Video: after City's fall, Arsenal thrash Everton to ignite the title race
Arsenal secured a deserved 2-0 win over their guests Everton on Saturday, in the eighth round of the Premier League, benefiting from Manchester City's defeat to Aston Villa.
The Gunners began the match with intense attacking pressure at the Emirates Stadium, and they opened the scoring early in the seventh minute. A corner kick caused confusion inside Everton's penalty area, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford failed to deal with the ball, and it fell to Ezri Konsa, who struck it powerfully into the net for his first goal in an Arsenal shirt.
That goal ended a run of 13 matches across various competitions without Arsenal scoring from set pieces, penalties aside. It also brought an end to Everton's record of not conceding from corner kicks this season.
Everton tried to respond quickly. James Garner threatened David Raya's goal with a shot that forced him into a save, before Vitaliy Mykolenko sent in a cross that nearly caused confusion in the hosts' defence. But Arsenal kept up the pressure, feeding off the movement of Eberechi Eze, Martin Odegaard and Noni Madueke. In the 17th minute, Everton came close to equalising when Tyler Dibling reached the ball on the left and beat Ben White before shooting, but the Arsenal defender got back to turn the attempt into a corner.
A minute later, the hosts nearly paid the price for defensive confusion. Raya could not deal with Everton's corner, but Gabriel Magalhaes cleared the ball before it crossed the goal line.
Still Arsenal pushed for a second. Eze shot in the 24th minute with a ball that passed beside the post, before Madueke squandered another chance four minutes later with a shot that flashed close to the goal.
Pickford then saved an attempt from Declan Rice in the 35th minute. Everton's defence cleared a shot from Mikel Merino five minutes after that, before Madueke sent in another ball that passed at close range to the post.
Before the break, Everton had a golden chance to equalise in the 44th minute. Ben White erred in returning the ball to Raya, leaving Thierno Barry one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but Raya saved his goal with a quick stop.
Arsenal answered with a Merino header from a Rice set piece, but the ball flew over the crossbar. The first half ended with the Gunners leading 1-0 despite their many chances. They fired 13 shots, only two of which reached the goal, while Everton nearly punished a couple of defensive lapses to level.
Arsenal kept the pressure on after the break. Eze threatened in the 50th minute, only for his shot to be turned out for a corner. Two minutes later Odegaard fired from outside the box and Pickford saved, while Everton toiled to get back into the game without ever building enough to trouble Raya with any consistency.
A scare arrived in the 56th minute. Gabriel fell awkwardly attempting to deal with a cross before picking himself up and heading to the touchline for treatment.
The Brazilian defender carried on despite signs of discomfort. His teammate Myles Lewis-Skelly collected a yellow card in the 58th minute for a foul on Brennan Johnson.
James Garner was booked in the 66th minute for a strong tackle. Two minutes later Arsenal landed a fresh blow to Everton's hopes: Ben White whipped a precise cross from the right, Gabriel rose at the far post and headed home for his second goal, in his 200th Premier League match.
Mikel Arteta rang the changes after the goal, throwing on Bruno Guimaraes for Merino, Riccardo Calafiori for Lewis-Skelly and Kai Havertz for Viktor Gyokeres.
David Moyes responded with Tyler Dibling for Johnson, then replaced the injured Mykolenko with Harrison Hackney. Everton pushed to reduce the deficit late on, but Gabriel blocked an effort from Barry in the 78th minute before James Tarkowski was booked for a late tackle on Havertz.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall wasted a chance in the 83rd minute, heading past the post, while Raya saved from Hackney in the 89th.
Through eight minutes of added time, Arsenal held firm until the final whistle. Three vital points in the title race lifted them to 21, level with leaders Manchester City after City's 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.
