Arsenal defeated Everton at Hill Dickinson stadium and regained a two-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table.
The Gunners started the match in second place following the Citizens’ 3-0 win versus West Ham. They needed a win to reclaim the first place and got it in controversial fashion.
Viktor Gyokeres found his way back into the scoresheet and ended a five-game goal drought. He thumped the ball into the back of the net from the penalty spot following a Jake O’Brien handball inside the box during a corner kick.
How did Arsenal beat Everton?
Everton’s good start
Everton actually started the game better than anyone expected. David Moyes had to set his team up without Gana Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye, both on internation duty in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall also missed out due to injury, as did Seamus Coleman and Jarrad Branthwaite.
Despite all of these absences, with Tim Iroegbunam, Dwight McNeil and Charly Alcaraz as starters, they enjoyed a solid first 15-20 minutes.
The Toffees showed an aggressive approach and ‘catered’ the match to their terms. Forcing Arsenal backwards when they didn’t want to and making them go long without actually having space to run into. It was a well set-up trap that got the best out of the Gunners initially.
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But as soon as Mikel Arteta’s men started to find their way into the game, everything went wrong. The visitors managed to put together a few decent sequences playing out from the back and getting into the attacking half with pace and rhythm.
Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber combined in two good plays that led to dangerous touches inside the box.
And then, during a corner, Jake O’Brien jumped with his hands above his head and touched the ball. Gyokeres made no mistake and gave Arsenal the win.
Everton did put Arsenal under a little bit of pressure in the final 10-15 minutes of the game. But it wasn’t enough and didn’t really generate good goalscoring opportunities.
It was a valiant effort, however. The Toffees’ starting XI wasn’t really supposed to get anything out of the game and they managed to have some moments and stay in it until the end. Their fans certainly won’t have much to complain about the performance – only the referee.
Arsenal’s control and game management
As soon as Arsenal went 1-0 up, they immediately improved. Going back to David Raya became an option and not a necessity. It helped attract Everton forward and create space for Gyokeres, Saka and Trossard to run into. And the Spaniard’s distribution was key to getting them out of tricky situations at the back many times.
And when the hosts didn’t actually commit a lot of bodies to press, the Gunners just passed it around and ate some clock.
In the second half, the nature of the game made Arsenal even better. David Moyes saw no other option but to put his men forward, which opened up space at the back.
Mikel Arteta realised it and changed his side’s approach. They started playing more incisive passes, while still going short and out of the back. One beautiful sequence led to Trossard going through on goal but hitting the post.
They managed the flow of the game really well after scoring and made sure they spent the last 60 minutes relatively safe.
Capitalising on momentum swings
Looking only at the ‘match facts’, Arsenal were deserving of the win. Dominated the game, got closer to goal, took more shots and had better chances. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.
| Stats | Everton | Arsenal |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 35% | 65% |
| Shots (on target) | 5 (1) | 13 (2) |
| Big chances | 0 | 2 |
| xG | 0.2 | 1.8 |
The Gunners deserve credit for capitalising on the emotional swings of the game. But they were maybe ‘lucky’ to have gone up considering how silly of a penalty O’Brien gave away. And also for bot conceding one themselves, after William Saliba took down Thierno Barry inside the box.
Had Everton gotten a more favourable whistle, this one could have ended 1-1. But both times a critical moment went against the Toffees (Gyokeres’ goal and the Saliba penalty), Arsenal were there to pounce. Hats off to them for that.