The 63-year-old Scot must have been hoping that on his 14th visit to this stadium as Everton’s manager, his luck would change. Yet from the moment Ezri Konsa slammed home his first goal for Arsenal as the Premier League champions rediscovered their knack of scoring from set pieces, the writing was on the wall. While it took until midway through the second half for Gabriel Magalhães to make sure of the victory, Arsenal were never going to let slip the chance of moving level on points at the top with Manchester City after their defeat by Aston Villa earlier in the day.
Asked whether it was strange that his side are again going toe-to-toe with their great rivals but with the added uncertainty of what punishment City will receive after being found guilty of 115 charges by the Premier League, Mikel Arteta said: “[We are] just focusing on what we can do. We are very pleased with 90% of the results and performances that we have.” This was hardly a vintage performance from the clinical home side after a testing week but it did not need to be against opponents who offered precious little in attack, even if they defended for their lives at times. Having gone six matches without defeat to start the season, a second in succession will only add to Everton’s concerns after confirmation that the club’s American owners want out.
They arrived in north London having won twice in 35 matches here and had to do without Jarrad Branthwaite and Jack Grealish, who was ruled out with illness. It did not bode well for them when Arsenal took the lead in the seventh minute with a third corner in succession. Gabriel made the crucial first contact at the near post and Jordan Pickford tipped the ball on to the crossbar, only for Vitaliy Mykolenko’s failed clearance under pressure from Viktor Gyökeres to allow Konsa to ram home from close range.
After a record-breaking 25 goals from set pieces last season, it was their first of this campaign. It was a measure of Arsenal’s exertions against Bayern Munich on Wednesday that Arteta rotated his side more than usual for a Premier League match, making five changes. Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke spurned good opportunities to extend the lead in front of the watching England head coach, Thomas Tuchel.
The latter was left out of the last squad, but could well benefit from Bukayo Saka’s expected long absence due to a thigh injury. He was inches away with an instinctive effort with his right foot from the edge of the area on the half-hour mark and was consistently Arsenal’s most dangerous threat. Everton must have feared the worst as yet another Arsenal corner – 10 during the first half – was launched into the area.
Yet the defence just about stood firm. A moment’s lapse of concentration from Ben White just before half-time almost gave Everton an equaliser but Thierno Barry could not get enough on his attempt to flick the ball past David Raya in their clearest opening. Gyökeres looked determined to make an impression on his first Premier League start of the season but the Sweden striker, who has yet to score for his club this term, looked laboured.
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