”

When you’re leading 1-0 you get afraid to lose, that’s the problem: Odegaard

It was not the first time Mikel Arteta’s side had lost the match after taking the lead. At Old Trafford, last week, Emile Smith Rowe opened the scoring before Odegaard equalized but Cristiano Ronaldo’s second of the evening secured the win for Manchester United.

When asked if Arsenal’s habit of surrendering a lead was a mindset problem, the midfielder said: “I think it is.”

“When you’re leading 1-0 you get afraid to lose the win and in my opinion that’s what we did wrong today,” he said.

“You go for the second goal and that was the intention but we didn’t manage to do that on the pitch.”

Arsenal had the bulk share of ball possession but did very little with it. The Gunners were struggling to penetrate through the Everton defence and the home goalkeeper Pickford wasn’t tested consistently.

Meanwhile Pierre Emerick Aubameyang who came on as a substitute had an opportunity to equalize in the 96th minute but his effort from inside the box went wide.

Arsenal will next host Southampton on Saturday and they desperately need three points to not loose further ground in the race for top four finish, as Manchester united and West Ham had posted victories.