Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium, scoring their first set-piece goal of the season and capitalising on Manchester City's first league defeat of the campaign. The reigning Premier League champions are now level on 21 points with leaders City, sitting second only on goal difference after Enzo Maresca's side lost 2-1 at Aston Villa.
Set-piece breakthrough and early pressure
Mikel Arteta made five changes from the 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in midweek. The most obvious was the forced replacement of injured Bukayo Saka with Eberechi Eze, while Ben White, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyokeres also came into the starting line-up.
Gyokeres, making his first Premier League start of the season, faced a formidable centre-back pairing in James Tarkowski and Jake O'Brien. It took just seven minutes for him to make an impact. After Arsenal won a third corner in quick succession, Martin Odegaard floated a ball over which Gabriel flicked on, only for it to take a deflection and Gyokeres divert it into the path of Konsa to bundle home from close range.
Remarkably, for a team famed for exploiting set-piece scenarios, it was Arsenal's first set-piece goal of the season and their first excluding penalties in all competitions since one against Crystal Palace last May.
Corner dominance and second-half response
Corner after corner followed, with 13 by half-time, the most in a Premier League game since West Ham faced Brentford in October 2025. Everton remained resolute, and Arsenal led by just one goal at the break.
Arteta looked frustrated, and his mood worsened when he received a yellow card in the second half for not respecting the confines of his technical area. Just after the hour mark, he made a triple substitution, with Merino, Gyokeres and Lewis-Skelly replaced by Guimaraes, Havertz and Calafiori.
There was a scare when Gabriel went down in pain after stretching to clear a cross. He waved to the bench, seemingly signalling a serious injury, but soon walked it off.
Gabriel seals win on 200th appearance
Moments later, Gabriel made his presence felt. The Brazilian defender rose to convert a pinpoint cross from Ben White with a strong header, crowning his 200th Premier League appearance in style.
Chris Sutton, commentating for BBC Final Score, praised Arsenal for "finding a way". He said: "With all the games coming thick and fast, there's been a lot made around Arsenal's recent performances, have they been good to watch? Not really. Football and winning is about finding a way like they have done this afternoon. Two goals from the centre halves, do you think Mikel Arteta will care?"
