Wednesday night in North London saw Arsenal have the chance to go back to a five point gap ahead of Manchester City at the top of the premier league. And this was just what they did with a 4-0 win over Sean Dyche’s Everton at Emirates Stadium.
Despite the eventual result, it wasn’t always an easy for Mikel Arteta. Predictably, Dyche set his Everton team up to defend deep and frustrate Arsenal, and this proved successful as apart from a wayward Jorginho effort Arsenal failed to register a shot in the opening 39 minutes and a sense of deja vu grew around The Emirates. Arsenal needed a moment of magic and that’s exactly what they got 40 minutes into the first half as Oleksandr Zinchenko found a gap to play through Bukayo Saka who thumped the ball into the top corner at the near post of Jordon Pickford’s goal in brilliant style to give Arsenal a breakthrough which they desperately needed just before the interval. The youngster netting his 10th goal in the Premier League this season in the process as he continues his impressive individual season.
However, they weren’t done there as five minutes later Saka caught Everton’s Gana Gueye in possession and played in Gabriel Martinelli who finished past Pickford and Arsenal went into half-time with a comfortable lead. Something not many would have predicted half an hour into the contest. And in the second half Arsenal really turned it on, the half-time substitution of Thomas Partey brought an extra piece of dynamism and energy into the midfield and the Ghanaian was crucial in a scintillating display. Martin Odegaard finished for 3-0 after some great work from Leandro Trossard and a similar goal was scored by Martinelli for his second and Arsenal’s fourth. Everton could barely get a touch of the ball in the second half and the return of Emile Smith Rowe rounded off the evening and a fantastic result.
The three points, clean sheet, return of Smith Rowe and no injures means Mikel Arteta will undoubtedly be delighted with the night’s work. His side have three days to recover before hosting AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
Player Ratings:
Aaron Ramsdale 7: Barely anything to do bar a late chance from Everton. Another clean sheet for the Englishman
Ben White 6: Gave the ball away quite a few times but still far from a bad performance
William Saliba 7: A comfortable evening for the Frenchman
Gabriel 8: Another excellent performance. Had one brilliant moment of defending in the first half
Oleksandr Zinchenko 9: Outstanding performance. Found that bit of magic to help open the scoring and was superb all game afterwards
Jorginho 6: Tough afternoon for Jorginho. Wasn’t bad but looked rather jaded at times, subbed at half-time for Partey
Granit Xhaka 7: Worked hard and passed well. Solid performance
Martin Odegaard 7: Was everywhere and got a goal as well. Great nights work
Bukayo Saka 8: Fantastic finish for his goal and was a menace all night. What a player
Gabriel Martinelli 8: Two good finishes to make him Arsenal’s top scorer
Leandro Trossard 7: Very bright at times and got a great assist. Proving to be a brilliant bit of business