3 positives and 2 negatives as Arsenal claim a narrow 1-0 win at Everton

Arsenal unleashed their inner Kylie on Saturday night as a 1-0 win at Everton saw them regain the PL Christmas no.1 spot.

Far from “Padam Padam”, the Gunners brought fans’ hearts to a near stop with a lacklustre start on Merseyside. A few loose touches from Viktor Gyokeres and some slow build-up play did little to gee up the travelling crowd, while the Toffees themselves got ample encouragement to have a go at the away defence.

Gyokeres needed a helping hand and he got it from Jake O’Brien, whose ludicrous handball just prior to the half-hour mark gifted Arsenal a penalty. It saw them reach the break one up but improvement was very much on the half-time menu.

It did not materialise.

In the second 45, the visitors played in a similar, sluggish way and were lucky not to concede a spot kick of their own when William Saliba caught Thierno Barry in the box; good ol’ VAR reviewed it and stuck with the on-field decision.

Positives and negatives as Arsenal make it back-to-back Premier League wins thanks to a 1-0 victory at Everton

Leandro Trossard and Martin Zubimendi both hit the post but, in truth, Arsenal did not deserve more than they got from this fixture and will just be glad that they managed to hold on for all three points here.

Happy sixth anniversary, Mikel; here are three positives and two negatives from your latest league win.     

Positive #1: Viktor Gyokeres gets his goal

First it was Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, then Alexandre Lacazette and Kai Havertz: yes, it seems the pity penalties are back at Arsenal.

Gyokeres has toiled a bit since his arrival in July and, after an injury layoff, he looks like a player who needs a confidence boost.

He got it at Everton from the spot. The script was written for him to miss: the Gunners were lethargic and Jordan Pickford boasts a great record of saving penalty kicks (eight saved across his PL career) – even the expression on Gyokeres’ face suggested he was not convinced he would find the back of the net.

But find it he did and in style too, blasting it with such ferocity that Pickford could not stop it despite going the right way.

Even if was the only real highlight of his performance, fans will still hope the Swede can build on this in the games ahead.

Negative #1: Poor on the road (again)

Boring, boring Arsenal.

Arsenal were the away-day kings waaay back in 2024 but had dropped seven points out of a possible nine prior to their Hill Dickinson visit.

Having a week off brought hope of renewed vigour at Everton. Instead, the Gunners began like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders; playing with no energy or sharpness and struggling to get a foothold in the game.

Performances dipped a lot after the Bayern Munich win and the points lost in that spell mean their lead is down to just two points – it could so easily have been gone altogether with the display they produced here.

For whatever reason, Arsenal lost their mojo in recent weeks and they will need to find it quickly or else the title will be for Manchester City to lose.

Positive #2: Good in-game management

To their credit, Arsenal saw out the win in relative comfort.

It seems Arteta opted for a ‘hold-what-you-have’ approach rather than going gung-ho in search of a comprehensive victory and the Gunners spent the final minutes of this match in rondo sessions near the corner flag.

Far from pretty but yet effective and the Toffees never looked like grabbing an equaliser, with Arsenal even succeeding in recapturing their former defensive glories by having Everton end the match with no shots on target.

For all the ‘boring’ stuff, the away side did pass out from the back beautifully all night (bar a mix-up between David Raya and Piero Hincapie at the end) and it went a long way towards ensuring they got out with a win.

All part of the masterplan…

Negative #2: Creativity troubles

Often a point of criticism for an Arteta team.

Arsenal set up like a group intent on making this a one-score match and were more than happy to try grind out the win rather than go for Everton throats – a bit disappointing given their flat efforts lately and the fact they had a week off.

Perhaps one should note how they struck the post twice and, if one or both shots had gone in, then a two or three goal margin of victory would paint a very different picture. But the boss cannot deny the fact that his men were not at their best and fans have come to expect more from a team which aims to win the title.

Everton are never likely to be pushovers under David Moyes, of course, but Arsenal granted them too much respect and can consider themselves fortunate that they did not take advantage of their sloppy passing/hold-up play in that first half.

Positive #3: Back on top!

Though it will not live long in the memory, Arsenal left Merseyside as victors and regained their place as league leaders.

This was arguably the first time that the gauntlet was truly down for them as Manchester City look in the groove and even went top for a short while on Saturday, their 3-0 win over West Ham leaving the Gunners off top for the first time since early October.

Seeing their once sizeable lead slip away is hard and Everton is a tricky ground to visit with the aim of correcting the record, albeit the Toffees were without a few key players (both Idrissa Gana Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye gone to AFCON; Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall currently out with a hamstring injury) for this match.

Yet, by hook or by crook Arsenal found a way and perhaps that much-needed away success will help spur them on for the week ahead.

Starting with the Carabao Cup.