Everton 1 Arsenal 0: Beattie bludgeons toothless Arsenal

More woe for French manager as Gunners continue to show lack of firepower on travels

The last time Everton defeated Arsenal, a 16-year-old Wayne Rooney wrote the headlines with his thunderous shot past David Seaman in the final minute. Yesterday the 16-year-old striker who has been making the news, one Theo Walcott, was understandably left at home, though his absence emphasised the most precious of commodities that his new club are missing away from Highbury. They have not scored now in five of the last six matches on the road, and conceding a goal for the first time in eight hours left them vulnerable to a newly confident and physically vigorous Everton side, for whom a well-deserved fourth successive victory duly followed.

Another bad day up north for Arsène Wenger was made worse by the dismissal of Cesc Fabregas in added time. His team passed the ball as prettily as ever, but with five men strung across midfield and Thierry Henry pulling wide as usual, there was too often nobody in a sufficiently advanced position to threaten Nigel Martyn. The goalkeeper made two saves in the first 20 minutes but was not troubled thereafter. Everton sensibly kept to the basics, spending most of the first half hoisting the ball into the unseasonably bright sunlight and pressurising the visitors in all areas of the pitch.

Bustling after long balls suited James Beattie, the goalscorer, while Tim Cahill, completely over his early-season jet-lag, supported him energetically. Mikel Arteta curled in some good crosses and behind them Phil Neville tidied up efficiently when Arsenal's attacking midfielders attempted to break forward. Far from suffering any disruption when Matteo Ferrari developed an injury - or a puncture - after half an hour, the home side brought on the popular Alan Stubbs, re-signed from Sunderland, to give solid backing in the centre of defence to his successor as captain, David Weir.

"You can't say it was real football, but they were efficient," said Wenger. "We couldn't get into our game. We need to get more muscular." Preferably in time for Saturday's FA Cup tie at Bolton; but not in the manner that led to Fabregas's sending-off for pushing Cahill in the throat after the Australian had failed to bring down Henry from behind.

That incident summed up Arsenal's frustration, which had grown from the decisive 13th minute of play. One moment the visitors were breaking down the right, the teenage full-back Kerrea Gilbert crossing for Freddie Ljungberg to have a shot pushed on to the post by Martyn. Everton immediately broke and Cahill's lofted pass down the middle found Beattie thrusting between Sol Campbell and Phillipe Senderos, neither of whom distinguished themselves with half-hearted preventive measures. Jens Lehmann was powerless to intervene and was left stranded a few minutes later by Fabregas's back-pass straight to Beattie. This time the striker clipped it wide. He was unlucky, however, to be given offside when finding the net again just before half-time.

In between times, Fabregas wasted Arsenal's only other significant opportunity of the game, hitting Martyn's legs after being put clear by Henry's pass. Briefly, they revived at the start of the second half, Henry having a shot deflected for a corner and Jose Antonio Reyes driving across goal. But there was no striker waiting in the dug-out to offer assistance, only the frail Alexander Hleb and debutant Abou Diaby from Auxerre, touted as the new Patrick Vieira. The signing who might offer greater hope of some physical presence while Walcott learns his trade, is Emmanuel Adebayor, a lanky striker currently at the African Nations' Cup with Togo.

For Everton, of course, there is always Duncan Ferguson, bursting on for the final four minutes here to lock elbows with Campbell and lift the crowd again. It made for an uncomfortable ending to the afternoon for the England defender, who was also involved in an embarrassing mix-up with Lauren. Forced into a poor header out when his team-mate failed to call, he was grateful to see Beattie's shot hit Lauren.

Arsenal finished the game with 10 men and Ljungberg at right-back, looking disorientated. Never mind any grand designs on keeping up with Chelsea; catching Tottenham and retrieving a Carling Cup deficit against Wigan are of more immediate concern. In contrast, Everton, bottom of the table in October, look buoyant. "Today's performance was exactly how we'd planned it," said David Moyes. "The players were terrific and kept it going the whole way through."