New Everton boss Sean Dyche’s reign began with a shock 1-0 victory over Premier League leaders Arsenal as James Tarkowski’s second-half header saw the Toffees win their first game since October and move out of the relegation zone on Saturday.

The defeat left Arsenal with a five-point lead over second-placed Manchester City, who visit Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, with the top two having both now played 20 games.

Everton looked a much-improved unit in Dyche’s first game in charge after replacing Frank Lampard and they troubled Arsenal throughout, coming close to opening the scoring in the first half through Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Tarkowski finally broke the deadlock to score his first goal for the hosts on the hour with a header from a corner by fellow ex-Burnley man Dwight McNeil which flew past Aaron Ramsdale.

Tarkowski, who Dyche signed when he was at Burnley, said he hoped the win could help change the prospects for Everton, who had only won three league games all season before Saturday.

“It has been tough for us and the fans and for all the staff in the club. Hopefully this is the turning point for the club, there is a lot of talent here,” he told BT Sport.

United’s nervy win

Marcus Rashford won a first-half penalty before scoring himself in the second half as Manchester United survived a straight red card for Casemiro to beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Old Trafford.

The visitors found themselves behind early when a VAR check showed Will Hughes had handled a ball from Rashford in the box, and Bruno Fernandes sent Vincent Guaita the wrong way from the spot in the seventh minute.

Palace had their best chance just before the break when Jeffrey Schlupp struck a dipping, swerving shot from distance that David De Gea had to get down smartly to save, but other than that Palace struggled to threaten the United goal.

Rashford cut inside a curled a shot just over the bar 11 minutes into the second half, and shortly afterwards winger Antony sped into the box with the ball at his feet but he couldn’t find a teammate and Palace were able to clear.

The in-form Rashford was not to be denied and he made it 2-0 in the 62nd minute with a simple finish after a move that featured some superb short passing as United looked set to cruise to victory

However, Palace were thrown a lifeline when Casemiro was shown a straight red card for grabbing Hughes by the throat as both sides clashed following a tackle on Antony, and Schlupp pulled a goal back in the 76th minute to give them hope.

Manchester United climbed to third in the standings on 42 points, eight behind Arsenal.

Wolverhampton Wanderers humiliated Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool with a 3-0 win. The Reds are yet to win in the league this year.

Wolves cut through Liverpool’s shaky defence from the off, missing two good chances before a Hwang Hee-Chan cutback went in off the heel of Joel Matip for a fifth-minute own goal. Minutes later, Craig Dawson lashed in the second and Ruben Neves ended the contest in the 71st minute.

Other results

⚫ Brighton 1 Bournemouth 0

⚫ Villa 2 Leicester 4

⚫ Wolves 3 Liverpool 0

⚫ Brentford 3 Southampton 0