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Everton's Ronald Koeman ridicules Arsene Wenger for blaming ref again

Everton manager Ronald Koeman ridiculed counterpart Arsene Wenger for consistently blaming referees after the Toffees beat Arsenal 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Koeman's victory follows home wins of 2-0 and 4-0 over Arsenal in the previous two seasons when the Dutchman was in charge of Southampton.

Wenger said he was "really disappointed in [referee Mark] Clattenburg" for giving the corner that led to Ashley Williams' winner, to which Koeman had a quick rebuttal.

"It is the third time in a row I won at home against Arsenal and three times in a row it was about the referee," Koeman said.

Koeman also said he hopes his players have now learned that aggression and effort are the minimum he and the fans demand after securing only their second win in 11 Premier League matches.

"The key was how we played after 20 minutes," said the Dutchman. "I think that was the team we like to see, what the fans like: face-to-face, aggression, pressing and playing football and going for it.

"You don't win any game because the team is nervous. I can understand a lack of confidence but we play every ball back, we make it difficult and then it is no chance against Arsenal.

"We came back with great character. If you show that aggression and commitment it is difficult to beat Everton at Goodison Park.

"I hope the players will learn how we started and what we did after 20 minutes. That is what we need to show.

"It is always possible to lose games against teams like Arsenal but not in the way we started.

"I hope we realise how strong we can be if we play like this."

Goal scorer Williams knew how important his goal was and claimed he was happy to have made amends.

"This was about trying to put things right," he told BT Sport. "You heard the fans and how they responded. I was disappointed with the goal we conceded, I should have done better, so I was desperate to get one at the other end."

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.