Arsenal dominate Everton to extend Premier League lead

Arsenal dominated Everton Wednesday night at Emirates Stadium. Despite starting a bit slow in the match, the Gunners poured on the pressure to score four goals on the night. Star performers Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard ran the show once again for the Premier League leaders.

The hosts started the match with a bit of patience in mind. In fact, Arsenal had 68% possession in the opening 20 minutes. However, the Gunners couldn’t exactly create any real chance on Everton’s goal during this stretch. Instead, the Toffees had both shots on target in the early stages of the game. Neal Maupay sent two shots on Aaron Ramsdale’s goal in the first 15 minutes, but the goalkeeper collected the ball fairly easily.

Saka unsurprisingly puts his club ahead

It looked as if this trend would continue for the remainder of the first half. Nevertheless, Saka put the Gunners ahead in the 40th minute with an incredible finish into the roof of Jordan Pickford’s net. Oleksandr Zinchenko picked out his star teammate while Saka found some space between two Everton defenders. Saka collected the pass and put in a thunderous strike from a difficult angle to beat Pickford.

Arsenal doubled their lead only minutes later. Saka pounced on Idrissa Gueye while the Everton midfielder carelessly held onto the ball. The winger’s smart tackle forced the ball to fall right to an onrushing Martinelli and he finished cooly passed Pickford. The linesman originally put his flag up for offside on the play, but a VAR review proved that Martinelli was behind the ball when it was played to him.

Arsenal scoring surges against Everton in second half

Odegaard added the third goal for the Gunners in the 71st minute. Leandro Trossard made a dangerous run on the left flank and squared a perfect pass to the Norwegian inside the box. There were multiple Everton defenders in the area, but Odegaard somehow put the ball into the net through the chaos. The two previous goals certainly appeared give the club a boost in confidence.

Martinelli put the fourth goal over the line ten minutes later. After some slick passing by his teammates, substitute Eddie Nketiah raced into the Everton box and found Martinelli just a few feet in front of goal. The Brazilian neatly guided the ball by Pickford for the goal.

The victory extends Arsenal’s lead atop the Premier League table to five points. Conversely, Everton remained in the relegation zone with the heavy defeat.

Photo: IMAGO / Action Plus