Arsenal 4-0 Everton
by Layth Yousif
at Ashburton Grove

RAMPANT Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to five points after thrashing sorry Everton 4-0 on Wednesday evening.

Bukayo Saka opened the scoring, with Gabi Martinelli striking a brace with a goal in each half, prior to Martin Odegaard netting for the Gunners, who powered to their 19th Premier League victory of what is shaping up to be a stellar season.

Two swift goals in five minutes from Saka and Martinelli broke the deadlock before half time, as the pair moved into double figures for league goals this campaign. Their strikes paving the way for an important victory over Sean Dyche’s previously obdurate Everton on a chilly evening in north London.

No wonder a delighted Arteta said afterward the game: “I’m very happy. We won in a convincing way.

“Everton proposed some real questions, but in the second half we were really convincing and really positive the way we attacked them [while showing] composure in the box to score the goals. I’m really happy.”

Despite Dyche’s Everton beating the Gunners 1-0 in his first game in charge at the start of February, the Toffees laboured with a limited side, as Arsenal moved effortlessly clear of second place Manchester City with 13 Premier League matches remaining.

Saka opened the scoring five minutes before the break when he finished emphatically after Olexsandr Zinchenko’s slide-rule through ball, that saw the England star unequivocally thump the ball into the roof of the net, leaving England keeper Jordan Pickford no chance for 1-0.

Worse was to come for Everton after Saka and Martinelli paired up to rob Toffees No 27 Idrissa Gueye, before Martinelli slotted past an increasingly beleaguered Pickford. The goal was initially ruled out before the goal was awarded following a VAR check to make it 2-0.

Dyche’s Everton beat Arsenal 1-0 in the former Burnley manager’s first game in charge of the ailing Goodison Park outfit 25 days previously, yet the Toffees were simply unable to live with the intensity of the Gunners in the return fixture.

Their best chance fell to Dwight McNeil early in the second half, but Aaron Ramsdale gathered easily. It was another clean sheet for Ramsdale – two in a matter of days and his ninth this term – with the Gunners netminder surely on the verge of assuming the mantle of England’s No1 goalkeeper from his opposite number Pickford.

As Arsenal were in such commanding form, it would be stretching the point to say Everton’s miss proved costly – just as it was pure hyperbole and utter rot for some excitable souls to suggest pre-match that the fixture was “season-defining”.

The gap between the two sides was underlined when the Gunners made it 3-0, following good work from the lively Leandro Trossard. The 28-year-old deserved his place in the starting XI as a False No9 ahead of Eddie Nketiah, showcased when the former Brighton attacker drove down the left wing to square for captain Odegaard, who calmly sidefooted the ball into the net as the home support erupted with joy, in an official attendance of 60,251.

Arteta’s side weren’t finished. Martinelli got on the end of substitute Nkekiah’s cross, to grab his second after netting at the near post, following another perceptive through ball earlier in the move by the impressively influential Zinchenko.

The goal made it four in three for the young Brazil star, as Arsenal showed resilience after their mini-wobble in early February. While Saka now has six goals and three assists in 10 league games since the World Cup.

There was even time for Arteta to introduce Thomas Partey into the mix, replacing Jorginho, who, at times, was the one component who seemed off the pace, against a muscular but distinctly limited Everton side, assembled more in the fashion of a team of labourers, ready and willing to knock a wall down, rather than one fully equipped to build Premier League points.

Victory took the Gunners to 60 points, their joint highest total after 25 Premier League fixtures (along with 2003-04 and 2007-08) as Arteta’s impressive young guns ensured Arsenal would win their game in hand.

The result meant that Dyche’s teams have only scored seven goals in 16 games with Arsenal — meaning the Toffees remain the division’s lowest scorers with just 17 goals from their 25 games, worryingly, with main striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin remaining out injured indefinitely. 

Whisper it but this could finally be the season that this grand old club with such passionate and knowledgeable support finally falls through the trapdoor after more than seven decades in the top flight.

No wonder Dyche reflected afterwards: “They [Arsenal] are top for a reason. They’re not at the top by default...they’re a top side. You have to keep it tight at places like this, work on the counter and find the killer moments. That’s the story of our season so far.”

Bournemouth are up next in north London for Arteta’s hungry young guns. While Everton face a trip to the City Ground to face fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest in what could be a crucial match.