Idrissa Gueye caught Stuart Pearce’s attention with his performance as Everton held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Everton put the home advantage to good use as they came from behind to earn a point against title contenders Arsenal at Goodison Park on 5 April.
The Toffees feared losing two games in a row for the first time since David Moyes returned as their manager in January, but Iliman Ndiaye nullified Leandro Trossard’s first-half goal to earn a draw.
The result saw the Merseyside-based club climb to 14th place in the Premier League, leapfrogging Tottenham and West Ham United in the process.
Gueye impresses Pearce, not Darren England
Everton had to push Arsenal to their limits to take two points off them on Saturday, while also remaining resilient in defence.
With Mikel Arteta’s side seeing more of the ball, it was evident that the Toffees would have to keep the back door shut to keep the visitors at bay.
Although Trossard hurt them on the counter on one occasion, the Goodison Park outfit made life difficult for the North London giants for the most part.
Gueye was among those who did not shy away from getting stuck in for Everton when needed, making a crunching tackle on Trossard early on in the first half.
Pearce was surprised to see Darren England award Arsenal a free-kick for the tackle, as he thought it was a “super” tackle by the Senegal international.
It was evident that the talkSPORT pundit was impressed by the midfielder as he went on to describe the challenge as “magnificent”, although England did not think the same.
“It’s a super tackle, I thought”, Pearce said on talkSPORT (5 April, 12:51 pm).
“He stretched out his right leg and just nicked the ball. That’s how we saw it, that’s how I saw it.
“Magnificent tackle, but it’s given Arsenal a great opportunity from about 30 odd metres out here.”
Gueye makes error in Everton v Arsenal
However, it is worth noting that Gueye was guilty of making an error in the lead-up to Trossard’s goal.
The former Paris Saint-Germain ace got a defensive header towards the Everton goal wrong, allowing the Belgian to make the most of the resulting counter-attack.
| Minutes | Passes | Dribbles | Chances Created | Defensive Actions | Duels Won |
| 80 | 21/27 | 4/6 (1st) | 3 | 9 | 8/15 |
Nevertheless, Gueye was still an important player for the Toffees, completing four of his six dribbles and creating three chances [FotMob].
The 35-year-old registered a total of nine defensive actions, while also winning eight of his 15 duels in total.
