Arsenal returned to Premier League action with a 2–0 win over Everton to move level with leaders Manchester City, who surprisingly lost to Aston Villa earlier in the day.

Any early concerns about a Champions League hangover, only three days removed from a titanic battle in Munich, were soon erased when Ezri Konsa turned the ball in following a corner. Everton managed to keep the initial effort out, as Ben White and Gabriel both attacked the initial in-swinging delivery at the near post. But Konsa was in the right place at the right time at the far post to prod the ball over the line from no more than a yard out.

Everton actually responded well to falling behind and a couple of opportunities in quick succession from Tyrique George and Thierno Barry might have brought them an equalizer on another day. Arsenal had last-ditch defensive actions to thank in both instances.

The Gunners had more of their own opportunities, with Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze flattering to deceive in auditions to pick up the slack from Bukayo Saka’s new injury. James Tarkowski at the heart of the Everton defense also proved a source of frustration, but Jordan Pickford was barely being tested. And the Toffees ought to have been level at halftime when White’s attempt at getting the ball back to David Raya was picked off by Barry. It had to be a good save from the Arsenal goalkeeper to prevent conceding in embarrassing fashion.

With open-play creativity limited once play resumed after halftime, Arsenal needed to strangle Everton by keeping the ball away from the visitors. That denied the Toffees a platform from which to play and threaten, paving the way for the champions to kill off the match.

Gabriel, who looked ready to come off nursing an injury just over 10 minutes earlier, was the man in the right place at the right time to head in White’s cross from inside the six-yard box after a good Arsenal had moved the ball into position to make a chance.

Everton could have made a game of it in the final 10 minutes when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall headed a chance wide of Raya’s post.

One Thing We Can’t Ignore

Konsa scored his first Gunners goal since arriving from Aston Villa in August. But, arguably more importantly, this was Arsenal’s first set-piece goal of the season, reverting to the tried and tested.

Arteta’s team scored 35 times from set pieces across all competitions in 2025–26, accounting for 29% of their entire output. Arsenal haven’t had that reliance on similar situations so far in 2026–27, but this one felt like a struggle to make meaningful chances in other ways.

In the first 45 minutes alone, the Gunners had peppered the Everton box with 10 corners, in the same breath sending nearly all of 13 attempts on goal off target.

The second goal from Gabriel wasn’t the direct result of a set piece, but it might as well have been. Everton partially cleared an initial corner swung in by Declan Rice, with the ball recycled and worked across the pitch. By the time, White clipped a ball towards the far post, 28 seconds had elapsed from the original set piece, but Gabriel had stayed upfield.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how you win as long as you do. Arsenal have underlined here that even a performance lacking spark can still finish in a comfortable victory.

Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Everton (4-2-3-1)

GK: David Raya—7.7: Saved his team’s blushes with a crucial save at the end of the first half. The game could have become very different had the score gone to 1–1.

RB: Ben White—8.1: It was his gift that Raya took back, almost proving very costly. But he made up for that by involvement in the first Arsenal goal and providing the cross that sealed the win.

CB: Ezri Konsa—8.0: Looking to give Arteta every reason to keep him in the team as William Saliba creeps nearer to a recovery. Never under real threat and contributed his goal.

CB: Gabriel—8.5: There was genuine concern about the Brazilian early in the second half after appearing to hurt his knee, but he soldiered on and ended up getting the killer second.

LB: Myles Lewis-Skelly—7.6: A rest for Riccardo Calafiori meant a first Premier League start of the season at left back. Strong defensively, although it was a needless yellow card.

CM: Declan Rice—7.9: A fairly typical all-action performance.

CM: Mikel Merino—6.1: Took five shots but four were blocked and the other flew way off target.

RM: Noni Madueke—6.6: Needs to do more to prove he can step up to the challenge of replacing Saka for what could the next two months. Promise without reliable end product.

AM: Martin Ødegaard—7.5: Ran hard to cover more ground than anyone else on the pitch and really dictated tempo when Arsenal needed to shut Everton down in the second half.

LM: Eberechi Eze—6.8: A lot of touches, and touches in good areas, didn’t really have the impact they ought to have done.

ST: Viktor Gyökeres—7.5: Comes away with assist credit from the melee as Konsa turned the ball in. Made a few opportunities for others, but didn’t see a lot of action and never looked like scoring himself.

SUB: Bruno Guimarães (68’ for Merino)—6.5

SUB: Riccardo Calafiori (68’ for Lewis-Skelly)—6.5

SUB: Kai Havertz (68’ for Gyökeres)—6.4

SUB: Martín Zubimendi (80’ for Rice)—6.0

SUB: Max Dowman (80’ for Eze)—6.1

Subs not used: Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK), Cristhian Mosquera, Jurriën Timber, Piero Hincapié.

What the Ratings Tell Us

• Arsenal will miss Bukayo Saka. He could miss 13 club matches between now and Christmas, so Arteta needs to figure out how to replace what he brings to the team creatively. Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze might chip in the odd goal or assist, as they already have done this season, but neither performed at a level good enough here to minimize that absence.
• No one can argue with defensive strength. All four starting defenders, aside from a brief lapse from Ben White in the first half that didn’t actually matter in the end, performed well.

The Numbers That Explain Arsenal’s Important Win

• Arsenal underperformed a relatively low 1.77 xG. They scored in other ways.
• The Gunners created only two big chances across 90 minutes in a match they otherwise dominated. This was absolutely a return to last season, when winning ugly ruled.
• A lack of clinical quality. Only four shots out of 20 were on target. Jordan Pickford wasn’t busy in the Everton goal by any means.