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Arsenal defeated Everton 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium to move level on points with Premier League leaders, Manchester City, after the Cityzens lost 2-1 to Aston Villa.
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Ezri Konsa opened the scoring in the seventh minute after Everton failed to clear a corner, with Viktor Gyokeres providing the assist for Arsenal’s first set-piece goal of the Premier League season.
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Gabriel Magalhaes doubled Arsenal’s lead in the 68th minute with a powerful header from Ben White’s cross to seal a deserved victory for Mikel Arteta’s men.
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Arsenal will travel to Anfield to face Liverpool next Sunday, while Everton will host Newcastle United on Monday as both sides prepare for their next Premier League fixtures.
October 24, (THEWILL) – Arsenal earned a comfortable 2-0 win over Everton at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday to take advantage of Man City’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa to boost their Premier League title hopes.
The victory moved Arsenal level on points with leaders Man City, but Enzo Maresca’s men have a better goal difference to hold on to the top position.
The Cityzens have scored 20 goals in the Premier League, while conceding nine. The Gunners can boast 13 goals, and they have conceded five.
Arteta handed Viktor Gyokeres his first Premier League start of the season, while also starting Mikel Merino. Bukayo Saka missed out due to injury.
Ezri Konsa gave Arsenal the lead in the seventh minute after Everton failed to clear a corner before the England defender stabbed home the opener. The assist was credited to Gyokeres.
It was Arsenal’s first goal from a set-piece this season in the Premier League.
Everton’s duo of James Garner and Tyrique George failed to test when presented with good opportunities.
Before halftime, Barry failed to take advantage of Ben White’s weak headed back pass to goalkeeper David Raya.
The Gunners held on to take the lead into the break.
It was a disappointing end to the first 45 minutes, with the scoreline not reflecting Arsenal’s dominance, as they had 13 shots and won 10 corners.
Gabriel Magalhaes scored the second goal for Arsenal with a thumping header in the 68th minute from Ben White’s cross.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall missed a great chance towards the end of the game when his header failed to hit the target as Arsenal held on to seal a deserved victory.
Ezri Konsa was delighted to score his first goal for Arsenal, while praising his teammates’ performance in the encounter.
He said: “Great feeling, it always is. A clean sheet, a goal – my first goal for the club – so a fantastic day overall.
“I’ve been waiting to score my first goal for a while. I spoke to the set piece coach before the game, and he told me he’s been waiting for my goal as well, so it was only right that I got the goal today.”
Everton coach, David Moyes, admitted that his side never really troubled Arsenal in the encounter.
He said: “[Going 1-0 down early] made it hard and we couldn’t really get ourselves back into the game after that.
“Huffed and puffed a little bit, stuck at it for long parts of the game, which was good. We never gave them anything easy but, in the end, we didn’t have enough.
“I need to see their first goal again, but I know it was a little bit scruffy at the back post. We didn’t quite clear it or get a touch on it. But, apart from that, we defended pretty well from most [set pieces].”
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Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta described the victory as a big win.
He said: “It’s a big win for us. It was a tough week with the schedule we had to go through, a lot of minutes and the games were coming thick and fast.
“We knew we had a very good opponent in front of us but, overall, we had a good performance and fully deserved to win.”
“I hope now people are enjoying it! Saying we don’t score from a set play, now we do. I’m always really happy for the team to find different ways to unlock the opposition and create problems.”
Arsenal will return to Premier League action against Liverpool at Anfield next Sunday, while Everton will face Newcastle United on Monday.
Top Stats From Arsenal vs Everton
13 – Arsenal scored their first set-piece goal in all competitions (ex. penalties) since May of last season against Crystal Palace, ending a run of 13 games without one.
Gabriel Magalhães has now scored 21 goals in 200 Premier League appearances for Arsenal.
That’s at least three more than any other defender since he made his debut in the competition in September 2020.
