Koeman: 'Sorry Arsenal, we won through the referee'
Everton boasted the usual 12th man on Tuesday evening, courtesy of its loyal Goodison Park support, but may have called upon a 13th to clinch a late 2-1 victory over Arsenal.
"I'm sorry Arsenal, we won through the referee," Toffees manager Ronald Koeman admitted to BBC Sport post-match.
Related: Williams' late header ends lacklustre Arsenal's unbeaten run
Referee Mark Clattenburg's awarding of a corner in the lead-up to Ashley Williams' match-winning header on Merseyside was unsurprisingly questioned by Arsene Wenger following the final whistle. The veteran Gunners handler pointed out that the ball appeared to deflect off Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin rather than his marker, Laurent Koscielny.
"I'm not surprised about Wenger's comments because it's the third (home game) in a row I won against Arsenal and three times in a row it was about the referee," Koeman added, referencing 2-0 and 4-0 wins during his time in charge of Southampton.
There were further grievances for Wenger on Tuesday. Koscielny received his third booking of the season - when replays appeared to show the Frenchman performing a clean challenge on Romelu Lukaku - and there were calls for a penalty when Alexis Sanchez was felled immediately after a late goalmouth scramble. The latter incident was construed by some armchair pundits as a dive, however.
"It was not a corner," Wenger said of the debated call on the winning goal. "It was a wrong decision. I am really disappointed because Clattenberg was in a very good position to see that they headed the ball out.
"It is not the first time we were unlucky with his decisions this season but overall I don't want to talk about the referee.
"We have to look at ourselves, we lost the game. We started well and then maybe lost a bit of urgency."
Arsenal's inability to pick up points at Everton means Chelsea can stretch a six-point gap atop the Premier League with a win over bottom-placed Sunderland on Wednesday.
Arsenal travels to Manchester City's Etihad Stadium on Sunday.