Arsenal came from behind to win a controversial clash with improving Everton at the Emirates.

Two goals in five second-half minutes secured victory for Arsene Wenger’s men, who fell behind to a clearly offside goal before eventually recovering.

The Gunners nearly went ahead when Theo Walcott fired a shot at Everton keeper Tim Howard’s legs.

But on 24 minutes, the Toffees went ahead when a clearly offside Louis Saha latched onto Seamus Coleman’s neatly-lofted pass over Arsenal’s square back-four and slammed the ball left-footed past keeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Coleman’s pass had deflected off defender Laurent Koscielny, but as Saha was offside from the original pass, the goal should have been disallowed – as both managers agreed after the match.

But referee Lee Mason allowed the goal to stand even after lengthy consultation with non-flagging assistant Stephen Child.

Arsenal dominated the second period. But they had to wait until the 70^th minute to level, when Fabregas produced another sublime chipped pass over Everton’s defence and Andrei Arshavin controlled the ball on his chest before firing right-footed past Howard.

And five minutes later, Koscielny was left unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box to head home Robin Van Persie’s inswinging right-wing corner.