Arsenal gunned down by Everton amid fans’ protest, Spotify owner’s interest

ARSENAL rounded off an eventful Friday with a 1-0 Premier League defeat to Everton at the Emirates Stadium.

Earlier in the day, thousands of Arsenal fans staged a protest around the Emirates Stadium, bearing placards telling majority shareholder Stan Kroenke to leave the club in the aftermath of the botched European Super League plot.

Then, just before kick-off, billionaire businessman Daniel Ek, the co-founder and chief executive of music streaming service provider Spotify, tweeted that he would be interested in buying Arsenal.

“As a kid growing up, I’ve cheered for @Arsenal as long as I can remember. If KSE would like to sell Arsenal I’d be happy to throw my hat in the ring,” Ek tweeted.

Things got worse during the match proper as Bernd Leno scored an own goal in the second half to hand Everton a rare away win against Arsenal, their first since January 1996.

The Germany goalkeeper inadvertently diverted Richarlison’s cross into his own net in the 75th minute to virtually end any hope of the Gunners qualifying for Europe through their Premier League placing.

Arsenal have lost seven home league games for the first time since the inaugural Premier League season of 1992-93.

Mikel Arteta’s side are ninth in the table with 46 points from 33 matches, seven points adrift of sixth, which is the UEFA Europa League spot.

Everton, who left Nigeria forward Alex Iwobi on the bench, are eighth with 52 points from 32 matches, within just three points of fourth-placed Chelsea.